DND 1.49b
Mischa Hooker / Cicero
- Created on 2021-09-29 21:15:07
- Modified on 2021-10-05 22:03:00
- Translated by Yonge; Walsh
- Aligned by Mischa Hooker
Latin
English
English
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 cernatur , nec soliditate quadam nec ad numerum , ut ea , quae ille propter firmitatem steremnia appellat , sed imaginibus similitudine et transitione perceptis , cum infinita simillumarum imaginum species ex innumerabilibus individuis existat et ad deos adfluat , cum maximis voluptatibus in eas imagines mentem intentam infixamque nostram intellegentiam capere , quae sit et beata natura et aeterna .
Epicurus , who not only discovered and understood the occult and almost hidden secrets of nature , but explained them with ease , teaches that the power and nature of the Gods is not to be discerned by the senses , but by the mind ; nor are they to be considered bodies of any solidity , or reduceable to number , like those things which , because of their firmness , he calls Στερέμνια ; but as images , perceived by similitude and transition . As infinite kinds of those images result from innumerable individuals , and centre in the Gods , our minds and understanding are directed towards and fixed with the greatest delight on them , in order to comprehend what that happy and eternal essence is .
By virtue of his mental outlook and practical handling of things hidden and deeply buried , Epicurus teaches that the vital nature of the gods is such that it is first perceptible not to the senses , but to the mind ; and not in substance or in measurable identity , like the things which he calls solid bodies because they are substantial . Rather , an infinite appearance of very similar images formed out of innumerable atoms arises , and flows towards the gods . Our minds focus and latch on to these images with the greatest sensations of pleasure ; thus they obtain an understanding of what a blessed and eternal being is .