Books by Lucretius

Stoic Six Pack 3: The Epicureans brings together six Epicurean master works: The Letters of Epicurus, Principal Doctrines of Epicurus, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum by Cicero, On The Nature of Things by Lucretius, Upon The Gardens of Epicurus by William Temple and Stoics vs Epicureans by Robert Drew Hicks .

Originally published in 1937, this book contains an English translation of Lucretius' De rerum natura by R. C. Trevelyan. The text is accompanied by critical notes and footnotes explaining certain Classical references.

The third book of Lucretius' great poem on the workings of the universe is devoted entirely to expounding the implications of Epicurus' dictum that death does not matter, 'is nothing to us'. The soul is not immortal: it no more exists after the dissolution of the body than it had done before its birth. Only if this fact is accepted can men rid themselves of irrational fears and achieve the state of ataraxia, freedom from mental disturbance, on which the Epicurean definition of pleasure was based. To present this case Lucretius deploys the full range of poetic and rhetorical registers, soberly prohibitive, artfully decorative or passionately emotive as best suits his argument, reinforcing it with vivid and compelling imagery. This new edition has been completely revised, with a considerably enlarged Commentary and a new supplementary introduction taking account of the great amount of new scholarship of the last forty years.

An outstanding translation of the complete poem which adheres faithfully to the text, with poetic force, accuracy, and humanitas. This text includes introduction, notes, outline and a glossary of philosophical terms cross-referenced to use throughout the poem.

This is a verse translation of Lucretius' only known work, "On the Nature of the Universe", a didactic poem in six books of hexameters. Melville's particularly literal translation of the use of metaphor should be helpful to those looking at the text from a scientific or philosophical point of view.

Lucretius' poem On the Nature of Things combines a scientific and philosophical treatise with some of the greatest poetry ever written. With intense moral fervour he demonstrates to humanity that in death there is nothing to fear since the soul is mortal, and the world and everything in it is governed by the mechanical laws of nature and not by gods; and that by believing this men can live in peace of mind and happiness. He bases this on the atomic theory expounded by the Greek philosopher Epicurus, and continues with an examination of sensation, sex, cosmology, meteorology, and geology, all of these subjects made more attractive by the poetry with which he illustrates them.

De Rerum Natura V