Table Of ContentCAMBRIDGE GREEK AND LATIN CLASSICS
General Editors
P. E. Easterling
RegiusProfessorEmeritusofGreek,UniversityofCambridge
Philip Hardie
SeniorResearchFellow,TrinityCollege,Cambridge
Richard Hunter
RegiusProfessorofGreek,UniversityofCambridge
E. J. Kenney
KennedyProfessorEmeritusofLatin,UniversityofCambridge
S. P. Oakley
KennedyProfessorofLatin,UniversityofCambridge
LUCRETIUS
D E R E R V M
N A T V R A
BOOK III
edited by
E. J. KENNEY
KennedyProfessorEmeritusofLatin,
UniversityofCambridge
second edition
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
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(cid:2)C CambridgeUniversityPress1971,2014
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firsteditionpublished1971
Secondeditionpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyCPIGroupLtd,Croydoncr04yy
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isbn978-0-521-17389-6Paperback
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CONTENTS
Prefacetotheirstedition pageix
Prefacetothesecondedition xi
Listofabbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1 Thedoctrine 1
2 Thepoet 5
3 Thepoem 7
(a) Scope 7
(b) Structure 10
4 Thepoetry 11
(a) Thetwotraditionsandthetwostyles 11
(b) Languageandmetre 16
5 BookIII 24
(a) Subject,structureandargument 24
(b) The‘consolatio’ 26
6 Thetext 28
SupplementaryIntroduction 31
TITI LVCRETI CARI DE RERVM NATVRA LIBER
TERTIVS 37
Commentary 73
Bibliography 230
1 Editions,commentariesandtranslations 230
2 Workscitedinshortform 231
Indexes
1 Greekwords 246
2 Latinwords 246
3 General 250
vii
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
The conscientious commentator will offer his work to the public in a
mood of doubt and self-questioning. As an Editor of the series in which
this edition appears I have felt a special duty to keep in the forefront
of my mind its declared aim: ‘to provide the student with the guidance
that he needs for the interpretation and understanding of the book as
a work of literature’. The amount of guidance here provided may, how-
ever,strikesomereadersasexcessive.Ifso,itisbecauseithasseemedto
methatinthepastLucretius’interpretershavenotalwaystakenenough
painstodisentangleandfollowhisargumentasheintendedittobefol-
lowed,andthis,whatevershortcomingsmaybefoundintheexecution,is
what I have attempted to do. The De Rerum Natura, in spite of the lucid
style of which the poet was rightly proud, is a dificult book, and I have
often preferred the risk of telling the reader what he already knows to
that of leaving him in the lurch – the besetting sin of commentators. It
may also be felt that there is here too much expatiation on the poetical
techniques of Lucretius. In this department the existing commentaries
seemtoleavemuchtobedesired.InspiteoftheleadgivenbyH.Sykes
DaviesinhisCriterionarticleof1931–2andinspiteofmorerecentcon-
tributionsinthisieldsuchasProfessorDavidWest’sexcellentTheimagery
andpoetryofLucretius(1969),theconventionalideaofLucretius’artstill
persists: ingenio maximus, arte rudis. Cicero knew otherwise; but posterity
has yet to be convinced. The student who inds some notes inordinately
longmaycaretonotethatanefforthasbeenmadeto,sotosay,‘grade’
theircontentssothattheessentialinformationisusuallypresentedatthe
beginning.
It would have been tedious in the extreme to record each and every
debttomypredecessors.Mygeneralobligationtothecommentariesof,in
particular,Munro,Ernout–RobinandBaileywillbeevident.Imustmake
speciicmention,however,ofthewayinwhichmyapproachtotheunder-
standingandexegesisofBookiiihasbeeninluencedbythesuperbedi-
tionofRichardHeinze–unworthilyneglectedbyBailey,whomakesquite
inadequate use of it. I have not been able to bring myself to reproduce
anyexistingtext;inpreparingmyownIhavereliedprincipallyonBailey’s
reportsofthemanuscripts.
Itisapleasuretorecordmythanks,forhelpandadviceofvariouskinds,
to Dr M. Baltes, Dr H.-D. Blume, Dr R. D. Dawe, Dr G. E. R. Lloyd, Mr
RolandG.Mayer,DrD.O’Brien,MrN.H.ReedandProfessorH.Tra¨nkle.
