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THE WISE MAN AND THE SEA: EPICUREANS ON SEA STORMS, SHIPWRECK, AND CHANCE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2023
Abstract
The idea that the sea is a dangerous and alien element in which one is at the mercy of higher powers, is deeply imbedded in Mediterranean culture, and has many parallels in Greek and Roman literature. From an Epicurean point of view, however, such higher powers belong to the realm of irrational beliefs which could threaten one's ἀταραξία (‘peace of mind’). What counts in Epicureanism is the rational calculus of all factors in order to minimize the influence of τύχη (‘chance’) on one's endeavours. This article explores how the Epicureans thought about the sea and its many dangers. It tries to establish under which circumstances the sage will travel by sea and gives special attention to Diogenes of Oenoanda's letter (fr. 71 + NF 214 + fr. 72 + fr. 70) about the shipwreck of Niceratus and his friends’ failure to minimize the agency of chance.
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- Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
Footnotes
*
I am much indebted to the invaluable remarks of the anonymous referee and to Geert Roskam for his helpful suggestions. All remaining shortcomings are my own. This research has been made possible by the generous support of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).
References
1 As a result, numerous vivid descriptions of terrible sea storms can be found throughout Greek and Roman literature: e.g. Hom. Od. 5.282–450; Verg. Aen. 1.34–158. See also T. Biggs and J. Blum, ‘Sea-storms in ancient epic’, in C. Reitz and S. Finkmann (eds.), Structures of Epic Poetry. Volume II.1: Configuration (Berlin and Boston MA, 2019), 125–67 for sea storms in ancient epic and F. R. Berno, ‘Naufragar m’è dolce in questo mare. Filosofi e naufraghi, da Lucrezio a Seneca (e Petronio)’, Maia 67 (2015), 282–97 for the use of that topic in Roman philosophical literature.
2 Pl. Phd. 109b: ὥσπερ περὶ τέλμα, μύρμηκας ἢ βατράχους, περὶ τὴν θάλατταν οἰκοῦντας.
3 Epicurus Ep. Hdt. 83. Also noteworthy is the Epicurean idea of philosophy (PHerc. 463 fr. 13), the good life (Plut. Maxime 778E = Epic. fr. 544 Us.), and even old age as a safe harbour (Sent. Vat. 17), sheltered from life's turbulent waves; cf. F. Longo Auricchio, ‘Philosophy's Harbor’, in D. Armstrong, J. Fish, P. A. Johnston, and M. B. Skinner (eds.), Vergil, Philodemus, and the Augustans (Austin, TX, 2004), 37–42 and D. Clay, ‘Epicurus’ Κυρία Δόξα XVII’, GRBS 13 (1972), 36–66.
4 Translation by Smith, M. F., Lucretius. On the Nature of Things, translated, with introduction and notes (Indianapolis, IN and Cambridge, 2001)Google Scholar.
5 Compare the scene in Aen. 5.848–51, where, on a calm night out at sea, the deceitful Somnus appears and lulls Palinurus into sleep, upon which the hapless sailor is immediately swallowed by the sea's murky depths. Another excellent illustration of the sea's volatile nature can be found in Semonides of Amorgos’ description of the ‘sea-like’ type of woman at fr. 7.27–42.
6 DRN 5.1002–6: ‘Then, although the waves often rose and raged, they did so idly, vainly, and ineffectually, and lightly laid aside their empty threats. The seductive serenity of the sea was unable to ensnare anyone with the treacherous laughter of its waves: the presumptuous art of navigation was as yet undiscovered’ (transl. Smith [n. 4]).
7 Parallels for this sentiment can be found in Cic. Att 2.74 and Archipp. fr. 43 Kock = fr. 45 Kassel-Austin; cf. Konstan, D., A Life Worthy of the Gods. The Materialist Psychology of Epicurus (Las Vegas, NV, 2008), 31–2Google Scholar.
