Welcome JNAMIOTKA!

Hello, Cassius et al.!

I am a teacher of Latin, Greek, and philosophy at a private high school in the northeast. My earlier graduate studies were devoted to philosophy, with an emphasis upon the recent continental tradition, i.e., Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida, Levinas, etc., but I have since gone on to pursue a graduate degree in Classics. My connection with Epicurus and Epicureanism comes largely through my close and careful reading of Lucretius, whose poem I have taught many times and will continue to teach so long as I'm permitted to do so. As I've explored, with my students, the philosophy of the Hellenistic period more broadly, I've been struck by the strong revival of interest in Stoicism of late, without an Epicurean correlate. It seems to me that if many of the denizens of the twenty-first century long for the solace of Stoicism, they would do well to consider the wisdom of Epicurus in equal measure. Perhaps the age-old misunderstanding of Epicureanism as a debased hedonistic philosophy lingers even to this day. Most of my own students, once both "options" have been laid out for them, more commonly veer toward Epicureanism.

Anyway, thanks so much for welcoming me aboard! I look forward to many fruitful discussions, etc.

Cheers!

Welcome jnamiotka !

I studied very little Latin, and became curious to re-take the study of Latin after listening to "O Fortuna" recently. I WAS able to publish a piece for a classics publication on the history of comedy as a tool to promote secular values thanks to being referred to the editor by someone who wrote a review of my book for The Humanist. Here's my piece.

https://eidolon.pub/swinish-herds-…ns-efdc9ca6db2d

Welcome @jnamiotka and thanks for joining us. Just a little curious to ask you : the texts of the book you're teaching at school are in the new greek or the ancient greek ?

Hi, all!

Cassius: Although the reliability of Wikipedia is not rock-solid, this is a helpful list of Lucretius translations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_E…De_rerum_natura

My sense is that Cyril Bailey's translation is the most literal, but I'm especially fond of Leonard's. He seems to really "get" Lucretius.

If you're wondering about any particular passages in DRN, I'd be very happy to take a crack at them: just send them my way!

Finally - alas, my username is not Greek at all; it's just the first initial of my first name and my last name. Not too exciting, I fear.

Hiram: I look forward to reading your work!

Elli: I only teach ancient Greek. I'm afraid I don't know modern Greek, though the alphabet is the same!

Cheers, everyone, and thanks for your welcoming words!

Cassius: Sorry, I'm sure you've already seen that list. I'm intrigued by your mystery translation! It's not Lucy Huchinson's, is it?