Date of Award

10-1967

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Latin

Supervisor

J.S.A. Cunningham

Language

English

Abstract

This thesis argues that the Epicureans did not simply repeat the ipsa dicta of Epicurus, but developed new areas of study - (e.g., logic, rhetoric) of which Epicurus did not approve. This transmuted Epicureanism influenced the Romans of the late Republic and some of its ideas appear in Lucretius' De Rerum Natura.

Chapter 1 offers a brief historical sketch of some Epicureans of the late Republic and suggests that there was a peculiarly Roman Epicureanism as evidenced by their lives and actions. Chapter 2 discusses changes in Epicurean attitudes due to the influence of other schools, and the desire to "popularize" Epicureanism among the Romans. Chapter 3 outlines the evidence for the existence of Epicurean works in Latin other than the De Rerum Natura. Chapter 4 deals with Lucretius' debt to the early Epicureans, the later Epicureans and his Roman milieu.

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