![]() ![]() Epicurus and Lucretius figured gods might exist, but they also thought the gods didn’t care about us, and religion was all a bunch of hooey that people used to fight their fear of death. Epicureanism is not atheism, but the roots of atheism lies in Epicureanism. I would have subtitled the book, “The Evolution of Atheism” – although that wouldn’t be a perfectly accurate subtitle either. The Swerve is about the evolution of an idea that’s taken a long time to emerge. And On the Nature of Things is about Epicureanism, which is based on the teachings of Epicurus, a Greek philosopher born 341 BCE and died 270 BCE. The Swerve is a history of a book, On the Nature of Things by Lucretius, born 99 BCE and died 55 BCE. The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt is subtitled “How the World Became Modern” but I don’t think that’s accurate. ![]()
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