Lucretius Biography

Dromo's Den

Lucretius Biography

LUCRETIUS (Titus Lucretius Carus) (c.99-c.55 B.C.). A Roman poet of the first rank. Of the details of his life practically nothing is known. An entry in the chronicle of St. Jerome, under the year 94 B.C., records "the birth of the poet Lucretius, who lost his reason through a love philtre. After composing in the intervals of his madness several books which Cicero subsequently edited, he died by his own hand in his forty-fourth year." But Donatus, in his life of Vergil, says that Lucretius died in 55; and this date is rendered probable by the fact that the first mention of his poem occurs in a letter of Cicero to his brother, written February, 54. The dates 99-55 may thus be accepted as approximately correct. De Quincey, in his essay on Keats, expresses his admiration for Lucretius as "the first of demoniacs" and holds that "the characteristic manner of his poem, even if all anecdotes had perished, would have led an observing reader to suspect some unsoundness in his brain." And it is, indeed, generally agreed that the De Rerum Natura shows such unrelieved intensity of thought and feeling, coupled at times with such sombreness, as to make quite credible the tale of madness and suicide, though not necessarily for the cause assigned. On the other hand, the masses of varied and disparate facts are logically arranged, the reasoning, whether inductive or deductive, is clear and consecutive, and the entire poem (of about 7500 lines) shows marked symmetry of design and execution. The composition of so extensive a work per intervalla insanice seems most unlikely. It is certain, however, that, as Lachmann first proved, the poet did not live to put the final touches to his work. Of many paragraphs there are double drafts, many arguments are not adjusted to their context, and the workmanship is in many details rough and inartistic. The lack of finish is especially noticeable in the later books. It is evidently impossible to determine exactly to what extent the posthumous editor is responsible for the existing text.

The De Rerum Natura, the single poem into which Lucretius poured the passion of his life, is an attempt to vindicate for man his independence of thought and action by proving the soundness and adequacy of the Epicurean philosophy. Lucretius holds that, if the true nature of the gods is once made clear, by proof that their "happy, careless lives" are in no way concerned with the government of the universe, for the reason that everything happens in accordance with fixed laws of nature and not by divine intervention, and that, if the true nature of the soul is once made clear, by the demonstration also, that the soul, like everything else, is composed of atoms and is therefore subject to the universal law of birth and death, then at once man, set free from the fear of the gods both here and hereafter, absolute master of his fate in this the only world that he is to know, has it in his power to live a life of noble simplicity. The proof that man is thus "lord of himself" depends ultimately upon the atomic theory (see CHEMISTRY) formulated originally by Leucippus and Democritus and later modified by Epicurus. The demonstration of scientific facts and principles is therefore of vital importance, and the greater part of the poem is inevitably devoted to discussions for which prose would have been a more natural medium. But the poet's towering enthusiasm and remarkable power over language have forced into the hexameter verse elements seemingly unmanageable.

The poem is divided into six books. In book i Lucretius states as the basis of his system the two propositions that "out of nothing nothing can be created, even by divine power," and that no existing thing can be reduced to nothing, but only to its ultimate elements. The first of these principles becomes more intelligible if stated affirmatively; Lucretius means that back of all phenomena in the world lies something else, which adequately accounts for them, so that no room is left for the assumption that the phenomena are due to the gods. The ultimate elements of the universe are two, void and atoms. The latter are infinitesimally small, indivisible, and indestructible. They are, further, infinite in number and variety, as void or space is infinite in extent. Thus, the universe has no centre, as the Stoics thought. Lucretius postulates the existence of void, because without void motion, and so life, would be impossible. Book ii deals with the motions of the atoms, the diversity of their shapes, and their modes of combination. In the discussion of their motions, the famous theory of the clinamen, or "swerve" from the straight parallel lines naturally followed by bodies falling in space, is introduced to account for their initial contact; and upon this power, inherent in the atom, is based the freedom of the human will. The atoms differ in size, weight, and shape only, and have no secondary qualities. Sensation in living beings is a function of certain special atomic combinations. As space and matter are infinite, the whole universe is filled with systems like our own. In book iii Lucretius presents a long series of arguments to prove that the soul is material and is composed of very minute and mobile atoms, and is so intimately associated with the body that each is vitally affected by the other and neither can survive separation. The closing 260 lines of this book, in which, on the basis of all that has been said in the poem, the right attitude towards death, as the end of consciousness, is passionately urged, is perhaps the noblest passage in Latin literature. The fourth book is a continuation of the third and explains the widespread belief in the continued existence of the souls of the dead in connection with the theory of sense perception in general. The adaptation of the senses to their functions, however, does not justify the inference of design. The action of the mind during sleep is explained, and the book concludes with a vivid picture of the disastrous results of indulging the passion of love. Book v, to the modern mind in many ways the most remarkable in the poem, ascribes the formation of our system (which, composed of perishable parts, will some day cease to exist), not to creative intelligence, but to countless chance combinations of atoms. After the emergence of the earth, sea, sky, sun, and moon from the primal confused mass, or chaos, animal as well as vegetable life was produced directly from the earth; but many of these forms of animal life were unable to defend themselves and so became extinct. The condition of primitive man is described, and then his gradual advance in civilization, the origin of language, discovery of fire, beginnings of civil society, of religion, and of the arts, use of the metals, weaving, agriculture, and music. Everything in the constitution of the world and in the life of man is thus shown to be due to natural causes, not to divine activity. With the same purpose in view, book vi is devoted to those natural phenomena that are usually ascribed to the agency of the gods, especially thunder and lightning, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the rising of the Nile, and the power of the magnet. The discussion of the spread of disease leads to an impressive account of the great plague at Athens, at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, based upon the account given of that plague by Thucydides. With this the book and the poem abruptly end.

