Dec 29, 2009

De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things) | Characters

Epicurus
Epicurus is the father of the philosophy embraced in De rerum natura. Throughout the work, Lucretius praises Epicurus as "the founder of that way of life called 'wisdom'," "glory of Greece," "founder of truth," and "the first to stand firm in defiance" of popular religion.

(Gaius) Memmius
De rerum natura is addressed to Memmius. Lucretius writes to him as to a student, a convention that allows Lucretius to speak authoritatively as an instructor to all his readers. Memmius was a contemporary of Lucretius...