EPICURUS, ep-I-lccfrus, Greelc philoso pher : b. Samos 341 Lc.; d. Athens 270 Ex. He went to Athens 323 B.C., where he is said to have enjoyed the instructions of Xenocrates, then at the head of the Academy, but this he himself does not admit. Epicurus generally denied his obligations to other philosophers. Although some parts of his system are evidently borrowed from his predecessors, he claimed to be self instructed, and treated his teachers with hos tility and contempt. His stay at Athens, how ever, was brief ; and on leaving it he went to Colophon, where his father was engaged in teaching, and began himself to give lessons in grammar. It was here, according to some ac counts, that his attention was first turned to ,m philosophy. He himself says he began his philo sophical studies at the age of 14, but they may have subsequently taken a more distinct devel opment. The inability of the grammarians to explain a passage about Chaos and the acci dental possession of a copy of the worlcs of Democritus are variously assigned as the cause of this new or more decided direction of his mind. From Colophon he went to Mytilene and Lampsacus, where he engaged in teaching phi losophy. He returned to Athens in 306 and pur chased a garden in a favorable situation, where he established a philosophical school. Here he spent the remainder of his life except for short visits to Asia Minor. His mode of life appears to have been simple and temperate. He abstained, as a principle, from politics, and took no part in public affairs. During the latter part of his life he was afflicted with severe physical suffer ing which was borne with heroic courage.
Epicurus was a very voluminous writer. wrote some 300 separate treatises. His works, however, are represented as full of repetitions and quotations. In ancient times his philosophy
appears to have been more popular in Greece than in Rome, although his disciples were numerous in both. This is easily comprehended, as it was in fact a system engendered by the de cline of public virtue in Greece, while the sever est stoi philosophy was better adapted to the ac ve public spirit of Rome. left of his numerous writings. Some fragments of a 'Treatise on Nature,' which is known to have consisted of 37 parts, were found at Hercula neum and published by J. C. Orellius (Leipzig 1818). All other fragments have been pub lished by H. Usener in his 'Epicurea' (Leipzig 1887). The chief account of his philosophy is contained in the great poem of Lucretius, 'De Rerum Natura,' one of the masterpieces of Roman literature. A good edition of the latter is that by W. A. Merrill (New York 1907). There is also a translation by H. A. J. Munro (London 1908). Consult 'Epicurus and His Sayings' (in Quarterly Review, Vol. CLXXXV, p. 68, London 1897) ; 'Epicurus and Lucretius' (in Westminster Review, n. s. Vol. LXI, p. 299, London 1882) ; Du Ronde!, J., 'La Vie d'Epicure) (La Haye 1686) ; Gassend, P., 'De Vita et Moribus Epicuri' (1647) ; Girard, J., 'Etudes sur la Poesie Grecque,' etc. (Paris 1884) ; Gomperz, T., 'Greek Thinkers' (4 vols, London 1901-12) ; Guyau, M., 'La Morale d'Epicure' (Paris 1881) ; Hicks, R. D., 'Stoic and Epicurean' (New York 1910) ; Kreibig, J., 'Epikur ) (Leipzig 1886) ; Reale Accademia Ercolanese di Archeologia, 'Herculanensium Voluminum Qum Supersunt' (11 vols., Naples 1793-1857) ' • Taylor, A. E., 'Epicurus) (New York 1911) • Wallace, W., 'Epicureanism' (London 1881)).