Mischa Hooker / Cicero

Augustana College

DND 1.49a

Mischa Hooker / Cicero
  • Created on 2021-09-29 21:09:54
  • Modified on 2021-09-29 21:10:28
  • Translated by Yonge; Walsh
  • Aligned by Mischa Hooker
Latin
English
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 .
Though these distinctions were more acutely devised and more artfully expressed by Epicurus than any common capacity can comprehend ; yet , depending on your understanding , I shall be more brief on the subject than otherwise I should be .
Epicurus ' researches were too penetrating , and his explanations too subtle , to be grasped by any Tom , Dick , or Harry , but I rely on the intelligence of my audience here in offering this explanation , which is more succinct than the theme demands .

( 30 ) 100% LAT
( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG

( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG
( 41 ) 100% ENG

( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG
( 41 ) 100% ENG

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 .

( 48 ) 49% LAT
( 49 ) 51% LAT - ENG

( 63 ) 48% LAT - ENG
( 68 ) 52% ENG

( 63 ) 48% LAT - ENG
( 68 ) 52% ENG

DND 1.50a

Mischa Hooker / Cicero
  • Created on 2021-09-29 21:17:36
  • Translated by Yonge; Walsh
  • Aligned by Mischa Hooker
Latin
English
English
Summa vero vis infinitatis et magna ac diligenti contemplatione dignissima est . In qua intellegi necesse est eam esse naturam , ut omnia omnibus paribus paria respondeant ; hanc isonomian appellat Epicurus , id est aequabilem tributionem . Ex hac igitur illud efficitur , si mortalium tanta multitudo sit , esse inmortalium non minorem , et si , quae interimant , innumerabilia sint , etiam ea , quae conservent infinita esse debere .
Surely the mighty power of the Infinite Being is most worthy our great and earnest contemplation ; the nature of which we must necessarily understand to be such that everything in it is made to correspond completely to some other answering part . This is called by Epicurus ἰσονομία ; that is to say , an equal distribution or even disposition of things . From hence he draws this inference ; that , as there is such a vast multitude of mortals , there cannot be a less number of immortals ; and if those which perish are innumerable , those which are preserved ought also to be countless .
The significance of the infinity just mentioned is supremely important , and repays close and careful scrutiny . We must grasp that its nature is such that there is an exact balance in all creation what Epicurus calls isonomia or equal distribution . What follows from this principle is that if there is a specific quantity of mortal creatures , the tally of immortals is no fewer ; and again , if the destructive elements in the world are countless , the forces of conservation must likewise be infinite .

( 73 ) 100% LAT
( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG

( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG
( 110 ) 100% ENG

( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG
( 110 ) 100% ENG

DND 1.50b-51

Mischa Hooker / Cicero
  • Created on 2021-09-29 21:19:10
  • Modified on 2021-09-29 21:20:02
  • Translated by Yonge; Walsh
  • Aligned by Mischa Hooker
Latin
English
English
Et quaerere a nobis , Balbe , soletis , quae vita deorum sit quaeque ab is degatur aetas . Ea videlicet , qua nihil beatius , nihil omnibus bonis affluentius cogitari potest . Nihil enim agit , nullis occupationibus est inplicatus , nulla opera molitur , sua sapientia et virtute gaudet , habet exploratum fore se semper cum in maximis tum in aeternis voluptatibus .
Your sect , Balbus , frequently ask us how the Gods live , and how they pass their time ? Their life is the most happy , and the most abounding with all kinds of blessings , which can be conceived . They do nothing . They are embarrassed with no business ; nor do they perform any work . They rejoice in the possession of their own wisdom and virtue . They are satisfied that they shall ever enjoy the fulness of eternal pleasures .
Another enquiry , Balbus , which you Stoics often make , concerns the nature of the gods ' life , how they spend their days . Well , their life is such that nothing imaginable is more blessed , more abounding in all good things . The god is wholly inactive ; he has no round of tasks to perform , and no structures to set up . He takes pleasure in his own wisdom and virtue , utterly certain that he will be perennially surrounded by the greatest and most abiding pleasures .

( 65 ) 100% LAT
( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG

( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG
( 86 ) 100% ENG

( 0 ) 0% LAT - ENG
( 86 ) 100% ENG