July 29, 2005
A Few Lines from Lucretius
As some of you already know, I love to collect quotes from various authors. I have a program that randomly chooses from among them and appends one to each email I send. In my continuing attempt to provoke discussion, I thought I'd share the latest addition, some lines from Lucretius's De rerum natura:
O genus infelix humanum, talia diuis
cum tribuit facta atque iras adiunxit acerbas!
quantos tum gemitus ipsi sibi, quantaque nobis
uulnera, quas lacrimas peperere minoribu' nostris!O unhappy tribe of men, when it attributed
such deeds and coupled bitter anger to the gods!
Then, what groans for themselves, what wounds
For us, and what tears for our descendents
Did they bring forth!
That second line is a bit awkward, but I think the sense comes across. Lucretius was not, however, an atheist. He thought the gods just didn't care about humans and that things happen by chance, thus indulging in the rituals and superstitions of religion only makes one unhappy. He goes on to say that true piety is not praying to altars or making sacrifices,
sed mage placata posse omnia mente tueri.but more to be able to look on all things with a tranquil mind.
I don't think any of this really needs interpreting—Lucretius here speaks for himself—so I don't have anything to say in conclusion. I just thought I'd share and get some more practice translating.