10-7-2021
/
Latin
English
" Haec quamquam et inventa sunt acutius et dicta subtilius ab Epicuro , quam ut quivis ea possit agnoscere , tamen fretus intellegentia vestra dissero brevius quam causa desiderat . Epicurus autem , qui res occultas et penitus abditas non modo videat animo sed etiam sic tractet ut manu , docet eam esse vim et naturam deorum ut primum non sensu sed mente cernantur , nec soliditate quadam nec ad numerum , ut ea quae ille propter firmitatem στερέμνια appellat , sed imaginibus similitudine et transitione perceptis , cum infinita simillumarum imaginum series ex innumerabilibus individuis existat et ad deos3 adfluat , cum maximis voluptatibus in eas imagines mentem intentam infixamque nostram intellegentiam 50capere quae sit et beata natura et aeterna .
These
discoveries
of
Epicurus
are
so
acute
in
themselves
and
so
subtly
expressed
that
not
everyone
would
be
capable
of
appreciating
them
.
Still
I
may
rely
on
your
intelligence
,
and
make
my
exposition
briefer
than
the
subject
demands
.
Epicurus
then
,
as
he
not
merely
discerns
abstruse
and
recondite
things
with
his
mind’s
eye
,
but
handles
them
as
tangible
realities
,
teaches
that
the
substance
and
nature
of
the
gods
is
such
that
,
in
the
first
place
,
it
is
perceived
not
by
the
senses
but
by
the
mind
,
and
not
materially
or
individually
,
like
the
solid
objects
which
Epicurus
in
virtue
of
their
substantiality
entitles
steremnia
;
but
by
our
perceiving
images
owing
to
their
similarity
and
succession
,
because
an
endless
train
of
precisely
similar
images
arises
from
the
innumerable
atoms
and
streams
towards
the
gods
,
a
our
mind
with
the
keenest
feelings
of
pleasure
fixes
its
gaze
on
these
images
,
and
so
attains
an
understanding
of
the
nature
of
a
being
both
blessed
and
50eternal
.