On the Nature of the Universe (Oxford World’s Classics) (66 page)

751
The sun’s eclipses and the moon’s retreats
: a much discussed topic in ancient astronomy: cf. Epicurus,
Letter to Pythocles
96 and in general ‘Aetius’ 2. 24, 2. 29.

783
In the beginning
: Lucretius’ account of the development of life and civilization on earth occupies the rest of the book. Its most important characteristic is its resolute materialism and avoidance of any suggestion of divine providence: and to explain the various phenomena, he uses extensively what has been termed ‘diachronic analogy’, that is, conjecture about early developments through analogy with phenomena that can be observed today. The many different accounts of the beginning of life and emergence of human civilization current in antiquity are conveniently collected in A. O. Lovejoy and G. Boas,
Primitivism and Related Concepts in Antiquity
(Baltimore, 1935): Democritus was an important early source.

793
fallen from the sky
: see above on 2. 1153 ff.

795
The name of mother
: see above on 2. 598 ff.

797
come up from earth
: see above on 2. 871 ff.

808
Wombs would grow
: cf. Diodorus Siculus,
Library of History
1. 7. 3–4 (possibly from Democritus), Epicurus fr. 333, Diogenes of Oenoanda fr. 11.

827
like a woman worn out by old age
: cf. 2. 1150, and contrast 5. 330.

837
many monsters in those days
: Lucretius has the notion of random mutation and survival of the fittest, but only in extreme terms: organisms either die or live within one generation, rather than mutations having a small cumulative effect on genetic success over many generations. Cf. Empedocles fr. B61 (though Lucretius rejects some of the mutant forms there as impossible), Aristotle,
Physics
198
^b
24 ff., and for the hermaphrodites Plato,
Symposium
189d ff.

862–3
Courage has kept the savage lion safe
: cf. Plato,
Protagoras
230e, Cicero,
On the Nature of the Gods
2. 127, in contexts of divine providence.

878
Centaurs never existed
: cf. 4. 732 ff.

893
Scyllas
: figures like the mythical monster of the
Odyssey
(12. 85 ff., 245 ff.), later in art, as here, girded with dogs who were kennelled in her womb.

905
Chimaera
: cf. Homer,
Iliad
6. 179–82 (905 translates 181–2), Plato,
Phaedrus
229d,
Republic
588c.

911
rivers ran with gold
: Lucretius constantly sets his own realistic ‘hard primitivism’ against notions of early life as a ‘Golden Age’, though it was rivers of milk, honey, wine, etc. that were normal features of such descriptions (cf. e.g. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
1. 111), and the discovery of gold typically marked the end of any Golden Age (cf. 1113 ff. below). There is also an allusion to the legends associated with the gold-bearing rivers Pactolus in Lydia (Turkey: cf. Strabo (first century
BC
–first century
AD
),
Geography
13. 4. 5) and Tagus in Spain (cf. Lucan (first century
AD
),
Civil War
7. 755).

925
the men that roamed the earth
: Lucretius now turns to the account of human development which is the most celebrated part of
Book 5
, and perhaps of the whole poem. With Plato,
Protagoras
320c ff., Diodorus Siculus 1. 8 ff., and Seneca,
Letter
90 (based on the views of the second–first-century
BC
Stoic Posidonius), Lucretius’ account is the most extensive to have come down to us, but the topic was handled by many thinkers and became a poetic commonplace also (cf. e.g. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
1. 76 ff.). Although individual elements are common between accounts, several different models can be distinguished. ‘Primitivist’ models idealize early life, either as a Golden Age (so-called ‘soft primitivism’, common in poetic accounts, e.g. Hesiod (
c
.700
BC
),
Works and Days
109 ff., Aratus (third century
BC
),
Phainomena
96 ff.), or as harsh but simple and bracing, as in the accounts of the ‘Cynic’ philosophers (e.g. Maximus of Tyre (second century
AD
),
Oration
36). ‘First discoverer’ or ‘heurematist’ models originally stressed the providential role of the gods in introducing developments (cf. e.g.
Homeric Hymn to Demeter
(seventh century
BC
) 470 ff.), but were later secularized with humans as the first discoverers (see above on 5. 13). ‘Teleological’ models see human development as one of the perfection of innate capacities, either by natural process (cf. Aristotle,
Politics
1252
^b
ff.) or by divine intervention in a form of the argument from design (cf. Plato,
Timaeus
44d ff., Cicero,
On the Nature of the Gods
2. 87 ff., Virgil,
Georgics
1. 121 ff.). In
contrast to all of these, the materialist account followed by Lucretius, many details of which may go back to Democritus, concentrates on technological developments as mainly communal responses over long periods of time to practical needs, and opposes any element of divine intervention. For the details of the accounts, see the work of Lovejoy and Boas mentioned above (on 783 ff.), and T. Cole,
Democritus and the Sources of Greek Anthropology
(2nd edn., Cleveland, 1990), though the latter may exaggerate Democritus’ contribution to the later accounts. Epicurus dealt with the origin and development of civilization in Book 12 of his
On Nature
, though we have very few fragments.

