De Rerum Natura, Book 3

by Lucretius, E.J. Kenney (Editor)

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.

Genres: Philosophy, Classics

268 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 1977

About the author

Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 99 BC – c. 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem "De Rerum Natura" about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which is usually translated into English as On the Nature of Things.

Very little is known about Lucretius's life; the only certain fact is that he was either a friend or client of Gaius Memmius, to whom the poem was addressed and dedicated.

Reviews

[Vikram Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an utterly fantastic commentary. It has been completely overhauled and now is way more extensive. The notes are fantastic and really helpful. I wish there were a longer introduction, but still Kenney does a great job with the commentary. He lays out the argument really well and helps a great deal with certain idiosyncrasies founds in Lucretian Latin. Wonderful commentary by a brilliant scholar.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuando mi vida esté demasiado estable siempre es bueno leer este aliento al suicidio

[Liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little too philosophical for me on a Wednesday morning.

3/5☆