Lucretius and the Language of Nature

Description

Lucretius' Epicurean poem De Rerum Natura ('On the Nature of Things'), written in the middle of the first century BC, made a fundamental and lasting contribution to the language of Latin philosophy. The style of De Rerum Natura is like nothing else in extant Latin: at once archaic and modern, Romanizing and Hellenizing, intimate and sublime, it draws on multiple literary genres and linguistic registers. This book offers a study of Lucretius' linguistic innovation and creativity. Lucretius is depicted as a linguistic trailblazer, extending and augmenting the technical language of Latin in order to describe the Epicurean universe of atoms and void in all its complexity and sublimity. A detailed understanding of the Epicurean linguistic theory brings with it a greater appreciation of Lucretius' own language. Accordingly, this book features an in-depth reconstruction of certain core features of Epicurean linguistic theory. Elements of Lucretius' style discussed include his attitudes to, and use of, figurative language (especially metaphor); his explorations, both explicit and implicit, of Latin etymology; his uses of Greek; and his creative deployment of compounds and prefixed words. His practice is related throughout not only to the underlying Epicurean theory but also to contemporary Roman attitudes to style and language. The result is a new reading of one of the greatest and most difficult works to survive from the Roman world. Cover Lucretius and the Language of Nature Copyright Dedication Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations Introduction 0.1. The Linguistic Task: Egestas Linguae 0.2. The Linguistic Task: Novitas Rerum 0.3. Conclusion Chapter 1: Nature and Culture in the Epicurean Theory of Language 1.1. Two Types of Linguistic Naturalism 1.2. Human Cultural Development 1.3. Names: The Natural Stage 1.4. After Nature: Egestas Linguae 1.5. Naturalism Weakened 1.6. Nature’s Norms? 1.7. Conclusion Chapter 2: Lucretius and Epicurus on Metaphor 2.1. An Epicurean Dialect 2.2. Lucretius on Synecdoche: The Parts of the Soul 2.3. Epicurus: The Standard Style 2.4. Necessary and Unnecessary Metaphor 2.5. The Nameless Element 2.6. Metaphor and Preconception 2.7. Lucretius on Necessary Metaphor and Metonymy 2.8. Lucretius on Unnecessary Metaphor 2.9. Conclusion Chapter 3: Reading Lucretian Metaphor 3.1. Unstable Metaphor 3.2. Case Study: Philosophy as Conquest 3.3. Case Study: Thought as Perception 3.4. Personification and Pleasure 3.5. Diaphora: Repetition and Control 3.6. Disclaimers: 2.865–990 3.7. Metaphor and Misprision 3.8. Conclusion Appendix: Officia Corporis Chapter 4: Lucretian Etymologies 4.1. The Variety of Etymological Relations 4.2. Synchronic Etymological Relations in Lucretius? 4.3. Explicit Etymologies in Lucretius 4.4. Implicit Etymologies in Lucretius 4.5. Implicit Etymologies Involving Greek 4.6. Implicit Etymologies for Compounds and Prefixed Words 4.7. Conclusion Chapter 5: The Uses of Greek 5.1. Tmesis 5.2. Greek Syntax 5.3. Greek Words 5.4. Code-Switching and Endearment: 4.1160–9 5.5. Conclusion Chapter 6: Calques and Compounds 6.1. Calques from Compounds 6.2. Calques from Prefixed Words 6.3. Conclusion Conclusion Bibliography Index Locorum General Index