On the Nature of the Universe (Oxford World’s Classics) (69 page)

700
great clouds of sand
: volcanic ash was often termed ‘sand’ in antiquity: cf. Seneca,
Natural Questions
2. 30. 1.

701
mixing bowls
: in Greek
krater
originally meant a bowl for mixing wine and water.

703
It is not enough to state one cause
: the Epicurean doctrine of ‘multiple explanations’: see above on 5. 528.

705
The lifeless body of some man
: argument over the causes of death to be deduced from the appearance of a corpse also figured in rhetorical training: see for instance the contemporary
Rhetoric to Herennius
ascribed to Cicero, 2. 8.

712
The Nile, the river of all Egypt
: the annual inundation of the Nile was a topic of wonder and intense scientific interest throughout antiquity: the pre-Socratic philosophers Thales, Anaxagoras, and Democritus (sixth and fifth century
BC
) already speculated about it, Herodotus has a long excursus on the subject (2. 19 ff.), Aristotle wrote a treatise
On the Flooding of the Nile
, of which a Latin version survives, and Seneca devoted a book of the
Natural Questions
to it (‘IVa’ in modern numeration). The cause (rains in Ethiopia) was known in antiquity (cf. with 729 ff. Aristotle fr. 248, Theophrastus,
On Waters
fr. 211B), although the sources of the Nile were not fully explored until the nineteenth century, notably by Sir Henry Morton Stanley: there is a detailed discussion of the ancient theories in D. Bonneau,
Le Cru du Nil
(Paris, 1963). The river was also a typical example of the literary sublime: cf. [Longinus],
On the Sublime
35. 4.

716
Etesian
: in Greek
etesios
means ‘annual’.

738
the lakes | And other places that are called Avernian
: as Lucretius explains, ‘avernus’, from the Greek
aornos
, means ‘without birds’. Lake Avernus at Cumae (near Naples) was regarded as the entrance to the Underworld (cf. most famously
Book 6
of Virgil’s
Aeneid
): hence the term came to mean ‘infernal’, but does not seem to have been used in Latin in the general sense Lucretius gives it here (though
aornos
is used generally in Greek). The strange properties of various locations, especially rivers and springs, were a standard subject in the so-called ‘paradoxographical’ literature dealing with natural wonders: so, for instance, Antigonus of Carystus (third century
BC
) in his
Collection of Paradoxical Stories
(12, 122), as well as mentioning Lucretius’ example of the Athenian acropolis, reported that no bird could fly over the temple of Achilles in Leuce.

750
Tritonian Pallas
: the goddess Athena, whose temple, the Parthenon, stands on the acropolis at Athens. Of the various explanations current in antiquity for her epithet ‘Tritonian’, the most popular connected her with Lake Tritonis in Libya.

754
the anger | Of Pallas
: echoing a phrase from the
Hecale
of the hellenistic Greek poet Callimachus (third century
BC
, fr. 260). In mythology, Athena
became angry at the daughters of the Athenian king Cecrops for opening a chest containing the boy Ericthonius: their action had been reported to her by a crow, and in consequence she banned crows from the air over the acropolis.

756
In Syria also
: the reference is uncertain: one possible contender is a ‘Plutonium’ near Laodicea described by the first-century
BC
/first-century
AD
geographer Strabo (13. 4. 14).

761
The gates of Hell
: a large number of places in the ancient world were thought to be entrances to or openings from the Underworld (in Greek
Charoneia
, from Charon, the infernal ferryman): Lucretius’ contemporary Varro collected all the Italian examples (cf. Servius on Virgil,
Aeneid
7. 563). They naturally figured in paradoxographical writing (see e.g. Antigonus of Carystus 123, Pliny,
Natural Histories
2. 208, and cf. Ennius,
Annals
fr. 222, Virgil,
Aeneid
7. 568). The Stoics, like the Epicureans, were emphatic that the wise person would have no fear of such places (Diogenes Laertius,
Lives of the Philosophers
7. 123).

765
light-footed stags
: for deer enticing snakes out of holes, cf. Pliny,
Natural Histories
8. 118, 28. 149, Martial (first–second century
AD
) 11. 29. 5, Aelian (second–third century
AD
),
On the Nature of Animals
2. 9, Oppian (third century
AD
),
On Hunting
2. 233–41.