The permanent value of the work of Lucretius is not due to its scientific discussions, though it is to these that the greater part of the poem is devoted. It is true that the atomic theory of Democritus and Epicurus (Lucretius did not himself make any contribution to this theory) has proved to be the most fruitful of all ancient physical theories, and that many of the general principles enunciated in the frst two books of the poem, such as the doctrine of the indestructibility of matter, are in striking accord with modern science; it is true, also, that the brilliant outline of anthropology given in the fifth book still seems essentially correct. But in countless details he is wrong, even absurdly wrong. Scientific method was as yet little understood; and Lucretius in this respect was not in advance of his time. He possesses, however, to high degree the scientific temper and the scientific imagination. No thinker has more firmly grasped the universality of law, none takes greater delight in the discovery of facts and the determination of their meaning and connection. Almost alone among the Romans, he has an inborn taste and capacity for philosophical speculation, and his mind moves through the intricacies of a subtle argument with a sureness that rouses admiration.

Neither is the special merit of Lucretius to be found in his literary art, although the De Rerum Natura is a splendid monument of pure and virile Latinity. He was evidently a wide reader, both in Greek and in Latin, and well versed in the traditions of the poet's craft. The diction and rhythm of Ennius, in particular, had a great attractiveness for him, and the poem of Empedocles (q.v,) On Nature probably determined the form of his own. While he himself avowedly regards his poetry as merely a help to the effective exposition of his philosophy, the numerous digressions, in which he has expressed his deepest musings on human life, as well as countless touches in the scientific portion proper, all reveal poetical powers of the highest order. The cadence of the hexameter lacks, of course, the music and variety that Vergil was to put into it. The verse is sometimes monotonous, but more often its ruggedness and majesty harmonize admirably with the thought.

Lucretius was an earnest seeker for the truth, but it was in the spirit of the typical Roman, for definite practical end, the emancipation of mankind from the bondage of superstition, Against the anthropomorphic deities of popular religion, arbitrary and vengeful, he wages war with a fervor, or rather fury, that is almost startling. Epicureanism seems to him "a healïng gospel"; he is its preacher. But the seriousness and exaltation of his nature make of it really a new philosophy. Life has too solemn a meaning to be spent in the quest of pleasure, however refined. Fortitude and renunciation are its true watchwords. The enduring interest of the poem is thus a psychological one and is due to the unconscious self-portrayal of one of the noblest minds in history.

The editio princeps was published at Brescia in 1473. The most important of the early editions are the first Aldine (1500), edited by Avancius, the Giunta (1512), by Candidus, and those of Lambinus (Paris, 1563; 3d ed., 1570). But all modern editions are based on that of Lachmann (Berlin, 1850; 4th ed. of the text, 1871: of the commentary, 1882). The text was edited for Teubner by Bernays (Leipzig, 1852) and by Brieger (Leipzig, 1894; 2d ed., 1899). The most helpful editions to-day are those of H. A. J. Munro (3 vols., test, commentary, translation; 4th ed., London, 1886); C. Giussani (2 vols., text and admirable commentary and introductions, Turin, 1896-98); W. A. Merrill (New York, 1907). Book iii has been specially edited by Heinze (Leipzig, 1897).

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIV (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 449-451.