3 Lucretius, De rerum natura, Book I (Lines 44–61)
Introductory Context As noted in the sources, Albert Einstein felt that Lucretius’ poem worked a “magic” on those who viewed their age from the sidelines, as it offers a view of a man imagining the world with lively senses and reasoning before modern scientific dogmas. This section specifically introduces the “Peace of the Gods,” a concept so fundamental to Epicureanism that it would have been beautifully preserved in the elegant italic script of the 1515 Aldine edition cherished by David Attenborough.
Parallel Text: The Nature of the Gods and the Call to Physics
| Hermann Diels (1923) Latin Text | Parallel English Translation |
|---|---|
| 44 omnis enim per se diuum natura necessest | 44 For it must be that the whole nature of the gods |
| 45 immortali’ aeu(f) summa cum pace fruatur | 45 enjoys life everlasting in perfect peace, |
| 46 semota ab nostris rebus seiunctaque longe; | 46 far removed and separated from our affairs; |
| 47 nam privata dolore omni, privata periclis, | 47 for exempt from all pain, exempt from dangers, |
| 48 ipsa suis pollens opibus, nihil indiga nostri, | 48 strong in its own resources, needing nothing of us, |
| 49 nec bene promeritis capitur nec tangitur ira. | 49 it is not won by gifts nor touched by anger. |
| 50 Quod super est, Gai, uacuas auris animumque | 50 For what remains, Gaius, apply ears at leisure and a mind |
| 51 semotum a curis adhibe ueram ad rationem; | 51 removed from cares to true reason; |
| 52 ne mea dona tibi Studio disposta fideli, | 52 lest you leave my gifts, arranged for you with faithful zeal, |
| 53 intellecta prius quam sint, contempta relinquas. | 53 disregarded before they are understood. |
| 54 nam tibi de summa caeli ratione deumque | 54 For I shall begin to discourse to you of the highest system |
| 55 disserere incipiam, et rerum primordia pandam, | 55 of heaven and the gods, and lay open the first-beginnings of things, |
| 56 unde omnis natura creet res, auctet, alatque, | 56 from which nature creates all things, increases and fosters them, |
| 57 quoue eadem rursum natura perempta resoluat; | 57 and into which the same nature again resolves them when destroyed; |
| 58 quae nos materiem et genitalia corpora rebus | 58 which we are accustomed in our discourse to call matter and |
| 59 reddundS? in ratione uocare et semina rerum | 59 the generating bodies of things and the seeds of things, |
| 60 appellare suemus et haec eadem usurpare | 60 and to use the same name for them as |
| 61 corpora prima, quod ex illis sunt omnia primis. | 61 first bodies, because from these first all things are made. |
Critical Apparatus (Diels, 1923)
Testimonia
- Lines 44–49: These lines also appear in Book II (646–651). Diels notes they were often marked by ancient interpreters to argue about contradictions in the poet’s theology.
- Line 49: Cited by Nonius (p. 252, 39) as being from Book I.
- Lines 54–57: Cited by Seneca (Epistulae 95, 11).
Codices (Manuscript Variants)
- Line 43a: A Greek heading, TO MAKAPION KAI AΦΘAPTON (The Blessed and Incorruptible), appears in O (Oblongus) and G (Gottorpienses), but is omitted in Q (Quadratus).
- Line 46: Q reads semota, while O reads semotaque.
- Line 50: Diels suggests the reading Gai (addressing C. Memmius) instead of the ut found in O, Q, and G.
- Line 61a: This section is immediately followed by the heading LAVS INVENTORIS (Praise of the Inventor) in O and G.
