Lucretius, the Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus

1969 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Minadeo ◽  
Lucretius ◽  
Rolfe Humphries
Keyword(s):  
De Rerum Natura ◽  
Titus Lucretius Carus ◽  
The Way

The Palingenesis of De rerum natura

1994 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 81-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Schiesaro
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
De Rerum Natura ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Way

1. If I had to sum up as concisely as I possibly can the subject matter of this paper, I would probably say that it was originally stimulated by the attempt to understand how Lucretius articulated his didactic plot. What is the plot of a poem that presents itself as analysing nothing less than ‘the nature of things’? It is safe to assume as a starting-point that a didactic poem which intends to revolutionize each and every principle of perception and evaluation of reality cannot remain unaffected by the theoretical views it tries to prove, and that the persuasive impact of those theories on the reader will inevitably be strengthened or weakened by the way the text situates itself in respect to those theories: the poem itself will be the most effective or the most damning example of its own theories.

Giorgione'sTempest, StudioloCulture, and the Renaissance Lucretius*

2003 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
De Rerum Natura ◽  
The Tempest ◽  
Lightning Bolt ◽  
Essential Connection ◽  
Specific Interests ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe invention of Giorgione's much-interpreted painting known asThe Tempestcan be explained with reference to theDe rerum naturaof Lucretius. Lucretius provides the essential connection between the main elements of the painting: a male 'wanderer,' a lightning bolt, broken columns, a naked, nursing female, and a landscape rendered according to momentary, fleeting appearances. The invention of the painting also responds to the way Lucretius was read around 1500, to the specific interests of the poet's Renaissance readers and imitators, and to forms of self-cultivation associated with the ownership of astudiolo.

scholarly journals A Natureza das Coisas

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-117
Author(s):  
Mario Henrique Domingues
Keyword(s):  
De Rerum Natura ◽  
Francis Ponge ◽  
Paul Valery ◽  
Michel Serres ◽  
Titus Lucretius Carus ◽  
Paul Valéry

O poema épico-didático A Natureza das Coisas (De rerum natura), de Lucrécio (Titus Lucretius Carus ”“ séc. I a.C) é uma das grandes obras literatura universal. Fundindo poesia e filosofia, trata-se da divulgação da doutrina do filósofo grego Epicuro (300 a.C), a um tempo formado nos ensinamentos de Sócrates e reformista do atomismo de filósofos pré-socráticos, principalmente de Demócrito. No âmbito da poesia, Lucrécio influenciou grandes poetas latinos que o sucederam, tais como Virgílio, Horácio e Ovídio. O poema trata principalmente da física epicurista, em que a natureza está reduzida a átomos e ao vazio. Esta física está centrada no átomo como elemento infinitesimal da matéria, à qual estão submetidas outras categorias filosóficas como a metafísica (na aceitação da hipótese da existência dos deuses, mas também na diatribe contra a superstição) e a moral (na crítica ao amor visto como desejo meramente carnal e no elogio da amizade como “contrato social”). Tendo sido solapados pelo avanço do cristianismo, Lucrécio e Epicuro sofreram pelo menos mil anos de ostracismo. As críticas de Kant aos atomistas da antiguidade e a canonização científica da mecânica dos sólidos de Newton também influenciaram nesta quarentena do epicurismo. A partir do séc. XIX o poema de Lucrécio passou a receber a atenção de filósofos, poetas e tradutores. Na filosofia, foi estudado por Henry Bergson, Michel Serres (para quem Lucrécio seria o precursor da mecânica dos fluidos), Giles Deleuze, Clément Rosset, Phillipe Sollers e André Compte-Sponville. Na poesia francesa do XX, Paul Valéry e, sobretudo, Francis Ponge ecoam o requintado imagismo de Lucrécio. 

Lucretius (c.94–c.55 BC)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Erler
Keyword(s):  
Latin Poetry ◽  
De Rerum Natura ◽  
The World ◽  
Titus Lucretius Carus ◽  
Considerable Size

Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman Epicurean philosopher and poet. About his life and personality little can be said with certainty, yet his only known work, ‘On the Nature of Things’ (De rerum natura), is of considerable size and one of the most brilliant achievements of Latin poetry. A didactic poem in six books, it expounds Epicurean physics. Its manifesto is to abolish the fear of gods and of death by demonstrating that the soul is mortal and the world not governed by gods but by mechanical laws.

Lucretius

Classics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Lindsay Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Modern World ◽  
De Rerum Natura ◽  
Philosophical System ◽  
Titus Lucretius Carus ◽  
The Universe

Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus, b. c. 94–d. c. 55 or 51 bce) was one of the most important Latin poets of Antiquity. He was a predecessor of Virgil, who was profoundly influenced by him. His only known work is his poem De rerum natura (On the nature of the universe, or On the nature of things; frequently referred to as DRN), a didactic work of six books in epic hexameter verse in which he expounds the philosophical system of Epicurus. Lucretius has been an important source for Epicureanism and has been profoundly influential on progressive thinking from Antiquity to the modern world. Often accused of atheism, Lucretius was in fact a deeply religious poet who strove to combat what he saw as the religious errors of his day, to convince his readers that they should not fear the gods or fear death. If they can free themselves from these fears, Lucretius tells them, there is nothing to prevent them from living a life equal to that of the gods.

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