IamparticularlyindebtedtomyeditorialcolleagueMrsEasterlingforsug-
gestionsleadingtoanumberofimportantimprovementsinbothpresen-
tationandsubstance.ProfessorR.G.M.Nisbetkindlyagreedtoreadthe
ix
x PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
proofs,andanumberofweaknesseshavebeenexposedbyhisacutecriti-
cisms.Iregretonlythatitwasnotpossibletoincorporatemoreofhissug-
gestions.HisandMrsEasterling’svigilancehassavedmefrommoreerrors
thanIcaretoremember;thosethatremainmustbelaidatmydoor,where
theybelong.
March1971 E.J.K.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
Twoconsiderationshavepromptedthethoughtthatasecondeditionof
this book may not be unwelcome. As informed interest in Lucretius has
continuedtogrow–afactstrikinglyillustratedbythenumberoftransla-
tionsthatcontinuetoappear–soitmustbeacceptedthatstudentsnow
cometohimlesswellpreparedlinguisticallythanwasthecaseinthe1970s.
AccordinglytheCommentaryhasbeenextensivelyrevisedandenlarged,
with,itishoped,dueaccounttakenofthecommentsofreviewers–though
myoldfriendandcriticProfessorDavidWestwouldnowmissinthenotes
the‘brevitythatcomesclosetowit’thatheadmiredintheirstedition.
ThreepassagesintheIntroductiontotheirsteditionhavecalledfor
reconsideration:whatwassaidthereaboutthe‘middle’or‘lorid’styleof
oratory,thediscussionofthediatribeandwhatissaidaboutthespelling
of seorsum. These points are dealt with at p. 13 n. 51, p. 14 n. 55 and
p.18n.73respectively.Thesectiononthetexthasbeenrewritteninthe
lightofsubsequentworkinthatield,especiallythatofProfessorMichael
Reeve and Dr David Butterield, to both of whom I am greatly indebted
forhelpandadvicegenerouslygiven.Theapparatuscriticushasalsobeen
revised in accordance with Dr Butterield’s advice. Otherwise the Intro-
duction is reprinted unaltered apart from a handful of additions to the
footnotesinadditiontothethreenotedabove,andadjustmentoftheref-
erencestothesecondaryliteratureinconformitywithcurrentseriesstyle.
In the Supplementary Introduction I have conined myself for the most
part to comments on such post-1971 contributions to Lucretian studies
(some of which are in any case noticed in the revised Commentary) as
seemlikelytobeusefultoreadersofthisbookoftheDeRerumNatura.I
regretthatithasnotbeenpossibletoincludereferencestoalltheimpor-
tantworkofProfessorFergusonSmithontheOenoandainscription.
AsthebookpassesthroughthepressItaketheopportunityofrecord-
ingmygratefulacknowledgementsofthehelpIhavereceivedinthepro-
cess of revising it for this new edition. Dr Monica Gale has generously
takentimefromthepreparationofhereagerlyexpectededitionofCatul-
lusinthisseriestoreviseandamplifytheSupplementaryIntroductionto
itsgreatbeneit.DrRobertMacfarlanehaskindlypermittedmetorepro-
ducethepassagefromhisinebookThewildplacesasasecondepigraph,so
providingtheperfectruefulEpicureanglossontheIrishpeasant’sdour
verdict: ‘There’s not much fun in being dead.’ Professor Roland Mayer
volunteeredofhisgoodnesstoreadtheproofs–anundertakingthatcost
him more time and wrestling with my type- and manuscript than either
of us had initially bargained for. Finally I must thank and apologize to
the members of the Production staff of the Cambridge University Press
xi
xii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
whowerefacedwiththetaskoftransformingcopypresentedincomputer-
unfriendlyguiseintowhatisnowofferedtothereader.Ioweaspecialdebt
ofgratitudetoDrIvetaAdams.Hersearchingscrutinyhasdetectedand
eliminated a great many loose ends, inconsistencies and authorial slips
ofpen,typewriterandattention,andmanyothershavebeenrevealedby
thevigilanceofmyfelloweditors.Foranythatmayhaveeludedourjoint
effortstheresponsibilityrestswithme.Mywifehasneversparedherselfin
the labour of retrieving books from shelves now inaccessible to me, and
thiseditionisdedicatedtoherinloveandgratitude.
May2014 E.J.K.
