To the Greek philosopher Epicurus, the unhappiness and degradation of humans arose largely from the dread which they had of the power of the deities and terror of their wrath. This … See more

Metaphysics
Lack of divine intervention
After the poem was rediscovered and made its rounds across Europe and beyond, numerous … See more

Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages
Martin Ferguson Smith notes that Cicero's close friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus, was an Epicurean … See more

Classical antiquity
The earliest recorded critique of Lucretius's work is in a letter written by the Roman statesman See more

Translations
• Lucretius (1968). The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura. Translated by Rolfe Humphries. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 025320125X.
• ———— (1994). On the Nature of the Universe See more

Synopsis
The poem consists of six untitled books, in dactylic hexameter. The first three books provide a fundamental account of being and nothingness, matter and space, the atoms and their movement, the infinity of the universe both … See more

Commentaries
• Beretta, Marco. Francesco Citti (edd), Lucrezio, la natura e la scienza (Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 2008) (Biblioteca di Nuncius / Istituto e … See more