8 DRN 2.1–4.
9 Translation by Smith (n. 4).
10 This particular passage has also drawn a lot of scholarly attention. For a number of recent studies, see, for example, Fowler, D., Lucretius on Atomic Motion. A Commentary on De rerum natura 2.1–332 (Oxford, 2002), 16–66Google Scholar; De Lacy, P., ‘Distant Views: The Imagery of Lucretius 2’, in Gale, M. (ed.), Oxford Readings in Classical Studies. Lucretius (Oxford, 2007), 146–57Google Scholar; Edmunds, L., ‘Lvcretivs, De rervm natura 2, 7–8’, RPh 81 (2007), 75–8Google Scholar; Mazzocchini, P., ‘Templa serena. Ipotesi sui modelli di Lucr. II 7–8’, Maia 61 (2009), 564–7Google Scholar; Berno, F. R., ‘Spettatori e filosofi. Nota a Lucr. 2, 7–13 (e Cic. Tusc. 5, 8-9)’, SIFC (2015), 108–20Google Scholar; Eckerman, C., ‘Practicing ataraxia at Lucretius’ De rerum natura 2.7–8’, RhM 163 (2020), 167–73Google Scholar; Eckerman, C., ‘Ataraxia Vanquishes Eros: Lucretius’ Sappho at De rerum natura 2.1–8’, Mnemosyne 74 (2021), 152–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Nijs, W., ‘The Heights of Philosophy: Some Thoughts on Lucretius DRN 2.7–13’, AClass 65 (2022), 141–156Google Scholar.
11 See Konstan (n. 7), 29–42 and Fowler (n. 10), 38–40. The practice of comparing one's own fortune against the misfortune of others has parallels in Cic. Fin. 1.62; Plut. De tranq. anim. 470AB; Sen. Dial. 5.31.3 and Democr. 68B 191 DK (= Stob. Flor. 3.1.210), as pointed out by A. Grilli, ‘Sul proemio del II libro di Lucrezio’, SIFC (1957), 261–3. See also G. Roskam, Live Unnoticed (λάθε βιώσας). On the Vicissitudes of an Epicurean Doctrine (Leiden and Boston, MA, 2007), 88–9 and H. Broecker, Animadversiones ad Plutarchi libellum Περὶ εὐθυμίας (Bonn, 1954), 104–6. Lucretius explicitly adds that his observer does not derive pleasure from the misfortune of others, but from the fact that his observations heighten his awareness of his own happiness. Although the Epicureans were fundamentally egocentric in their pursuit of personal happiness, it is highly unlikely that they considered Schadenfreude a positive emotion. As far as we can judge from the truncated fragments of Philodemus’ De invidia, ἐπιχαιρεκακία (‘joy in the misfortune of others’) was considered an undesirable emotion, associated with envy (Invidia frs. 14; 17); cf. A. Tepedino Guerra, ‘Il PHerc. 1678: Filodemo sull'invidia?’, CErc 15 (1985), 113–25.
12 Cf. Phld. Elect. et fugae 5.12–19: ‘For men suffer the worst evils for the sake of the most alien desires which they take to be the most necessary – I mean desires for sovereignty and brilliant reputation and great wealth and suchlike luxuries and other similar things’ (transl. G. Indelli and V. Tsouna-McKirahan, [Philodemus]. [On Choices and Avoidances]. Edited with Translation and Commentary [Napoli, 1995]).
13 Interestingly, this is not the only passage in DRN where war and sea travel are lumped together as highly unsavoury activities. In DRN 5.999–1006, the Lucretian narrator points out that even the hardships and dangers of primitive times were preferable to the incredible folly of marching thousands of men into battle or entrusting one's life to the sea's unpredictable waves. Also in the category of newfangled self-destructiveness we find eating oneself to death (5.1007–8) and deliberately ingesting poison (5.1009–10).
