Lucretius III 228-261 | Dickinson College Commentaries

quārē etiam atque etiam mentis nātūram animaequē

scīre licet perquam pauxillīs esse creātam

sēminibus, quoniam fugiēns nīl ponderis aufert.230

Nec tamen haec simplex nōbīs nātūra putanda est.

tenvis enim quaedam moribundōs dēserit aura

mixta vapōre, vapor porrō trahit āëra sēcum;

nec calor est quisquam, cui nōn sit mixtus et āēr;

rāra quod eius enim cōnstat nātūra, necessest235

āëris inter eum prīmōrdia multa movērī.

iam triplex animī est igitur nātūra reperta;

nec tamen haec sat sunt ad sēnsum cūncta creandum,

nīl hōrum quoniam recipit mēns posse creāre

sēnsiferōs mōtūs, quae dēnique mente volūtat.240

quārta quoque hīs igitur quaedam nātūra necessest

adtribuātur; eāst omnīnō nōminis expers;

quā neque mōbilius quicquam neque tenvius extat

nec magis ē parvīs et lēvibus ex elementīs;

sēnsiferōs mōtūs quae dīdit prīma per artūs.245

prīma ciētur enim, parvīs perfecta figūrīs,

inde calor mōtūs et ventī caeca potestās

accipit, inde āēr, inde omnia mōbilitantur:

concutitur sanguis, tum vīscera persentīscunt

omnia, postrēmīs datur ossibus atque medullīs250

sīve voluptās est sīve est contrārius ārdor.

nec temere hūc dolor usque potest penetrāre neque ācre

permānāre malum, quīn omnia perturbentur

usque adeō vītae dēsit locus atque animāī

diffugiant partēs per caulās corporis omnis.255

sed plērumque fit in summō quasi corpore fīnis

mōtibus: hanc ob rem vītam retinēre valēmus.

Nunc ea quō pactō inter sēsē mixta quibusque

cōmpta modīs vigeant ratiōnem reddere aventem

abstrahit invītum patriī sermōnis egestās;260

sed tamen, ut poterō summātim attingere, tangam.

notes

Line 232: aura is here "breath,” one of the major constituents of the sense-bearing anima for Lucr.and the Epicureans. The others are heat (vapore, vapor; l.233), air (aëra; ll.233-237), and a fourth, unnamed, element, to be discussed at ll. 241 ff.

235: eius both this word and eum in line 236 have calor in line 234 as their referent.

239: nil horum quoniam recipit mens posse creare / sensiferos motus, quaecumque ipsa volutat. The text here is not certain, although the sense seems fairly clear. At line 240 I read et quaecumque ipsa following the suggestion of T. J. Saunders, (Mnem. ser. iv, 28 (1975) 296-298). In these lines, recipit seems to authorize the infinitive posse in the sense of "accept as having the function of..." or "promise that it can," which meaning is a somewhat natural extension of phrases like mihi in Cumano diligentissime se, ut annui essemus, defensurum receperat, Cic. Att. 5, 17, 5. quaecumque (acc. pl. neut.) is then either in loose apposition to sensiferos motus or an asyndetic clause that presents the idea of things that the mind considers (as opposed to the idea of simple sensation in sensiferos motus). ipsa refers to mens in line 239.

243: eaest = ea est (prodelision).

246: prima and perfecta refer to the quarta natura. The phrase parvis perfecta figuris may suggest simply that the quarta is "made" from small shapes, or perhaps that it is "perfect (i.e., sufficient) in" its small shapes, suggesting that it need rely on nothing more than its very small size to set in motion the chain of events described in these lines.

251: ardor here "emotion" or "passion.”

256: in summo quasi corpore finis/ motibus generally, most day-to-day assaults are felt on the surface of the body, but are not life-threatening.

258-416: The relationship of the anima and corpus.

258: ea (neut. pl.) refers to the four elements discussed in the preceding section. mixta is for mixta sint, and the -que in quibusque joins together two indirect questions, of which the main verbs are mixta [sint] and vigeant (l. 259). The ideas of these two indirect questions (i.e., (a.) how these four elements are mixed into one-another, and (b.) having been composed, in what manner they are active) are the complements of the extended verb phrase rationem reddere (l. 259), "to give an account," a verb phrase that is often followed by de or an objective genitive. Lucr. employs indirect questions as the complement of rationem reddere elsewhere (e.g., 2.763, 3.178), and this construction is found in Livy and Cicero as well, e.g., Etsi, Quirites, non est meae consuetudinis initio dicendi rationem reddere qua de causa quemque defendam ... (Pro Rabirio Perduellionis Reo, 1.1), and ... ut etiam si possis rationem reddere cur id eveniat tamen ... (Lucullus 105). For a similar verb phrase, rationem adferre, cf. line 355.