783
trees |… so dangerous
: cf. Virgil,
Eclogues
10. 76 (juniper), Pliny,
Natural Histories
16. 70, 17. 89 (box and walnut), but the phenomenon is connected with the poetic mountain of Helicon only by Lucretius, perhaps polemically.

810
Scaptensula
: a town in Thrace fames for its mines (its name
Skapte Hule
in Greek means ‘dug-out wood’). Ancient writers often commented on the appalling conditions in mines, often within a moralizing framework which criticized the whole enterprise: cf. Posidonius (first century
BC
) fr. 240 Kidd; J. F. Healy,
Mining and Metallurgy in the Greek and Roman World
(London, 1978), 133–8.

840
Water in wells grows colder in the summer
: cf. Cicero,
On the Nature of the Gods
2. 25, Diodorus Siculus 1. 141, Seneca,
Natural Questions
4. 2. 26, 6. 13. 2. Pliny,
Natural Histories
2. 227–35, has a long discussion of the properties of springs and wells: cf. also Antigonus of Carystus 133–65.

848
shrine of Ammon
: Ammon or Hammon (Amun) was an Egyptian god identified with Jupiter. The spring at his shrine in the oasis of Siwa in the Libyan desert was described by Herodotus 4. 181 (and cf. e.g. Pliny,
Natural Histories
2. 228).

879
a cold spring
: at another prophetic site, that of Zeus at Dodona in north-west Greece, also described by Herodotus 2. 55–7, and Pliny,
Natural Histories
2. 228.

890
spring at Aradus
: Aradus (Awad) was an island off the coast of Phoenicia: for its freshwater spring, cf. Pliny,
Natural Histories
2. 227, Strabo 16. 2. 13.

907–8
that stone | Which the Greeks call magnet, naming it from its home
: the ‘magnet’ (lodestone, magnetite, magnetic iron ore) seems to have taken its name from Magnesia in Asia Minor. It had no practical use in the ancient world (the magnetic compass was first used in the West in the thirteenth century
AD
) but was another frequent source of wonder and speculation. Thales (fr. A22) thought the magnet was alive in some way: Empedocles (fr. A89) introduced explanation in terms of emanations and pores, and this was developed by the atomists, making use of their concept of the void (Democritus fr. A165). Epicurus thought that all attraction takes place by means of the rebounds and entanglements of atoms (fr. 293 Usener). Lucretius’ account gives an important role to the void, but otherwise comes closer to that of Plato, who denies the notion of attraction, and explains the phenomenon in terms of the dislodgement and movement of air (
Timaeus
80c, cf. Plutarch,
Platonic Questions
7); this prepares for the role to be played by diseased air in the account of the plague. Lucretius’ contemporary Asclepiades of Bithynia seems to have held similar views to Plato and Lucretius (cf. Epicurus fr. 293). Cf. also in general Plato,
Ion
535d–e, Theophrastus,
On Stones
29, Pliny,
Natural Histories
34. 147, 36. 126 ff.

911
A chain of little rings
: the description recalls Plato,
Ion
535d–e; cf. Pliny,
Natural Histories
34. 147.

917
unless first | Much is established
: the recapitulation of the Epicurean theory of emanations and pores is also useful for the coming account of the plague; 923–35 are repeated from 4. 217–29 with minor changes.

946
Food is diffused all through the veins
: cf. Epicurus fr. 293, which also makes an analogy between digestion and magnetic attraction: cf. 3. 703, and 6. 1129–30, 1167 in the plague section.

1033
as wind drives sails and ship
: cf. 4. 897.

1044
Samothracian irons
: iron amulets from the island of Samothrace in the Aegean (the home of the Cabeirian mysteries, whose initiates wore iron rings): cf. Isidore (seventh century
AD
),
Etymologies
18. 32. 5, Pliny,
Natural Histories
33. 23.

1058–61
Gold… | Wood
: the same examples of non-magnetic substances occur in Plato (cf. Plutarch,
Platonic Questions
7).

1065
These properties are not so different | From others
: Philodemus in his treatise
On Signs
(8, 16) deals with problems raised by the apparent uniqueness of the magnet.