14 Of course, military propaganda might convince him that war is a glorious endeavour, undertaken for the most noble of ideals, and that dying for his country will win him the everlasting gratitude and respect of his countrymen (cf. Hor. carm. 2.13: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori: ‘it is sweet and proper to die for one's country’), as well as a wonderful afterlife in the company of the great heroes of old. Nevertheless, he will, in all likelihood, be aware of the fact that the battle itself is not going to be a pleasurable affair.
15 The failure to appreciate the sea's dangers is also illustrated by a story reported by Maximus of Tyre (Or. 30.3), which he uses as a metaphor for the impracticality of Epicurean hedonism. The story is about a foolish king who has a huge and luxurious ship constructed, believing that his upcoming sea voyage would be an opportunity for refined leisure and enjoyment. In so doing, he utterly ignores the fact that the sea can be a dangerous place where safety measures are far more important than luxury. Unsurprisingly, the heavy ship gets caught up in a storm, where it proves unable to ride the waves and is soon smashed apart, thus sending its foolish owner to a watery grave.
16 See Roskam (n. 11), 148 and passim, as well as G. Roskam, A Commentary on Plutarch's De latenter vivendo (Leuven, 2007), 36.
17 Morte 33.23–36.
18 Translation by W. B. Henry, Philodemus, On Death. Translated with an Introduction and Notes (Atlanta, GA, 2009).
19 Morte 32.31–33.23. Philodemus’ arguments here are quite humorous at times: he objects, for example, that one has no real need of the sea to drown, since one can as easily drown in one's bathtub, and that there is essentially no difference between drowning in sea water or in unmixed wine, ‘because both are wet’. D. Armstrong, ‘All Things to All Men: Philodemus’ Model of Therapy and the Audience of De Morte’, in J. Fitzgerald, G. Holland, and D. Obbink (eds.), Philodemus and the New Testament World (Leiden, 2004), 15–54 argues that Philodemus’ more playful tone is due to the fact that De morte was meant for a broad audience, comprising both Epicureans and others.
20 RS 2: ‘Death is nothing to us: that which has been resolved has no feeling, and that which has no feeling is nothing to us.’ For any scholarly question about the Epicurean view on death, J. Warren, Facing Death. Epicurus and his Critics (Oxford, 2006) remains absolutely indispensable.
21 Cf. Cato Agr. 1 and 3–4, where the life of the merchant is described as periculosum (‘dangerous’) and calamitosum (‘prone to disaster’). Horace's first Carmen also names the sea-faring merchant's incorrigible greed as the cause of his many troubles (e.g. 1.1.59–60). Cicero distinguishes between the wealthy merchant who runs a large enterprise and can eventually withdraw from the port to his estate, on the one hand, and his small-scale colleague who has to make his way from sea to port and back again, on the other (Off. 151). In Plato, we also find the idea that the trade that is engendered by the proximity of the sea tends to corrupt the city's inhabitants, which makes the sea a less than ideal neighbour (Leg. 705a).
22 Oec. 12.18–15.3. Philodemus’ discussion on the right measure of wealth explicitly refers to Metrodorus’ debate with the ancient Cynics. Considering that Philodemus seems to have had direct access to Metrodorus’ writings on this topic, it is probably safe to assume that this part of Philodemus’ economic thinking draws upon the views of the Garden's founding fathers. See also E. Asmis, ‘Epicurean Economics’, in Fitzgerald, Holland, and Obbink (n. 19), 149–61; V. Tsouna, The Ethics of Philodemus (Oxford, 2007), 177–80 and V. Tsouna, Philodemus, On Property Management. Translated with an Introduction and Notes (Atlanta, GA, 2013), xxv–xxviii.
23 In De bono rege, Philodemus seems to characterize Telemachus’ journey as a valuable experience that helps him further his personal development (Bone rege 23.14–19 Fish); cf. J. Fish, ‘Philodemus on the Education of the Good Prince: PHerc. 1507, col. 23’, in G. Abbamonte and A. Rescigno (eds.), Satura. Collectanea philologica Italo Gallo ab amicis discipulisque dictata (Napoli, 1999), 71–7; M. Erler, Epicurus. An Introduction to his Practical Ethics and Politics (Basel, 2019), 133–4.
