<p style="text-align: center;">De rerum natura is a scientific epic poem, divided into six books, written by philosopher and poet Titus Lucertius Carus who lived during 1st century BCE. His poem, On the Nature of Things, is the earliest dactylic hexameter of its kind. It was also one of the first Epicurean pieces to be written in Latin. Through what many consider to be a philosophic masterpiece, he presents us with a strictly physical world and introduces the concept of atomism. He addresses this poem to “Memmius,” and it is said to have been for the purpose of converting him to atomism and relieve his mind of superstition, but for as far as historians know, his attempt proved ineffective. (de Vet.)</p>
<!--more-->Epicurus, one of Greek’s major philosophers, taught during 341 BCE – 270 BCE, that in order to live this peaceful and prosperous life, one must live without fear and pain. The fear he discussed was caused by the powerful figures of Roman deities, who, according to the beliefs of the time, would unmercifully punish the people for an individual’s sins once their soul had left them. (“Lucretius.”)  Although noteworthy, he was not entirely atheist; he did not deny the existence of gods, rather, he claimed that they should have no effect on us physically or emotionally. Epicurus said that death was the end of the body and soul, reassuring them there was nothing to fear. (“Lucretius.”) To reason with his point, he stated everything in the world was caused by atoms moving in an empty, infinite space. He claimed the world had come about simply though natural phenomena.

1st century Italy had already suffered some extremely devastating times filled with revolts, massacres, civil wars and the assassination of political figures. Having a lifetime filled with such continuous bloodshed and violence, it’s easy to see why Lucretius was so completely attached and dedicated to the Epicurean philosophy based upon a friend-filled, tranquil, self-sufficient life without overindulgence in luxuries and keeping oneself away from a troublesome participation in politics. (Simpson.) Lucretius followed these thoughts and translated them into poetry which would later become De rerum natura.

Stoicism and Epicurean philosophies were both dominant schools of their time. Both Epicurean and Stoics taught the people to be self –sufficient and free from the world’s negativities. Stoics did this by suppressing personal lusts and passions through indifference, ultimately reaching a clear state of self-control. Epicureans did this by completely shutting out the existence of fate entirely.

Epicureans were not persecuted for expressing these beliefs, but it was seen as highly controversial and they were harshly looked down upon by the schools of its time, such as Stoicism. His work was almost lost into oblivion once there was a greater following towards Christianity (since it denied their faith, reinforced their morality and questioned the existence of a soul surviving after death) In fact, modern philosophers have suspected and found that hostile, Christian authors of the time fabricated stories of Lucretius’ life, saying he was poisoned by a love spell during the writings of On the Nature of Things and was driven to suicide, to discredit his work. (de Vet.) Little evidence remains of Lucretius’ life. However, during the Renaissance, Lucretius’ poem resurfaced and played a large role in the spread of atomism.

On the Nature of Things was innovative and unusual in that it presented Epicurean’s teachings in the form of poetry to suit the likings of the Romans (to ultimately persuade) to follow his beliefs and it is the one unified work to present the core teachings and theories of Epicurus. (Dunkle.) He wrote passionately of the philosophy he admired in the form of poetry to more easily display abstract concepts. Lucretius said himself, “a poet is like a doctor who smears honey around the rim of the cup so a child will take his bitter medication.” (de Vet.)

Most of what we know now of Epicurean philosophies is derived from his followers and commentators; although Epicurus himself had a few remaining pieces of work survived, namely, one of his letters. Epicurus followed Democritus’ work and studies in atomism, which he thought was as an accurate explanation of life on Earth. He claims that at the time of your death, one ceases to exist and the atoms simply disperse. In his, rather short (in comparison to Lucretius’ six-book poem), letter to Menoeceus, he says “Death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply the capacity for sensation, and death is the privation of all sentience; therefore a correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life a limitless time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terrors for him who has thoroughly understood that there are no terrors for him in ceasing to live.”  (O’Keefe.) In De rerum natura, the author writes of the same burdens of belief, in that, you sustain fear throughout your mortal life. Although they write in very different fashions; Epicurus, in his direct letter of thoughts to someone else, and Lucretius in his stylistically beautiful poetry to cure his friend (Memmius) of his terrors of dying.

De rerum natura is greatly appreciated nowadays through exclamations of its author describing him as a man “ahead of his time.” In 1884, philosopher, Henri Bergson, throughout his one of his critical essays, said “the poet’s instinctive grasp of the physical operations of nature and comprehensive, truly scientific, world-view exceed anything found in the theories of Democritus and Epicurus.” (Simpson.)

His poem, as it did during the Renaissance, will forever influence the evolutionary and cosmological speculations of people, philosophers and scientists. This piece is brilliant, in that, you forget that it was written literally thousands of years ago. It’s also wonderful how, through De rerum natura, the author was able to “speak from his grave” since little is known of his life. It was interesting to read this early scientifically-based poetry and to know he was spreading this kind of pleasant, honest philosophy so early in time, into the hearts of minds of the Roman people during such hard times. Future generations can also gain a clear understanding in Epicurus’ teachings through Lucretius’ poem, On the Nature of things. Most importantly, to live a life with the absence of fear and want, search for knowledge of the physical world and be able to think critically when faced with talk of stars, atoms, space, death, life, gods, superstition, pseudoscience, and so forth. Lucretius, in his great happiness of understanding the “nature of things,” said in his poem, “How sweet to watch, from land, while winds enrage The great sea's waves, another man in trouble!—Not taking pleasure in another's pain, But seeing what evils you yourself are spared.” (“Lucretius.”) De rerum natura, through its eloquent expression of the realms of science, can help to alleviate the concerns of a “doomsday”; to learn to appreciate Epicurus, like Lucretius so rightfully did, as he would deliver us from the fear that holds us back from fulfilling a joyous life, even within grueling times of political and social chaos as Lucretius once did.
<p style="text-align: center;">Works Cited</p>
de Vet, Thérèse. "Lucretius (94/95–51/55 BCE)." Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Ed. H. James Birx. Vol. 4. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference, 2006. 1499-1500. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Dunkle, Roger. “On the Nature of the Universe.” <em>Classics Department Brooklyn College. </em>1986. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. &lt;<a href="http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics">http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics</a>&gt;

“Lucretius.” Ancient Greece and Rome: An Encyclopedia for Students. Ed. Carroll Moulton. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. 18-19. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

O’Keefe, Tim. “Epicurus and Lucretius on the mortality of the soul and against the fear of death” <em>Georgia State University</em>. n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. &lt;<a href="http://www2.gsu.edu/~phltso/deathfrags.html">http://www2.gsu.edu/~phltso</a>&gt;

Simpson, David. “Lucretius (c.99—c.55 BCE)” <em>Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. </em>29. June.<em> </em>2005. Web. 15. Feb. 2011.