Chris Eckerman
University of Oregon, Classics, Faculty Member
- http://classics.uoregon.edu/people/eckerman/edit
This note argues that, at Olympian 13.106, Pindar/the performer references his obligation to fulfill expectations of reciprocity. Pindar/the performer says that he will fulfill his obligation to discharge his debt because he is thinking... more
This note argues that, at Olympian 13.106, Pindar/the performer references his obligation to fulfill expectations of reciprocity. Pindar/the performer says that he will fulfill his obligation to discharge his debt because he is thinking and working within the framework of the χρέος-motif. This note uses comparanda, Pindaric and other, as well as the flow of the narrative in order to support the argument.
Research Interests:
Scholars have long recognized that Lucretius alludes to Empedocles' four-root theory at 1.1-5 and 1.6-9, and they have suggested that, in doing so, Lucretius shows respect for Empedocles, either as a philosophical predecessor, as a... more
Scholars have long recognized that Lucretius alludes to Empedocles' four-root theory at 1.1-5 and 1.6-9, and they have suggested that, in doing so, Lucretius shows respect for Empedocles, either as a philosophical predecessor, as a literary predecessor, or as both. I argue, alternatively, that Lucretius deprecates Empedocles' four-root theory. I suggest that, through the use of polemical allusion, Lucretius makes the argument that Epicurean physical theory gets the constituents of nature correct and that four-root theory does not (1-5) and that Epicurean atomic theory worsts four-root theory as a philosophical competitor (6-9). Moreover, cohesive systems of imagery allow the reader to deduce that Venus serves as a metaphor for atoms at the beginning of the proem and as a metaphor for Epicureanism shortly thereafter. Beginning the poem with an attack against four-root theory may be read not only as an attack against Empedocles but also as an attack against several prominent philosophical schools that promoted four-root theory. Thus, Lucretius opens his poem with a fervent endorsement of Epicurean physiologia in relation to competing philosophical schools.