932
like wild beasts
: the notion of the ‘beast-like life’ was common in accounts of early man (cf. e.g. Euripides,
Suppliants
(
c
.442
BC
) 201 ff., Euripides or Critias,
Sisyphus
(Critias fr. B25), Moschion (third century
BC
) fr. 6; Hobbes,
Leviathan
1. 13). Three elements are normally stressed: rule by superior force, the helplessness of the human race, and the harshness of the living conditions. Lucretius, however, avoids extreme elements such as cannibalism (cf. Moschion fr. 6, Horace,
Art of Poetry
391–2).

938
a gift enough to bring content
: in 938–57 the three natural and necessary desires in Epicureanism (cf.
Vatican Sayings
33: see Introduction, and note on 2. 17 ff.), for food, drink, and warmth, are all satisfied.

955
caves
: another regular element in accounts of early human beings, cf. e.g. Aeschylus (fifth century
BC
),
Prometheus Bound
452–3,
Homeric Hymn to Hephaestus
(
c
.400
BC
) 4, Diodorus Siculus 1. 8. 7.

963
Mutual desire
: cf. 4. 1193 ff.

967
the beasts that roamed the woods and plains
: the danger from wild animals is frequently mentioned: it sometimes plays a part in the development of social organization (cf. Plato,
Protagoras
332b, Hermarchus (fourth–third century
BC
) fr. 34 = LS 22 m–n, Diodorus Siculus,
Library of History
1. 8. 2).

973
wandering frightened in the shades of night
: contrast Manilius,
Astronomica
(first century
BC
–first century
AD
) 1. 66 ff., Statius,
Thebaid
4. 282–4. The Stoics held that the fear of the dark was a natural fear, because it reminded one of one’s death: cf. Seneca,
Letters
82. 15, Hierocles (second century
AD
),
Elements of Ethics
7. 5 ff.

993
a living tomb
: a common notion, first extant in Aeschylus,
Seven against Thebes
(467
BC
) 1020–1.

996
Orcus
: a mysterious figure, common in poetry for the god of the underworld or the underworld itself.

1006
The wicked art of seamanship
: the first boat (in myth the Argo) was often made a decisive moment in the fall of man from Golden Age simplicity and happiness: cf. e.g. Hesiod,
Works and Days
236 ff., Aratus,
Phainomena
110 ff., Virgil,
Eclogue
4. 31 ff.

1014
Then first the human race began to soften
: contrast the hardiness of humans when first born from the earth, 925 ff. Lucretius suggests that a number of factors are responsible for the ‘softening’ of human beings, and that the process takes place gradually: cf. 1101 ff., 1368 ff.: other accounts make for example change of diet decisive (cf. Hippocrates,
On Ancient Medicine
3. 26, Moschion fr. 6, Virgil,
Georgics
1. 147). Epicurus seems to have envisaged two stages in human development, one of direct response to nature, the second involving human reasoning and experimentation (
Letter to Herodotus
75–6). Lucretius’ account seems to be loosely structured around these two stages, with 1011–1104 describing the ‘natural’ phase, 1105–1457 developments based on active human reasoning. Both phases include social and technological developments. Many developments discussed in the second phase also involved at an earlier stage nature’s compulsion or prompting, and the need to establish a sense of an overall plot of continuous progress means that Lucretius cannot be rigid about the distinction between phases.

1017–18
children… | With winning smiles
: Epicurus notoriously denied that parents instinctively loved their offspring (fr. 525–9), and, although in Lucretius the stress on the pleasure that the parents take is in accordance with orthodox Epicureanism, a closer emotional bond is perhaps suggested.

