But these aren’t the vengeful, petty and jealous gods we’ve come to know from the likes of Homer and the Greek tragedies. His predecessor Epicurus has already argued for the existence of the gods. In fact, Lucretius does briefly mention the gods and their role in the universe. The Role of the Gods According to Lucretius Statue of the Roman god Jupiter in the Hermitage Museum, via ThoughtCo.īecause Lucretius’ atomism is a materialist philosophy which gives no religious significance to the world’s creation or its workings, many assume that Lucretius did not believe in the Roman gods at all.

As a result, scholars dispute whether the text’s somber ending stands on its own or whether Lucretius would have made alterations to it. It is widely believed that Lucretius died before he finished the poem. This ending contrasts heavily with the invocation to Venus at the start of the book. The other appears at the end of the entire poem and features a description of the Athenian plague during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. One occurs at the end of Book III, where Lucretius writes eloquently on why fearing death is pointless. The poem then includes two famous passages on the nature of death. On the Nature of Things begins with a hymn to Venus (described as the goddess who inspires birth and life). Mortality is a recurring theme throughout the book. Finally, Book V and VI cover the creation of the universe, celestial beings, and natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning.Įngraving by Guernier in an 18th century edition of On the Nature of Things, via Wikimedia Commons. Books III and IV describe the atomic structure of the soul and the body. Books I and II describe the nature of the atomic universe, and provide an opportunity to refute the physical theories of other philosophical schools, including Stoicism and the pre-Socratics (e.g. The poem’s structure is made up of three matching pairs of books which deal with the following themes: atoms and their role within the universe the soul and the cosmos.Īs well as the symmetrical structure, each book begins with a clear introduction. Lucretius planned his poem very carefully. It contains over 7,000 dactylic hexameters which expound Epicurean philosophy via poetic language rich in metaphor. The original Latin title of the work, De rerum natura, is a translation of Epicurus’ most well-known work Peri physeos (On Nature). On the Nature of Things is a didactic poem split into six books.

‘On the Nature of Things’: How and Why Lucretius Wrote his Poem Possible statue depicting Epicurus, via Wikimedia Commons.

Lucretius on the nature of things