Ancient · 341–270 BC
Who influenced Epicurus?
Influences and legacy
Taught that the good life is modest pleasure, friendship, and freedom from fear of gods and death.
Epicurus was influenced by Democritus and Aristippus, and went on to influence Lucretius and Karl Marx. That is 4 lines of the 448 documented lines of influence between the 279 thinkers on this map.
Read on Wikipedia Portrait: Unknown artist, Public domain See the whole map
Who was Epicurus?
Epicurus founded Epicureanism, which holds that a pleasant and steady happiness comes from managing one's desires, dropping needless fears, friendship and living well. At his school in Athens, the Garden, he and his friends ate simple meals and talked philosophy. The gods exist, he taught, but take no part in human affairs.
Like Democritus he explained nature by atoms moving in the void, adding a random "swerve" that leaves room for free will. Of some 300 works only a few letters, the Principal Doctrines and fragments survive, so much of what we know comes from Lucretius. Pierre Gassendi revived his ideas in the 17th century, and they later reached Locke and Marx.
Summarized from the lead of the Wikipedia article.
Who influenced Epicurus?
2 direct influences on this map, earliest first.
- Democritus c. 460–370 BC
- Aristippus c. 435–356 BC
Who did Epicurus influence?
2 thinkers on this map draw directly on Epicurus.
The line of teachers behind Epicurus
The longest documented line of influence ending at Epicurus runs 5 generations back, to Thales of Miletus.
Two steps away from Epicurus
Indirect influences
- Through Democritus: Leucippus
- Through Aristippus: Socrates
The second generation
Contemporaries of Epicurus
Thinkers on this map born within 25 years of Epicurus, with no direct line between them.
- Zeno of Citium c. 334–262 BC
- Hipparchia c. 350–280 BC
- Cleanthes c. 330–230 BC
- Pyrrho c. 360–270 BC
- Timon of Phlius c. 320–230 BC
- Crates of Thebes c. 365–285 BC
Epicurus by the numbers
- Direct influences
- 2
- Direct followers
- 2
- Thinkers upstream
- 11
- Thinkers downstream
- 136
- Wikipedia languages
- 98 — #14 of 54 among ancient philosophers
- Card rarity
- Epic
Questions about Epicurus
- Who influenced Epicurus?
- Democritus and Aristippus.
- Who did Epicurus influence?
- Lucretius and Karl Marx.
- When did Epicurus live?
- 341–270 BC. The map files Epicurus under the ancient world.
- How rare is the Epicurus card?
- Wikipedia carries an article on Epicurus in 98 languages, which makes it an Epic card. Legendary starts at 100 languages, Epic at 50 and Rare at 25.
More ancient philosophers
- Confucius 551–479 BC
- Aristotle 384–322 BC
- Plato c. 428–348 BC
- Socrates c. 470–399 BC
- Pythagoras c. 570–495 BC
- Laozi c. 6th c. BC
- Cicero 106–43 BC
- Thales of Miletus c. 624–546 BC