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Lucretius
On
the Nature of Things
Translated by Ian Johnston
Vancouver Island University
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Canada
2010
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This translation is now available as a
paperback book from Richer Resources
Publications and as a recording from Naxos Audiobooks.
For copyright information please check
the section headed Copyright below. For suggestion, corrections, comments,
please contact Ian Johnston.
For an introduction to Lucretius, On
the Nature of Things, use the following link: Lecture.
CONTENTS
For a more detailed description of the
contents of each book, please consult the relevant opening page.
[Invocation, Basic Principles, Elementary
Particles, Rival Theories, Infinite Nature of the Universe]
[Importance of Philosophy, Motions of Elementary
Particles, Shapes and Forms of Elementary Particles, Properties of Elementary
Particles, Infinite Number of Worlds]
[Praise of Epicurus, Nature of the Soul, Mortality
of the Soul, Men’s Fear of Death]
[Images of Objects, Sense Perception, Body
Functions, Human Sexuality]
[Praise of Epicurus, Nature of the World, Movements
of Celestial Bodies, History of Earth, Early History of Human Civilization]
[Praise of
Athens and Epicurus, the Atmosphere, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, the Nile, Avernian Regions, Magnets, Diseases, Plague in Athens]
TRANSLATOR’S
NOTE
The translator of Lucretius faces a
number of editorial choices because the poem was evidently never finally
revised and prepared, so that there are a number of repetitions of passages,
awkward transitions, and alternative readings for particular words. In many
places the best order for the lines is a matter of debate. In addition, the
gaps in the manuscript call for the missing material to be supplied as best one
can. Hence, there is considerable variety from one possibility to another.
This translation is based primarily
upon the Latin text of H. A. J. Munro, Fourth Revised Edition (London 1900).
However, I have not followed all of Munro’s editorial decisions, especially
where the removal and rearrangement of lines are concerned, and often I have
made use of the suggestions of other editors about particular words, the
arrangement of lines, and missing lines. Hence, I have frequently departed from
Munro’s text, especially in response to alternatives offered by Bailey,
Leonard, and Watson.
For the convenience of the reader who
wishes to consult the Latin text, I have included the line numbers of the Latin
text of William Ellery Leonard, because that is the most readily accessible
version on the internet (at Perseus), even though
there are some discrepancies between the line numbers in his text and in
Munro’s. In the text of this translation, the numbers in square brackets refer
to the line numbers in Leonard’s Latin text; the numbers without brackets refer
to this English text. In the reckoning, successive partial lines count as one
line.
I have supplied endnotes for two
reasons: first, to inform the reader of a few details of my editorial decisions
about the Latin text and, second, to provide a general commentary of some help
to the reader encountering Lucretius for the first time. The commentary is not
intended to be a comprehensive analysis but merely an occasionally useful
supplement.
A list of references mentioned in the endnotes is
provided at the end, in section headed Acknowledgments.
COPYRIGHT
This translation may be downloaded for personal use
in print or electronic form without permission and without charge. Teachers who
wish to distribute this translation or parts of it to their students in print
or electronic or recorded form may do so without permission and without charge.
They may also edit the translation freely to suit their purposes. However, any
use of this translation for commercial purposes is not permitted without the
permission of the translator.