1020
Wishing to do no ill nor suffer harm
: according to the Epicureans, justice existed because of a social contract neither to harm nor be harmed (
Master Sayings
33, cf. 31–2). Lucretius has an initial contract here in the ‘natural’ phase, and then introduces a more developed system of laws as a response to social breakdown in the second phase (1143 ff.). Contractarian theories seem to have been formulated first in the fifth century
BC
in the context of the so-called ‘Sophistic’ movement (cf. famously Glaucon in Plato,
Republic
358a ff.), and it is likely that Democritus’ approach was contractarian: in turn Lucretius’ account was influential in the development of social-contract theory in the modern period by Hobbes, Locke, Pufendorf, and especially Rousseau.

1028
the various sounds of speech
: cf. Epicurus,
Letter to Herodotus
75–6, Diodorus Siculus 1. 8. 3 ff. In this passage Lucretius covers only Epicurus’ first natural phase (see above on 1014).

1041
allotted | Names to things
: Diogenes of Oenoanda fr. 12 mocks the idea of early human beings being taught language by the god Hermes. The issue of the natural or conventional origin of language was raised especially by Plato in the
Cratylus
(e.g. 388e ff.).

1047
the concept of this usefulness
: cf. 5. 182 for the necessity to have a conception of something before being able to think or speak about it.

1063
Molossian hounds
: a breed of dog from west Greece, famous as hunting dogs and frequently mentioned in literature.

1092
Fire was first brought to earth for mortal men
: Lucretius alludes to the myth of Prometheus bringing fire to men (cf. e.g. Hesiod (
c
.700
BC
),
Works and Days
42 ff.,
Theogony
561 ff.), but replaces Prometheus with the random activity of lightning.

1105
as the days passed
: at this point we move to the second stage, where there is a limited role for first discoverers (1108). Kings arise and create cities for their own protection (1109); they distribute property on the basis of beauty and strength (1110–11) until wealth becomes more important (1113–16). As a result of men’s desire for power and fame (1120–2), the kings are then over-thrown and a state of anarchy results (1141–2). Eventually magistrates and laws are introduced because mankind is tired of living in violence (1145).

1117 ff.
greatest riches are a frugal life
: cf. Epicurus,
Master Sayings
15, ‘the wealth demanded by nature is both limited and easily got; that demanded by empty opinion extends to infinity’.

1120
men… sought after fame and power
: translating the first part of Epicurus,
Master Sayings
7. Although Lucretius is giving a historical account, the reference to contemporary Roman society is clear: note especially the imperatives of 1131 ff.

1130
To live a life of quiet
: an allusion to the famous Epicurean maxim ‘Live unknown’: cf. Epicurus frr. 551, 548, 554. Plutarch wrote a treatise ‘On whether the Epicurean maxim “Live Unknown” was well said’.

1137
The ancient majesty of thrones and sceptres proud
: Lucretius’ language recalls the names of the fifth and last kings of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus (‘the ancient’) and Tarquinius Superbus (‘the proud’). Throughout this passage he combines a general account of the development of law based on Epicurean theory with specific allusions to Roman institutions.

1156
Though he should keep it hid from gods and men
: cf. Epicurus,
Master Sayings
35 (where, as here, the stress is on the inability of the guilty man to be confident that he will escape detection, not on the actual chances of being caught), 17, 34,
Vatican Sayings
7, fr. 532.

1161–2
reverence for gods | Has spread
: Lucretius again uses the language of discoveries spreading throughout the world (see above on 5. 20), but ascribes the initial impulse to a cause, not a person. Two reasons are given for the origin of religious belief: visions of the gods, especially in dreams (1169–82) and ignorance of the causes of natural phenomena (1183–93). The first reason is justified, in that the Epicureans did believe that it was possible to have visions of the gods, and indeed that the true Epicurean would have better visions, as more tranquil and able to receive them without disturbance: cf. 6. 78 ff., Epicurus,
Letter to Menoeceus
123, fr. 353, Diogenes of Oenoanda fr. 15. Not all the inferences that men make about the gods from their visions, however, are necessarily correct. The second reason for belief in divinity, from contemplation of the heavens, was often appealed to by theists (cf. e.g. Aristotle,
On Philosophy
fr. 12, see above on 2. 1030 ff., Diodorus Siculus,
Library of History
1. 11. 1, Sextus Empiricus,
Against the Professors
9. 26 ff.), but for the Epicureans was wholly wrong (cf. Epicurus,
Letter to Herodotus
76 ff., Democritus fr. A75). In general on the gods in Epicureanism, see Cicero,
On the Nature of the Gods
1. 18 ff., and the fragmentary treatises of Philodemus,
On the Gods
and
On Piety
. The origin of belief in the gods was treated in Book 12 of Epicurus’
On Nature
(cf. Philodemus,
On Piety
8. 225 ff.).