24 The imagery used in Epicurus’ advice to Pythocles is also noteworthy: the latter is to hoist sail and steer away from all forms of παιδεία, as if this part of his philosophical education were an actual sea voyage (Diog. Laert. 10.6).
25 In fact, it is said that, on occasion, the sage will even be prepared to lay down his life for his friend's sake (Diog. Laert. 120).
26 Cf. M. Gigante, ‘Dove visse Filodemo?’, ZPE 136 (2001), 25–32 and D. Sedley, ‘Philodemus and the Decentralisation of Philosophy’, CErc 33 (2003), 31–41.
27 Diog. Laert. 10.10: ‘He (sc. Epicurus) spent all his life in Greece, notwithstanding the calamities which had befallen her in that age; when he did once or twice take a trip to Ionia, it was to visit his friends there’ (Transl. R. D. Hicks, Diogenes Laertius. Lives of Eminent Philosophers. With an English Translation. Volume II [Cambridge, MA and London, 1931]).
28 Plut., Non posse 1090E (= Epic. fr. 189 Us.): ‘And what need to mention the fury of mobs, the savagery of bandits, the crimes of inheritors, and again the pestilences of the air and the roaring sea that came near to engulfing Epicurus on his voyage to Lampsacus, as he writes?’ (Translation by B. Einarson – P. H. De Lacy, Plutarch. Moralia. Volume XIV. With an English Translation [Cambridge, MA and London, 1967], modified after the emendation proposed by E. Bignone, L'Aristotele perduto e la formazione filosofica di Epicuro II [Firenze, 1936], 145, n. 1).
29 One of these rare visits to Lampsacus is confirmed by Epicurus’ letter to a child, which was written during his stay there (Epist. 32 Gomperz = Epic. fr. 176 Us.). For Epicurus’ business in Lampsacus, see also D. Sedley, ‘Epicurus and the Mathematicians of Cyzicus’, CErc 6 (1976), 23–54.
30 D. Clay, ‘Sailing to Lampsacus: Diogenes of Oenoanda, New Fragment 7’, GRBS 14 (1973), 49–59 provides a detailed discussion of this event.
31 Three fragments of the letter, fr. 70, 71, and 72 were discovered by Martin Ferguson Smith in 1970 and first published in M. F. Smith, ‘New Fragments of Diogenes of Oenoanda’, AJA 75 (1971), 357–89. At that time, it was believed that the shipwrecked man was in fact Epicurus himself. Clay (n. 30) and A. Grilli, ‘Il naufragio d'Epicuro’, RSF 33 (1978), 117–19, also discuss the discovered fragments against the background of Plutarch's report in Non posse 1090E. In 2017 an additional fragment of the letter (NF 214) was unearthed, which specifies that the shipwrecked man is not Epicurus, but Niceratus, an otherwise unknown contemporary of Diogenes. See also J. Hammerstaedt and M. F. Smith, ‘Diogenes of Oinoanda: The New and Unexpected Discoveries of 2017 (NF 214–219), with a Re-edition of Fr. 70–72’, EA 51 (2018), 51–4 for a detailed account of the findings with regard to the fragments of this letter.
32 Diog. Oen. fr. 71I+II Hammerstaedt.
33 The agency of chance is described as something that is clear (φανερός) and obvious to all (ἐν μέσῳ πᾶσιν προδήλος).
34 Especially those who suffer from arrogance and cognate vices are sensitive to the vicissitudes of fortune. They build their self-image upon their good luck (cf. e.g. Phld. Sup. 13.34–8; 15.26–33; 5.19–26) and end up in deep humiliation and at the mercy of their enemies when, finally, their luck runs out (Sup. 12.30–6; 14.36–40).
