46 pages • 1 hour read
LucretiusOn The Nature Of Things
Nonfiction | Essay Collection | Adult | Published in 1910A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book IChapter Summaries & Analyses
Book I Summary
Lucretius begins his poem with a prayer to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, whose reproductive powers allow everything in nature to flourish. He asks her to bring charm to his words that will help them to endure. Lucretius also tells us in this prayer that he is writing this work for his friend, Memmius.
Lucretius then addresses Memmius and lays out what he hopes to cover in this work: “the working of the heaven above and the nature of the gods, and...the primary elements of things from which nature creates, increases, and sustains all things…” (Book I, lines 50-60; page 4). Lucretius tells us about an earlier time, when humanity was the ignorant slave of superstition, due to their fear of death and the gods. The Greek philosopher Epicurus freed them from their ignorance through science and an establishment of the laws of nature.
Lucretius sets out, therefore, to explain the Epicurean model of nature—including celestial matters, life on earth, and the workings of the mind and the spirit—in order to dispel our fear of the unknown.
Lucretius lays out two fundamental principles of matter: 1) nothing comes from nothing, and 2) nothing entirely disappears. He justifies these principles through logic, arguing that matter degenerates into its principle elements, atoms, and then is reconstituted into new objects. Lucretius argues, furthermore, that our senses offer the best proof, since they show us the effects of the evaporation and reconstitution of matter. Even if the effects of these phenomena are too tiny to be perceived in the moment, we can at least perceive their cumulative effects, as in the case of erosion.
Along with the existence of atoms, which are pure matter, Lucretius posits the opposite state: the void. These two states cannot mix at the atomic level; an atom, being pure matter, does not contain void. However, when atoms combine to form larger compounds, the void creates gaps within and between objects. The void helps to explain, for example, the different densities of objects, since some materials can be porous, and others solid: “So an object which is evidently lighter than another of equal bulk without doubt indicates that it contains more void” (Book I, lines 365-366; page 12). The void also destabilizes objects and makes them disintegrate.
One more fundamental principle of the Epicurean model is that atoms are, as Lucretius puts it, “solid and simple” (Book I, line 539; page 17); that is, finitely small, and indivisible. This is in contrast to other models that frame atoms as infinitesimally small and divisible.
Having established these foundations of his natural model, Lucretius debunks other philosophical models of nature. For example, those who believe that matter is made of only air, water, earth, and fire, fail to understand that those elements all contain void and are therefore destructible. Since they aren’t immortal like atoms, they can’t function the way atoms do, and therefore they can’t be the fundamental building blocks of matter.
Lucretius concludes this section of his argument with a poetic digression invoking the Muses, the goddesses of inspiration. He reveals that he hopes to cloak his philosophical work in the more palatable form of poetry, so that it is more pleasant to read and understand.
Returning to science, Lucretius establishes a basic law of the universe, namely that it is infinite; it has no boundary, has existed forever, and will continue to exist forever. Lucretius also argues that no god created the world we see, but rather the random motions of atoms over an infinitely long time.
Book I Analysis
The main purpose of Book I is to establish Lucretius’s basic laws governing the universe, upon which his subsequent arguments will be based. He maintains that all matter is composed of invisible, indivisible particles called atoms. The most important facts about atoms are 1) that they cannot be created out of nothing (nothing comes from nothing), and 2) that they cannot be annihilated (nothing can become nothing). All matter, therefore, has always existed, will always exist, and will constantly renew itself through disintegration and reintegration.
In Book I, Lucretius must also show us why this work is important. He tells us that superstition arises from ignorance and fear of death, and it causes people to be taken advantage of by “fable-mongers” (Book I, line 102; page 6). The only way for people to escape their fear of the unknown and reject superstition is for them to understand the workings of nature as modeled by the Epicureans. This premise will drive many of the arguments in the rest of this work.
Lucretius establishes his methodology in this book as well, reaching conclusions through logic, thought experiments, and appeals to the power of our own senses. For example, he shows that those who believe that matter is made of only air water, earth, and fire, fail to understand that those elements are all destructible, or “soft” (Book I, line 567; page 17), and it is an observable fact that each one of them can dissipate and disappear. Meanwhile, we have already established that the building blocks of matter cannot be destroyed. Therefore, “all these thinkers have evidently strayed far from the path of truth” (Book I, line 713; page 22). For Lucretius, it is essential to combine logic with evidence from our senses to prove the accuracy of his scientific model, and to disprove what he perceives as dangerous misconceptions.
Lucretius intersperses the important arguments of this book with poetic interludes. Since he tells us that he is using poetry to “succeed in holding your attention concentrated on my verses, while you fathom the nature of the universe and the form of its structure” (Book I, lines 948-950; page 29), we can expect his poetic digressions to provide an entertaining framework for his more serious arguments.
Lucretius begins, for example, by invoking the goddess Venus and asking for her help with his work. He credits Venus with giving every living thing their “first glimpse of the sun’s light” (Book I, line 5; page 2) and making the sky “tranquil… [and] flooded with effulgent light” (Book I, line 9; page 2). This invocation of a deity is a typical poetic device, and it foreshadows the importance of light and tranquility in this work.
Lucretius also uses poetic digressions to transition from one topic to another. For example, after debunking the other philosophical models of nature, Lucretius devotes a brief passage to an invocation of the Muses, the goddesses of creative inspiration. This poetic interlude serves as a bridge into his astronomical arguments, which close the book.
Having established the necessity of this work, the fundamental laws of the Epicurean model, and the failings of other scientific models, Lucretius has set the stage for a detailed study of the workings of the universe.
