Lucretius III 1-40

1–30: Lucretius begins with an invocation to a Greek philosopher. There is broad agreement that the philosopher is Epicurus, although he is not here named. Each of the six books begins with an invocation or “proem” in high poetic style.

2: commoda, acc. pl. neut., is the direct object of the transitive participle inlustrans (= illustrans; Lucr. frequently uses forms in which assimilation has not taken place.

3 and 4: inque tuis nunc/ ficta pedum pono pressis vestigia signis: the object of the preposition in (tuis pressis signis) and the direct object of pono (ficta vestigia pedum) taken together combine the ideas of making footprints, on the one hand, and composing ideas on the other. Graiae < Graius, -a, -um Lucretius' poetic alternative for Graecus, -a, -um.

4: pedum calls to mind the metrical verses, or “feet” that Lucr. is composing.

5: ita, quam a pair of correlative adverbs: “not so much (non ita). . . as (quam) because ...”.

6: quod “because,” is a slightly postponed subordinating conjunction that works closely with the preposition propter. The causal force of quod and propter is felt in both the ita and the quam parts of the sentence.

6: contendat is potential subjunctive in a rhetorical question (“for how could a swallow compete...?”, with the implication being that it could not).

7: artubus = artibus, which Lucr. rarely writes; Cf. lines 620 and 644.

8: consimile acc. sg. neut. with quid, “what similar thing”, object of facere. However, the force of the construction is adverbial (“how could a swallow compete in the same way?”). fortis equi vis “the mighty power of a horse,” by periphrasis suggests “a very powerful horse.” cf. line 764 for a similar phrase. This type of periphrasis is frequent in Lucr. possint (potential subjunctive, like contendat) has as its subjects both haedi (plural) and the noun phrase fortis equi vis (singular). The idea is “how could kids and a horse accomplish (facere) the same thing...?”.

10: the -que in (tuis)que joins the two main verbs (es (line 10) and suppeditas (line 11)) before it with the main verb depascimur that follows in line 12. In line 10, ex is postponed and its object is tuis chartis (= cartis). 

11: libant < libo (1), which can mean “pour out (as a libation),” “take a little from” (its meaning in participial form at line 213 of this book), or (as here) “take a taste of.” The comparative clause of line 11 (ut = “just as”) modifies the verb phrase nos depascimur in line 12: “just as bees taste (a bit of) everything in the flower-bearing meadows ... I/we in the the same way taste your golden sayings.”

12: depascimur Lucr. may be referring to himself or to the followers of Epicurus more generally.

13: perpetua… vita ablatives with dignissima.

14: vociferari probably <vociferor (1) (“cry out” or “resound”), rather than the rare active forms from vocifero (1). Thus, ratio tua is slightly personified (“your philosophy begins to resound”).

15: divina menta coorta ablative absolute. Lines 16 and 17 form a chiasmus: diffigiunt animi terrores, moenia mundi / discedunt. The noun phrase animi terrores is subject of diffugiunt, and the noun phrase moenia mundi is subject of discedunt. The phrase moenia mundi (“the walls of the world”) is a technical one that Lucr. uses to describe the boundaries of the worlds in which humans live. Thus, Epicurus’ philosophy allows humans to see beyond their own world and into the deepest truths of the universe.

17: the indirect discourse of totum video per inanum geri res does not so much convey “I see that things are done throughout space,” as it does an idea more like “I see the things that are done throughout space.” totum inanum is one of L's ways of describing the huge, largely empty, space of the infinite universe.

18-24: Epicurus and Lucr. taught that gods existed, but that they were peacefully unconcerned with humans and human affairs.

18: divum numen (“the sacred power of the gods”) is a poetic way of referring to the gods. divum is genitive plural.

24: according with the sense of the passage, the noun phrase animi pacem must mean the gods’ peace of mind.

25-27: Lucr., following Epicurus, taught that no “underworld” existed, and that there was no sensation, no “after life,” after death.  Lines 26 and 27 explain that Epicurus’ thorough understanding of nature reveals everything in the universe, including those things that are hidden from view under the earth. Lucr. makes the important point that if humans can understand, through Epicurus’ teachings, the limits on things that can and do exist, then they will not imagine that an underworld exists.

25: Acherusia templa is a phrase used by Lucr.three times (twice in book 3, see line 86 sub.) to mean the underworld in which some people supposed that the spirits of the dead were tormented. Acherusius, -a, -um "related to the river Acheron (in the underworld),” and thus to the underworld in general. In line 1023 (v. sub.) Lucr. uses this adjective with vita to describe a "hellish" life. quin (v. AG 558) here introduces a clause that expresses what the tellus does not prevent (that is, what it permits). When verbs of “not-doing” (like obstat (“prevent”) here) are negated, a clause introduced by quin whose verb is in the subjunctive often explains what is done (that is, what is “not not-done”). omnia modifies the quae cumque (= quaecumque) indefinite clause of line 27.

27: infra per inane, “down below through the empty (place),” is a phrase that points to all the empty space underground, where some people supposed that the underworld was located.

28: ibi means “in that part (of Epicurus’ teaching).” That is, when Lucr. is reflecting on the fact that Epicurus has revealed to humankind how the universe works. me … percipit “grasps me.” quaedam divina voluptas and horror are both subjects of praecipit (line 29). Latin writers often feel that two singular subjects can be taken individually with a grammatically singular verb.

29: natura (subject of retecta est, line 30) is “nature” in the sense of “the natural order,” something like the sum of the physical laws of the universe.

31-93: The section is a brief introduction to the contents of book three as a whole, as well as some indication of the importance of the contents. In particular, Lucr. calls attention to the dangerous power that the fear of death holds over humans.

31: The complements of docui are three indirect questions: (1) qualia sint, etc.; (2) quam variis … formis ...volitent, etc., and (3) quove modo possint, etc. Note that, as often, the -ve in (quo)ve is a stylistic variation that avoids repetition of the et in line 32. The three indirect questions are conjoined in simple series, and the -ve does not signal a change from conjunction to disjunction (i.e., from “and” to “but”).

34: res … quaeque (“every thing”) nom. sg. fem. quaeque < quisque.

35: hasce = has. secundum, “immediately after,” is a preposition governing the acc. videtur is the main verb of the sentence, and its subjects are animi natura … atque animae (lines 35 and 36), and metus ille (line 37). Here, two separate, singular subjects share one singular verb (compare the use of praecipit in line 28 above). In this passage, Lucr. is making a distinction between animus, -i (m.) “the mind”, and anima, -ae (f.) “the life force”; much of book three is concerned with the particulars of this distinction. The complements of videtur are the infinitives claranda esse in line 36, (subject is animi natura, etc.) and agendus <esse> in line 37, (subject is metus ille).

37: agendus “discussed.”

38: qui introduces a relative clause whose antecedent is metus ille. This relative clause extends from funditus to relinquit (line 40, the end of the sentence).

40: relinquit is used in the sense of “allow” or “permit,” and hence its complement is the accusative and infinitive construction ullam essse voluptatem liquidam puramque (lines 39-40).