35 Epicurus even extolls φρόνησις above philosophy itself in Ep. Men. 132. See also D. De Sanctis, ‘Φρόνησις e φρόνιμοι nel Giardino’, CErc 40 (2010), 75–86 and J. E. Heßler, Epikur. Brief an Menoikeus. Edition, Übersetzung, Einleitung und Kommentar (Basel, 2014), 294–324.
36 Ep. Men. 132. See also M. Erler, ‘Νήφων λογισμός. A proposito del contesto letterario e filosofico di una categoria fondamentale del pensiero epicureo’, CErc 40 (2010), 23–9 and F. Verde, ‘ΤΥΧΗ e ΛΟΓΙΣΜΟΣ nell'epicureismo’, in F. G. Masi and S. Maso (eds.), Fate, Chance, and Fortune in Ancient Thought (Amsterdam, 2013), 177–97, who specifically discusses the relationship between λογισμός (‘reasoning’) and τύχη (‘chance’).
37 Fr.71 II.9–13.
38 The Epicureans would agree that the superstitious person is responsible for his own misfortune, but not on account of his failure to appease the gods. It is his mistaken belief in divine agency and his refusal to use his own rational capacities instead that lies at the basis of his misery (cf. Phld., Elect. et fugae 7).
39 Epicurus Ep. Pyth. 86–8.
40 The Epicurean method of multiple explanations has received a lot of scholarly attention over the years, including T. Bénatouïl, ‘La méthode épicurienne des explications multiples’, CPS 15 (2003), 15–47; L. C. Taub, ‘Cosmology and Meteorology’, in J. Warren (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Epicureanism (Cambridge, 2009), 105–24; R. J. Hankinson, ‘Lucretius, Epicurus, and the Logic of Multiple Explanations’, in D. Lehoux, A. D. Morrison, and A. Sharrok (eds.), Lucretius. Poetry, Philosophy, Science (Oxford, 2013), 69–97; F. G. Masi, ‘The Method of Multiple Explanations: Epicurus and the Notion of Causal Possibility’, in C. Natali and C. Viano (eds.), Aitia II. Avec ou sans Aristote. Le débat sur les causes à l’âge hellénistique et impérial (Louvain-la-Neuve, 2014), 37–63; F. A. Bakker, Epicurean Meteorology. Sources, Methods, Scope, and Organization (Leiden, 2016); F. G. Corsi, ‘Il metodo delle molteplici spiegazioni in Diogene di Enoanda’, Syzetesis 4 (2017), 253–84; G. Leone, ‘Diogène d'Oenoanda et la polémique sur les meteora’, in J. Hammerstaedt, P.-M. Morel, and R. Güremen (eds.), Diogenes of Oinoanda. Epicureanism and Philosophical Debates/Diogène d'Oenoanda. Épicurisme et controverses (Leuven, 2017), 89–110; F. Verde, ‘L'empirismo di Teofrasto e la meteorologia epicurea’, RFN 90 (2018), 889–910 and F. Verde, ‘Epicurean Meteorology, Lucretius, and the Aetna’, in P. R. Hardie, V. Prosperi, and D. Zucca (eds.), Lucretius. Poet and Philosopher (Berlin and Boston, MA, 2020), 83–102.
41 Epicurus Ep. Pyth. 85: ‘In the first place, remember that, like everything else, knowledge of celestial phenomena, whether taken along with other things or in isolation, has no other end in view than peace of mind and firm conviction’ (transl. Hicks [n. 27]).
42 In fact, even the primitive type of ‘weather forecast’ provided by the behaviour of animals is rejected as mere coincidence (Epicurus Ep. Pyth. 115–6).
43 Phld. Oec. 17.14–27.
44 See, for example, Phld. Oec. 23.18–22, on making money from the expertise of specialized slaves and servants.
45 For the Epicurean view on the arts, see D. Blank, ‘Philosophia and technē: Epicureans on the arts’, in Warren (n. 40), 216–33 and V. Tsouna, ‘The Epicureans on Technê and the Technai’, in T. K. Johansen (ed.), Productive Knowledge in Ancient Philosophy. The Concept of Technê (Cambridge, 2021), 191–225.
