There is no trace of any of this in Lucretius. There is no fear of the gods, no intentionality or causes in the world, no cosmic hierarchy and no distinction between the Earth and the heavens. There is a profound love for nature, a calm immersion in it, a recognition that we are part of it ourselves; that men, women, animals, plants and clouds are organic parts of a wonderful whole, a tissue without hierarchy. There is a profound universalism, and there is the aspiration to think of the world in simple terms. To be able to investigate and eventually understand the secrets of the physical
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