File:Epikouros_BM_1843.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Epicurus
Sign in to saveAlso known as Epíkouros, Epikouros
Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy; it asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranquil lives, characterized by freedom from fear and the absence of pain.
Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a school of thought centered on the idea that philosophy's main purpose is to help people achieve peaceful, tranquil lives free from fear and pain. His ideas were hugely influential in ancient philosophy and continue to shape how people think about what makes a good life, though popular understanding of his views is often distorted.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 341 BC
- Died
- 270 BC
- Works
- 80
Top works
- Epicvrvs' morals
- Physica et meteorologica duabus epistolis eiusdem comprehensa Graeca emendavit atque interpretatus est J. G. Schneider
- Frammenti inediti della Etica di Epicuro
- Fragmente
- Kyriai doxai
via Open Library + Wikidata
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 336
- Total plays
- 725
Similar artists
Epicurus (Greek: Ἐπίκουρος, Epikouros, "ally, comrade"; Samos, 341 BCE – Athens, 270 BCE; 72 years) was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters remain of Epicurus's 300 written works. Much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators. For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Epicurus">Read more on Last.fm</a>
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Epicurea
· 2010 · cited 22x
- Letter to Menoeceus
· 2020 · cited 5x
- Epicurus, Letters, Principal Doctrines, and Vatican Sayings. With an Introduction and Notes
· 1964 · cited 2x
- Epistulae tres et ratae sententiae a Laertio Diogene servatae. Gnomologium Epicureum Vaticanum
· 1996 · cited 1x
- The Stoic and Epicurean Philosophers. The Complete Extant Writings of Epicurus, Epictetus, Lucretius, Marcus, Aurelius
· 1941
via Crossref · CC0
Quotes
- “ἄφοβον ὁ θεός, ἀνύποπτον ὁ θάνατος, καὶ τἀγαθὸν μὲν εὔκτητον, τὸ δὲ δεινὸν εὐεκκαρτέρητον.”
- “Δικαιοσύνης καρπὸς μέγιστος ἀταραξία.”
- “Luxurious food and drinks, in no way protect you from harm. Wealth beyond what is natural, is no more use than an overflowing container. Real value is not generated by theaters, and baths, perfumes or ointments, but by philosophy.”
- “τὸ φρικωδέστατον οὖν τῶν κακῶν ὁ θάνατος οὐθὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς͵ ἐπειδήπερ ὅταν μὲν ἡμεῖς ὦμεν͵ ὁ θάνατος οὐ πάρεστιν͵ ὅταν δὲ ὁ θάνατος παρῇ͵ τόθ΄ ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἐσμέν.”
- “He who is not satisfied with a little, is satisfied with nothing.”
- “Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth.”
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Key facts
- Philosopher.name
- Epicurus
- Philosopher.image
- Epikouros BM 1843.jpg
- Philosopher.caption
- Roman marble bust of Epicurus
- Philosopher.region
- Western philosophy
- Philosopher.birth_date
- February 341 BC
- Philosopher.birth_place
- Samos, Greece
- Philosopher.death_date
- 270 BC (aged about 72)
- Philosopher.death_place
- Athens, Greece
- Philosopher.era
- Hellenistic philosophy
- Philosopher.school_tradition
- Epicureanism
- Philosopher.notable_ideas
- Attributed:
via Wikipedia infobox
Works in European collections
18 objects attributed to Epicurus, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
La morale d'Epicure
La Morale d'Épicure, avec des reflexions
Barátság
Philosophia Epicurea
Physica et meteorologica
Epicvri Philosophia, 3. Philosophiae Epicvri Pars Tertia, Qvae Est Ethica, Seu De Moribvs
Philosophia Epicurea
Epicuri ab H. Usenero recogniti specimen
Epicvri Philosophia, 2. Epicvri Meteorologia, Hoc Est, Illa Physicae Pars, Qvae Est De Rebvs Sublime Visis
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
~58 min read
Article
49 sectionsContents
- Life
- Upbringing and influences
- Teaching career
- Death
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Epistemology
- Criteria of truth
- Principle of Multiple Explanations
- Epilogism
- Ethics
- Politics
- Theology
- Epicurean paradox<!--'Epicurean paradox', 'Riddle of Epicurus', and 'Epicurus' trilemma' redirect here-->
- Death
- Works
- ''On Nature''
- ''Canon''
- ''Principal Doctrines''
- Tetrapharmakos
- Letters of Epicurus
- ''Letter to Herodotus''
- ''Letter to Pythocles''
- ''Letter to Menoeceus''
- ''Letter to Mother''
- ''Vatican Sayings''
- Legacy
- Ancient Epicureanism
- Middle Ages
- Renaissance
- Revival
- Modern
- References
- Bibliography
- Primary source texts
- Philodemus
- Lucretius
- Aetius
- Plutarch
- Lucian of Samosata
- Diogenes of Oenoanda
- Sextus Empiricus
- Diogenes Laërtius
- Lactantius
- Epicurea
- Modern compilations
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy; it asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranquil lives, characterized by freedom from fear and the absence of pain.
Epicurus advocated that people were best able to pursue philosophy by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends; he and his followers were known for eating simple meals and discussing a wide range of philosophical subjects at "The Garden", the school he established in Athens. Epicurus taught that although the gods exist, they have no involvement in human affairs. Like the earlier philosopher Democritus, Epicurus claimed that all occurrences in the natural world are ultimately the result of tiny, invisible particles known as atoms moving and interacting in empty space, though Epicurus also deviated from Democritus by proposing the idea of atomic "swerve", which holds that atoms may deviate from their expected course, thus permitting humans to possess free will in an otherwise deterministic universe.
Gallery (38)
Available in 99 languages
- Español
- Français
- Deutsch
- 中文
- 日本語
- Русский
- Português
- Italiano
- العربية
- हिन्दी
- Afrikaans
- Albanian
- Aragonese
- Armenian
- Asturian
- Azerbaijani
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Bangla
Show 80 more
- Bashkir
- Basque
- Belarusian
- Bosnian
- Breton
- Bulgarian
- Burmese
- Catalan
- Central Kurdish
- Chuvash
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Egyptian Arabic
- Esperanto
- Estonian
- Filipino
- Finnish
- Galician
- Georgian
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Hungarian
- hyw
- Icelandic
- Ido
- Irish
- Javanese
- Kabyle
- Kazakh
- Kyrgyz
- Latin
- Latvian
- Lingua Franca Nova
- Lithuanian
- Macedonian
- Malagasy
- Malay
- Malayalam
- Mazanderani
- Mingrelian
- Nederlands
- Newari
- Nias
- Norwegian
- Occitan
- Pampanga
- Pashto
- Piedmontese
- Polski
- Punjabi
- Romanian
- Sardinian
- Scots
- Scottish Gaelic
- Serbian
- Serbian (Latin)
- Sicilian
- simple
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Standard Moroccan Tamazight
- Svenska
- Swahili
- Tamil
- Tatar
- Tiếng Việt
- Türkçe
- Ukrainian
- Urdu
- Uzbek
- Volapük
- Walloon
- Waray
- Western Panjabi
- Wu Chinese
- zh_min_nan
- zh_yue
- فارسی
- 한국어
via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0