46 For Plutarch, on the other hand, this is precisely an argument against the Epicurean claim that their philosophy leads to the achievement of a pleasant life. In his view, few things are more dismal than the life of the Epicurean who denies himself all hope that he will be rewarded for his piety and for whom the only consolation for an untimely death lies in the fact that ‘death does not concern us’. Interestingly, Plutarch illustrates this with the image of a shipwreck, where Epicurus bluntly dashes all hope for divine guidance or help that the unlucky passengers may still have had (Non posse 1103CE). Of course, the crucial difference between Plutarch and Epicurus lies in the fact that the former actually believes that there are benign gods and that it would be wretched to deny oneself the comfort that this true belief engenders, whereas the latter holds that the gods do not care about us and that it is foolish to delude oneself by hoping for their help.
47 Diog. Oen. NF 214II+III+fr. 72 I+II+III Hammerstaedt.
48 Smith reads τῆς [ἄκρας] σκοπιᾶς (‘on the [extremity of] the headland’), contrary to Hammerstaedt, who favours the reading τῆσ[δε τῆς] σκοπιᾶς (‘on this look-out point’): see Hammerstaedt and Smith (n. 31), 58. However that may be, the general idea of a protruding vantage point remains the same in either reading.
49 Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis, // e terra magnum alterius spectare laborem: ‘It is comforting, when winds are whipping up the waters of the vast sea, to watch from land the severe trials of another person’ (transl. Smith [n. 4]).
50 Fr. 72 III.8–15. Translation by Hammerstaedt (Hammerstaedt and Smith [n. 31]).
51 Diog. Oen. Fr. 70 I.5–II.1 Hammerstaedt.
52 Translation by Hammerstaedt (Hammerstaedt and Smith [n. 31]).
53 Epicurus Ep. Men. 135.
54 Diog. Oen. Fr. 70 II + III Hammerstaedt.
55 Phld. Elect. et fugae 21.1–7.
56 Phld. Oec. 15.1–6 ; 25.14–23.
57 Diog. Laert. 10.120.
58 Sent. Vat. 34.
59 See, e.g. J. M. Rist, ‘Epicurus on Friendship’, CPh 75 (1980), 121–9; P. Mitsis, Epicurus’ Ethical Theory. The Pleasures of Invulnerability (Ithaca, NY and London, 1988), 98–128; D. K. O'Connor, ‘The Invulnerable Pleasures of Epicurean Friendship’, GRBS 30 (1989), 165–86; T. O'Keefe, ‘Is Epicurean Friendship Altruistic?’, Apeiron 34 (2001), 269–305; E. Brown, ‘Epicurus on the Value of Friendship (Sententia Vaticana 23)’, CPh 97 (2002), 68–80; M. Evans, ‘Can Epicureans be Friends?’, AncPhil 24 (2004), 407–24; D. Armstrong, ‘Epicurean Virtues, Epicurean Friendship: Cicero vs the Herculaneum Papyri’, in J. Fish and K. R. Sanders (eds.), Epicurus and the Epicurean Tradition (Cambridge, 2011), 105–28; D. Frede, ‘Epicurus on the Importance of Friendship in the Good Life (De Finibus I.65–70; 2.78–85)’, in J. Annas and G. Betegh (eds.), Cicero's De Finibus. Philosophical Approaches (Cambridge, 2016), 96–117; and P. Mitsis, ‘Friendship’, in P. Mitsis (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism (Oxford, 2020), 250–83, who offers an important critical survey of past scholarship.
