Ἐπίκουρος
Epicurus, Epikouros
Translated by Marcelo Boeri22 Oct 2003Vetting: high7 revisions
Translation
[Epicurus,] son of Neocles; an Athenian, of the deme Gargettus. His mother was Chairestrate, and his brothers were Neocles, Chairedemus, Aristobulus or Aristodemus. He began to philosophize when he was 12 years old and he founded his own sect/school, first in Samos, where he spent some time with his parents. Later he was the head of his school in Mytilene for a number of years,1 then in Lampsacus and thus [he moved] to Athens [where he settled] in a garden of his own. He studied under Nausiphanes the Democritean and under Pamphilus the disciple of Plato. [Epicurus] was born during the 109th Olympiad, seven years after Plato's death,2 and his life extended until the successors [sc. of Alexander] and [sc. specifically] Antigonus Gonatas.3 His school continued until the first Caesar, for 227 years. In these [years] there were 14 successors. [There are] very many writings of his.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἐπίκουρος, Νεοκλέους, Ἀθηναῖος, Γαργήττειος τῶν δήμων, μητρὸς Χαιρεστράτης. ἀδελφοὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ Νεοκλῆς, Χαιρέδημος, Ἀριστόβουλος ἢ Ἀριστόδημος. φιλοσοφίας δὲ ἤρξατο ἀπὸ ἐνιαυτῶν ιβʹ καὶ οἰκείαν αἵρεσιν εἰσηγήσατο, πρῶτον μὲν ἐν Σάμῳ διατρίψας σὺν τοῖς γονεῦσιν, εἶτα σχολαρχήσας ἐν Μιτυλήνῃ ἐνιαυτῶν ὧν ἦν, εἶτα ἐν Λαμψάκῳ καὶ οὕτως ἐν Ἀθήναις ἐν ἰδίῳ κήπῳ, ἀκούσας δὲ Ναυσιφάνους τοῦ Δημοκριτείου καὶ Παμφίλου τοῦ Πλάτωνος μαθητοῦ. γέγονε δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ρθʹ ὀλυμπιάδος μετὰ ἑπτὰ ἐνιαυτοὺς τῆς Πλάτωνος τελευτῆς καὶ παρέτεινεν ἐπὶ τῶν διαδόχων καὶ Ἀντιγόνου τοῦ Γονατᾶ· καὶ διέμεινεν ἡ αὐτοῦ σχολὴ ἕως Καίσαρος τοῦ πρώτου, ἔτη σκζʹ. ἐν οἷς διάδοχοι αὐτῆς ἐγένοντο ιδʹ. συγγράμματα δὲ αὐτοῦ πλεῖστα.
Betacode
*)epi/kouros, *neokle/ous, *)aqhnai=os, *gargh/tteios tw=n dh/mwn, mhtro\s *xairestra/ths. a)delfoi\ de\ au)tou= *neoklh=s, *xaire/dhmos, *)aristo/boulos h)\ *)aristo/dhmos. filosofi/as de\ h)/rcato a)po\ e)niautw=n ib# kai\ oi)kei/an ai(/resin ei)shgh/sato, prw=ton me\n e)n *sa/mw| diatri/yas su\n toi=s goneu=sin, ei)=ta sxolarxh/sas e)n *mitulh/nh| e)niautw=n w(=n h)=n, ei)=ta e)n *lamya/kw| kai\ ou(/tws e)n *)aqh/nais e)n i)di/w| kh/pw|, a)kou/sas de\ *nausifa/nous tou= *dhmokritei/ou kai\ *pamfi/lou tou= *pla/twnos maqhtou=. ge/gone de\ e)pi\ th=s rq# o)lumpia/dos meta\ e(pta\ e)niautou\s th=s *pla/twnos teleuth=s kai\ pare/teinen e)pi\ tw=n diado/xwn kai\ *)antigo/nou tou= *gonata=: kai\ die/meinen h( au)tou= sxolh\ e(/ws *kai/saros tou= prw/tou, e)/th skz#. e)n oi(=s dia/doxoi au)th=s e)ge/nonto id#. suggra/mmata de\ au)tou= plei=sta.
Notes (3)
- 341-270 BCE. See generally D.J. Furley in OCD(4) s.v. Epicurus. The present entry reproduces (with some variations) the Life of Epicurus in Diogenes Laertius 10.1-16. See also epsilon 2405, epsilon 2406, sigma 1798.↩
- 1Some consider the text faulty here and supply a numeral. ↩
- 2The 109th Olympiad embraced the years 344/3 through 341/0, and the extra chronological fix from Plato's death allows Epicurus' birth-year to be calculated as 341/0. ↩
- 3For the Macedonian king Antigonus Gonatas (whose reign began in 277/6) see alpha 3745, alpha 3911, epsilon 2404, zeta 79, pi 1368.
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- ε2548Ἐπίρρητονinfamous[Meaning] shameful, worthy of condemnation. "[He was] one of those three infamous [men]. While living he used to approach no sacred [place], for they drove him [out] as accursed and infamous." And elsewhere: "he was…
- ε2916Ἔρρεgo (to hell)[Meaning] perish. "Go, bad cub, bad lot, go to Hades, go: I did not bear the one [who was] unworthy of Sparta." "O Xenophaneses and Diagorases and Hippons and Epicuruses and all the rest of the [catalogue] of those…
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Revision history7 revisions · last 28 Jan 2016
- tweaks — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- another note — David Whitehead
- another keyword; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- my typo — Catharine Roth
- added cross-references — Catharine Roth
- internal rearrangement; modified translation; augmented and modified notes; augmented keywords — David Whitehead
- Translated — Marcelo Boeri