& ARIS PHILLIPS CLASSICAL TEXTS LUCRETIUS De Rerum Natura V Edited with a Translation, Introduction and Commentary by Monica R. Gale AR.Is& PHILLIPS CLASSICAL TEXTS LUCRETIUS: DE RERUM NATURA V Edited with translation and commentary by Monica R. Gale Aris & Phillips Classical Texts are published by Oxbow Books, Oxford © M. R. Gale, 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying without the prior permission of the publishers in writing. ISBN 978-0-85668-884-3 cloth ISBN 978-0-85668-889-8 paper A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library Excerpts (] 115 words) from "De Rerum Natura" edited by Bailey C (1922) By permission of Oxford University Press Printed and bound by Athenaeum Press, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear CONTENTS List of Illustrations 1v Preface v Abbreviations vn Introduction I Lucretius and the Late Republic 1 II Epicurus and his Philosophy 4 ill The Didactic Epic 8 IV De Rerum Natura V: Cosmology and Auman Prehistory 10 V Language and Style 12 VI The Transmission of the Text 13 Note on references to the Presocratic Philosophers 15 De Rerum Natura V 17 Commentary 109 Bibliography 217 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 The changing angle of the earth in relation to the sun in summer and winter, due to the tilt of the earth's axis ( diagram by J. Hamwey, reprinted from J. Cornell, The First Stargazers: An Introduction to the Origins of Astronomy (London, 1981)) 152 Fig. 2 The annual path of the sun through the zodiac (reprinted from J. Evans, The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy,© Oxford University Press, 1998) 152 Fig. 3 Shifting positions of sunrise and sunset in summer and winter ( diagram by J. Hamwey, reprinted from J. Cornell, The First Stargazers: An Introduction to the Origins of Astronomy (London, 1981)) 153 Fig. 4 The phases of the moon (reprinted from J. Evans, The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy, © Oxford University Press, 1998) 160 PREFACE For a work written more than two thousand years ago, in a society in many ways quite alien to our own, Lucretius' De Rerum Natura contains much of striking - even startling - contemporary relevance. This is true, above all, of the fifth book, which begins by putting a strong case against what it has recently become fashionable to call 'intelligent design', and ends with an account of human evolution and the development of society in which the limitations of technological progress form a strong and occasionally explicit subtext. Along the way, the poet touches on many themes which may strike a chord with the twenty-first century reader: the fragility of our ecosystem, the corruption of political life, the futility of consumerism and the desirability of limiting our acquisitive instincts are all highly topical issues for us, as for the poem's original audience. Though the underlying reasons for our interest in such matters may be rather different from those of the ancient Epicurean and his readers, De Rerum Natura 5 has interesting side-lights to shine on contemporary debate, as well as offering a fascinating introduction to the world view of the upper-class Roman of the first century BC. It is my hope that the present edition (which complements existing Aris and Phillips commentaries on books 3, 4 and 6) will help to make Lucretius' urgent and impassioned argument, and something of his remarkable poetic style, accessible to a wider audience, including those with little or no knowledge of Latin. My aim in both translation and commentary has been two-fold: to explain the scientific argument of the book (particularly in its more technical sections) as clearly as possible; and to convey at least some impression of the poetic texture of Lucretius' Latin. In many places, these goals have unavoidably conflicted with each other; I have attempted, however, to follow the syntactical structures and densely metaphorical style of the original Latin as closely as possible in the translation; the notes will serve, it is hoped, to clarify the logical and rhetorical progression of the argument, while also offering comment of a more broadly literary, ideological and philosophical nature. Neither the introduction nor the commentary presupposes any knowledge of Latin; a few notes of a linguistic nature have been included, however, for the benefit of readers tackling the work in the original language. My debt to earlier scholars - particularly in textual matters - is immeasurable; I have profited particularly from the editions and commentaries Preface VI of Cyril Bailey, C. D. N. Costa and M. F. Smith. It is ·a pleasure, too, to acknowledge the generous help of friends and colleagues. The late Malcolm Wilcock offered kindly advice and encouragement in the early phases of the project, as well as incisive comments on a sample of translation and commentary submitted to Aris and Phillips for approval. George Huxley brought his expertise in the field of ancient astronomy to bear on the central section of the commentary, and gave invaluable assistance on a number of technical points. I am grateful too to James Cornell for his immediate and positive response to a request for permission to reprint two illustrations from his book The First Stargazers; and to David Scourfield for scrutinizing the translation with his customary care and acumen, for discussion of many points of detail in the commentary, and for his constant support and encouragement throughout the book's long gestation. MR.G Dublin, May 2007 ABBREVIATIONS DK H. Diels and W. Kranz, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (10th edn., Berlin, 1961) KRS G. S. Kirk, J.E. Raven and M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers (2nd edn., Cambridge, 1983) MGLP J. W. Halpom, M. Ostwald and T. G. Rosenmeyer, The Metres of Greek and Latin Poetry (2nd edn., Norman, OK, 1980) NLS E. C. Woodcock, A New Latin Syntax (London, 1959) OCIY S. Hornblower andA. Spawforth (eds), The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd edn., Oxford, 1996) OLD The Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford, 1968)