60 Cf. Diog. Laert. 10.120; Sent. Vat. 57. Interestingly, Epicurus also appears to have sent some of his friends overseas to the Royal Court in an attempt to counteract Timocrates’ defamatory campaign against himself and the School (Plut. Adv. Col. 1126C). As far as we can tell, these emissaries were spared of Niceratus’ misfortune and arrived at the royal court safe and sound. Apparently, the result of Epicurus’ rational calculus was that the matter was urgent enough and the sea sufficiently safe. It is, however, interesting to note that he did not make the journey himself. It could be that others were more suited to plead with the king, or that it was too risky for him to become entangled in Timocrates’ web of court intrigue (cf. Roskam [n. 16], 47). Yet, one may also wonder whether his decision might not have been influenced by his aversion towards sea travel and its discomforts. If it is safe enough for friends to make a journey that he himself would consider unpleasant, and if these friends can handle things as well or even better than he himself would, then it is a perfectly rational decision for Epicurus to stay at home and save himself the trouble and discomfort of travel.
61 According to Sent. Vat. 56, the sage suffers as much from the torments of his friend as he would if he himself were subjected to them.
62 Sent. Vat. 66.
63 Jürgen Hammerstaedt hypothesizes that Niceratus may have been on his way to Diogenes’ house in Oenoanda when disaster struck. Martin Ferguson Smith, on the other hand, points out that it is more likely that Niceratus was heading to Rhodes, where Diogenes liked to spend his winters (Hammerstaedt and Smith [n. 31], 59). In either case, it cannot be ruled out that Diogenes was all of a sudden forced to make arrangements for the last leg of Niceratus’ journey, considering that the latter was probably in no condition to arrange his own transport. Also of interest is the fact that T. H. M. Gellar-Goad, ‘Trouble at Sea in Juvenal 12, Persius 6, and the Proem to Lucretius, De rerum natura 2’, CCJ 64 (2018), 49–69, interprets Juvenal 12 as an example of how Epicureans are supposed to act when one of their friends is shipwrecked. He reads the poem against the background of Lucretius’ proem to DRN 2 and argues that Juvenal's narrator embodies the ideal of the good Epicurean friend. This narrator brings the proper sacrifices upon hearing that his friend, Catullus, has narrowly escaped death at sea, knowing all too well that the latter has lost all his possessions and is at the moment unable to perform these sacrifices himself. Thus, he actively takes measures to ensure that his friend's peace of mind is restored, and that the joyful celebration of the latter's survival will eclipse the disturbing memories of the sea storm.
64 Although there is probably no need to explore hypothetical situations about the trustworthiness of friends, like the ones outlined by Evans (n. 59), 219–20, it is rather obvious that Epicurean friends are supposed to make a genuine effort to care for each other and are generally more than happy to do so. The carelessness of Niceratus’ friends will hardly have threatened to subvert the entire School. Nevertheless, their mistake was a serious one, and in a philosophical school where pleasure is the highest good, the needless, albeit not deliberate, infliction of harm to one of its members would not have been considered a trifling matter. The most notorious example of an Epicurean who was not merely careless, like Niceratus’ friends, but who deliberately betrayed his friends, severely harming the entire School, is no doubt the renegade Timocrates (cf. Roskam [n. 16], 43–9).
65 It is perhaps no coincidence that the Epicurean Villa dei Papiri on the Bay of Naples features a seaside belvedere (ἄποψις): cf. Phld. Ep. 29.5 Sider (= AP 9.412). It has been suggested by G. Sauron, ‘Templa Serena. À propos de la Villa des Papyri d'Herculaneum: Contribution à l’étude des comportements aristocratiques romains à la fin de la République’ MEFRA 92 (1980), 299, and X. Lafon, Villa maritima. Recherches sur les villas littorales de l'Italie romaine (IIIe siècle av. J.-C. / IIIe siècle ap. J.-C.) (Rome, 2001), 218 n. 39, that the villa's architectural design may have been influenced by DRN 2.1–4. See also M. Gigante (tr. D. Obbink), Philodemus in Italy (Ann Arbor, MI, 1995), 53–5. Even though this hypothesis might be somewhat too imaginative, we know for a fact that the Epicureans who convened in the Villa dei Papiri were very fond of their belvedere, where they spent many pleasant hours in each other's company (cf. Gigante [n. 65], 54).