Epicureanism · the Garden · 341–270 BCE

Epicurus

Learning to desire what is enough.

Samos · Lampsacus · Athens

Portraits: artistic interpretations

Bibliography

Return to the texts.

Works, testimonies and further readings are distinguished. Dates refer to composition or first publication, as specified in each entry.

Bibliographic scope

The catalogue distinguishes the three surviving doctrinal letters, the letter to Idomeneus, the will, the forty Principal Doctrines, the 81 Vatican Sayings of mixed attribution, fragmentary On Nature, indirectly transmitted fragments, and testimonies. The lost-title dossier reproduces the selection in Diogenes Laertius X.27–28; it does not substitute for vanished texts. Direct authorship of the Letter to Pythocles is debated. The forty Principal Doctrines and all 81 Vatican Sayings are individually indexed in their verified editions. Repetitions and mixed attributions are retained; fragmentary correspondence, the full Usener corpus and papyri remain distinct scopes not declared exhaustive.

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01

WorkLate fourth–early third century BCE; exact date unknown

Letter to Herodotus

Complete physical epitome preserved in Diogenes Laertius X.35–83.

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02

WorkLate fourth–early third century BCE; exact date unknown

Letter to Pythocles

Outline of celestial phenomena, Diogenes Laertius X.84–116; composition and direct authorship are debated.

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03

WorkLate fourth–early third century BCE; exact date unknown

Letter to Menoeceus

Ethical presentation preserved in Diogenes Laertius X.122–135.

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04

WorkLate fourth–early third century BCE; exact date unknown

Principal Doctrines

Forty propositions transmitted at the end of Diogenes Laertius Book X, §§139–154.

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05

WorkCompilation date unknown; medieval manuscript

Vatican Sayings

Collection of 81 Epicurean sayings preserved in Vaticanus graecus 1950; individual attributions vary.

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06

WorkLate fourth–early third century BCE; exact date unknown

On Nature

Treatise in thirty-seven books; papyrus fragments survive chiefly from Herculaneum.

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07

Work270 BCE according to the traditional chronology

Letter to Idomeneus, on his last day

Short letter preserved in Diogenes Laertius X.22; traditionally dated to 270 BCE.

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08

WorkBefore 270 BCE

Will

Testamentary provisions transmitted in Diogenes Laertius X.16–21.

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09

WorkAncient fragments; modern collections, notably 1887

Other letters and fragments

Dossier of indirect transmission; not a work composed under this title.

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10

Testimony / transmissionThird century CE; works listed from the fourth–third centuries BCE

Ancient catalogue of lost works

Titles documented in Diogenes Laertius X.27–28; a bibliographical dossier, not reconstructed texts.

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11

Testimony / transmissionProbably third century CE

Diogenes Laertius — Life and teachings of Epicurus

Book X of Lives of Eminent Philosophers; testimony composed centuries after Epicurus.

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Sources & reference points

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Epicurus Diogenes Laertius, Book X — text and translation