1069
Bulls’ glue
: cf. Aristotle,
History of Animals
517
^b
29 ff., Pliny,
Natural Histories
28. 236.

1078
gold to gold one thing alone can bond
: a substance known as
chrysocolla
(‘gold-glue’), possibly a flux or solder.

1084
mutually opposing textures
: the interaction of substances here will again be recalled in the account of the plague, where the affinity proves lethal (cf. 1232 with 1016). The Jewish Greek philosopher Philo explicitly compares contagion and magnetism (
On Providence
2. 90).

1087
hooks and rings
: cf. Epicurus fr. 293 Usener.

1090
the nature of diseases
:
Book 6
and the work as a whole concludes with a general account of the causes of diseases (1090–1137), and a description of a specific example, the plague at Athens in 430–426
BC
(1138–1286). The atomist explanation in terms of destructive particles connects the subject with the preceding wonders of nature which have been explained in similar terms, but the subject obviously has much greater significance. Like the Lisbon earthquake in Voltaire’s
Candide
, the horrors of the plague are the ultimate demonstration that the world is not providentially ordered, but they also offer a test to the reader. An Epicurean should be able to cope even with this. The aetiology of disease was naturally much discussed by medical writers in the ancient world, but also received considerable attention from philosophers: amongst the pre-Socratic philosophers, Alcmaeon of Croton (fifth century
BC
) paid particular attention to the subject, and there is a famous treatment by Plato in the
Timaeus
(81e–87b), who was probably reacting to Democritean theorizing (cf. Plutarch,
Convivial Questions
8. 9). The Lucretian account draws on the treatise
Airs, Waters, Plates
(fifth century
BC
) ascribed to Hippocrates, which stressed the role of environmental factors, but adds the twist that it is the corrupt air which here travels rather than human beings moving into an unaccustomed area.

1099
from without
: i.e. from outside the world-system: cf. 6. 483–94, 954–5. Democritus held that, when worlds broke up, matter from them could enter other worlds and cause plagues and new diseases: theories of extraterrestrial causation have occasionally been revived in modern times (as most recently by the astronomer Fred Hoyle).

1101
From the earth itself
: the commonest explanation for diseased air; cf. Hippocrates,
Airs, Waters, Plates
10, [Aristotle],
Problems
862
^a
, Diodorus Siculus 12. 58. 3, Galen,
On the differences in fevers
1. 6. 7.

1107
where the world’s great pole | Leans sideways
: i.e. the earth’s axis is inclined.

1108
Pontus
: the area of Asia minor in the Black Sea (modern Turkey), representing the east, as Cadiz represents the west, Britain the north, and Egypt the south (cf. Juvenal,
Satires
10. 1 ff.). Rome had fought a long war with Mithradates of Pontus, who died in 63
BC
, less than a decade before the publication of
On the Nature of the Universe
.

1114
the elephant disease
: i.e. elephantiasis, though some forms of leprosy also seem to have been included under the term. Lucretius’ contemporary Asclepiades of Bithynia is said to have been the first to describe the disease (Plutarch,
Convivial Questions
8. 9), but other sources say that it was mentioned by Erasistratus (fourth–third century
BC
) and Strato (third century
BC
). It is usually caused by parasitic worms.

1138
the realms of Cecrops
: i.e. Athens, from the name of a mythical early king. He appears in encomia of Athens celebrating the fact that the Athenians were ‘autochthonous’ or born of the land: ironically here, while they do not move, the plague is an unwelcome immigrant. Lucretius’ account of the epidemic at Athens in 430–426
BC
is based closely on that given by the fifth-century
BC
historian Thucydides in his
History of the Peloponnesian War
(2. 47–52), with the addition of some details from medical writings. What the ‘plague’ actually was remains controversial: the agent responsible may no longer be extant or may have mutated. Lucretius’ tactic of using the horrors of the disease to offset the glories of the opening celebration of Athenian civilization picks up a similar contrast in Thucydides with Pericles’ famous Funeral Speech in praise of the city, which immediately precedes the description of the epidemic (2. 35–46). In turn, Lucretius’ account was much imitated: cf. Virgil,
Georgics
3. 478–566, Ovid,
Metamorphoses
7. 523–613, Seneca,
Oedipus
110–201.