Lucretius: De Rerum Natura Book 3

The De Rerum Natura of Lucretius is a sustained and impassioned protest against religious superstition and irrationality. The poem takes the form of a detailed exposition of Epicurean physical theory - an extreme materialism designed to remove and discredit popular fears of the gods, death and an afterlife. Book III is generally accepted to be the finest in the whole poem; Lucretius argues there that the soul is as mortal as the body and shows that human response to the fact of mortality and death can be at once rational, dignified and liberating. Professor Kenney’s commentary is the first to give proper critical emphasis to the techniques and intentions of Lucretius’ poetry; it can be read with profit by all students of Latin from senior school level upwards.

Preface; Introduction; Titi Lvcreti Cardi de Rervm Natvra Liber Tertivs; Commentary; Bibliography; Addenda; Indexes to the commentary.

‘This is a thoroughly professional commentary, long overdue, certainly the soundest available guide for anyone beginning to read Lucretius, and all written with a brevity that comes near to wit.’

– David West, Journal of Roman Studies

‘The result … is excitingly successful … Somehow [the editor] has managed … to talk about the important matters, to ask the right questions, to admit uncertainty, and to elucidate the purport of individual paragraphs and yet not to lose sight of their particular function within the Book as a whole.’

– J. P. Elder, American Journal of Philosophy

‘Für die grammatisch-stilistische Einzelerklärung ist K.s Kommentar vorzüglich; hier leistet er nicht selten Besseres als Bailey. Dem mit L.’Sprache unvertrauten Anfänger wird er ein nützlicher Helfer sein; die Mittel und die Kunst der Darstellung … werden sachkundig erläutert.’

– Konrad Müller, Gnomon