On the Nature of Things (Watson translation)

by Titus Lucretius Carus

Classics (Greek & Latin Antiquity)Poetry Ancient Life Sciences

19 chapters10h 55mEnglish1884

About this book

Written in the first century b.C., On the Nature of Things (in Latin, De Rerum Natura) is a poem in six books that aims at explaining the Epicurean philosophy to the Roman audience. Among digressions about the importance of philosophy in men's life and praises of Epicurus, Lucretius created a solid treatise on the atomic theory, the falseness of religion and many kinds of natural phenomena. With no harm to his philosophical scope, the author composed a didactic poem of epic flavor, of which the imagery and style are highly praised. (Summary by Leni)

Chapters (18)

101 - Book I, pt 1 - Invocation and Dedication of the poem. Praise of Epicurus. The theory of the atom.

2190

202 - Book I, pt 2 - Time doesn’t have a real existence. Atoms are solid and indivisible. Attack on the theory of Empedocles.

1794

303 - Book 1, pt 3 - Attack on the theory of Anaxagoras. The universe is boundless, limitless and has no center. Praise of philosophy.

1316

404 - Book 2, pt 1 - Praise of philosophy. Properties of the atoms: weight, combination, swiftness.

866

505 - Book 2, pt 2 - Attack on those who refuse the theories of Epicurus. Properties of the atoms: atoms are constantly in motion, and tend to move downwards. Figure, flavor, surface of atoms. The different kinds of atoms are many, but not infinite.

2111

606 - Book 2, pt 3 - Compound bodies contain atoms of different figures. The infinite number of atoms moving through infinite space creates an infinite number of bodies.

3178

707 - Book 3, pt 1 - Eulogy of Epicurus. Denial of divine power over the world. The fear of gods and the fear of death torment men and lead them into crimes. Difference between mind and soul. Both mind and soul are corporeal,i.e., composed of atoms like the body.

1093

808 - Book 3, pt 2 - The substance of the mind and the soul. The soul and the body can’t be separated without destruction of both. Twenty arguments which prove that the soul perishes with the body, contrary to the Pythagorean theory.

2828

909 - Book 3, pt 3 - Death is the end of man, and nothing should be feared after it. All suffering happens only during life. All men die, good or bad, and death should be contemplated with calmness and reason.

1256

1010 - Book 4, pt 1 - Theory of image. Vision is produced by the impact of images on the eye. Senses may be trusted; false opinions arise from false reasoning about the testimony of senses.

3041

1111 - Book 4, pt 2 - Other senses: sound, taste and odor. Imagination and thought are produced by means of images. The nature of dreams. The use of the organs of the body.

1921

1212 - Book 4, pt 3 - Motion in animals and motion in images. Sleep and causes of dreams. Love and desire and their influence.

2107

1313 - Book 5, pt 1 - Praise of Epicurus. The world is not eternal. Heavenly bodies. The world had a beginning and will have an end.

1807

1414 - Book 5, pt 2 - Cosmogony according to Epicurus. Causes of the motions of heaven. The magnitude of heavenly bodies and causes of their phenomena: day and night, phases and eclipses of the moon and the sun. The production of plants, animals and man. The existence of monsters.

2555

1515 - Book 5, pt 3 - The rudeness of the early life of men. The invention of speech.The discovery of fire, the progress of society. The rise of religion from ignorance of natural causes. The discovery of metals and the progress of the arts.

2052

1616 - Book 6, pt 1 - Panegyric on Athens. Meteoric appearances in the heaven. Causes of shooting stars, lightning, thunderbolts. Ridicule of those who attribute the origin of the storms to gods.

2112

1717 - Book 6, pt. 2 - Origin of water-spouts, clouds, rain, rainbow, earthquakes and other phenomena. About the seas and volcanoes. About rivers and lakes.

1917

1818 - Book 6, pt. 3 - About the temperature of waters. About magnets and why metals are attracted to them. About the origin and cause of diseases. Description of the plague that depopulated Athens during the Peloponnesian war.

2308

On the Nature of Things (Watson translation)

About this book

Chapters (18)

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