259: aventem with this participle, as with invitum (l. 260), understand me. The two words reinforce each-other's meaning: "the poverty of my inherited language holds me, unwilling, back, although I am eager to give an account [of] why...."

260: patrii sermonis egestas is the subject of abstrahit. It may be that Lucr. felt that Latin lacked the technical terms needed to reproduce Epicurus' thought, that the language did not give him the flexibility to express those ideas within the constraints placed by the demands of the Latin hexameter line, or that Lucr.here laments, as Baily has suggested, "the innate obscurity of the ideas.”

vocabulary

perquam: as much as possible, extremely, exceedingly

pauxillus –a –um: little, small

230

sēmen sēmenis n.: seed

simplex –icis: artless, naïve, lacking guile

tenuis tenue: thin, fine; delicate; slight, slender; little, unimportant; weak, feeble

moribundus –a –um: in a dying condition; ready to die, dying; lifeless; mortal (> morior)

vapor –ōris m.: vapor, steam; heat

porrō: forward, of space, time, or of mental operations, far off; afterwards, in process of time, then; further

calor –ōris m.: warmth, heat, vital heat (> caleo)

235

prīmōrdium –ī n.: beginning, origin, commencement

triplex –icis: threefold, triple

240

sensĭfer –fĕra –fĕrum: producing sensation

mōtus mōtūs m.: motion, movement; disturbance

volūtō volūtāre volūtāvī volūtātus: to roll about; to roll back, reëcho; roll or send through, make resound; of thought, turn over, ponder, think over; meditate; with ellipsis of the acc.; n., fall prostrate (> volvo)

attribuō attribuere attribuī attribūtus: to assign, allot, make over

omnīnō: entirely, altogether [after negatives/with numerals => at all/in all]

expers expertis: lacking

mōbilis –e: easy to move, movable, loose, not firm

tenuis tenue: thin, fine; delicate; slight, slender; little, unimportant; weak, feeble

exstō or extō –āre –āvī –ātus: to stand forth or out; rise above

elementum –ī n.: a first principle, simple substance, element

245

sensĭfer –fĕra –fĕrum: producing sensation

mōtus mōtūs m.: motion, movement; disturbance

dīdō –ere –dīdidī –dīditus: to spread abroad, disseminate

artus artūs m.: limb, leg

cieō –ēre –cīvī –citus: to cause, to move; stir; agitate, move; excite, kindle, rouse; raise; call upon, invoke; call up, exhibit; of tears, shed

perficiō perficere perfēcī perfectus: to complete, accomplish

figūra figūrae f.: form, shape

calor –ōris m.: warmth, heat, vital heat (> caleo)

mōtus mōtūs m.: motion, movement; disturbance

mobilitō mobilitāre mobilitāvī mobilitatus: to make moveable, to make quick

concutiō –cutere –cussī –cussus: shake, beat, strike; terrify; disturb, distract

vīscus vīsceris n.: innards, viscera, guts

persentīsco persentīscere: to perceive clearly, detect, tingle

250

medulla medullae f.: marrow, kernel; innermost part

contrārius –a –um: opposite, contrary, hostile

ārdor ārdōris m.: burning, heat, eagerness

temerē: rashly, blindly

penetrō penetrāre penetrāvī penetrātus: to go into, penetrate

permānō permānāre permānāvī permānātus: to flow through; leak through; permeate

malum malī n.: evil, misfortune, calamity

perturbō perturbāre perturbāvī perturbātus: to confuse, throw into confusion; disturb, perturb, trouble; alarm

255

diffugiō –ere –fūgī: to flee apart; run away, flee

caulae –ārum f.: an opening, a passage; sheepfold, a pore

summus –a –um: highest; top (of); last, final

mōtus mōtūs m.: motion, movement; disturbance

pactum pactī n.: way, manner

cōmō comere cōmpsī cōmptus: to arrange; adorn, make beautiful; embellish

vigeō –ēre –uī: to flourish

aveō avēre: to wish for, long after, desire earnestly, crave

260

abstrahō –trahere –trāxī –tractum: to drag away

invītus –a –um: reluctant; unwilling; against one's will

egestās –ātis f.: poverty, destitution, penury, need, want, personified (> egeo)

summātim: on the surface, on the outside, slightly

attingō attingere attigī attāctus: to touch, touch/border on; reach, arrive at, achieve; mention briefly; belong to