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[Epicurus,] son of Neocles; an Athenian, of the deme Gargettus. His mother was Chairestrate, and his brothers were Neocles, Chairedemus, Aristobulus or Aristodemus. He began to philosophize when he was 12 years old and he founded his own sect/school, first in Samos, where he spent some time with his parents. Later he was the head of his school in Mytilene for a number of years,[1] then in Lampsacus and thus [he moved] to Athens [where he settled] in a garden of his own. He studied under Nausiphanes the Democritean and under Pamphilus the disciple of Plato. [Epicurus] was born during the 109th Olympiad, seven years after Plato's death,[2] and his life extended until the successors [sc. of Alexander] and [sc. specifically] Antigonus Gonatas.[3] His school continued until the first Caesar, for 227 years. In these [years] there were 14 successors. [There are] very many writings of his.

*)epi/kouros, *neokle/ous, *)aqhnai=os, *gargh/tteios tw=n dh/mwn, mhtro\s *xairestra/ths. a)delfoi\ de\ au)tou= *neoklh=s, *xaire/dhmos, *)aristo/boulos h)\ *)aristo/dhmos. filosofi/as de\ h)/rcato a)po\ e)niautw=n ib# kai\ oi)kei/an ai(/resin ei)shgh/sato, prw=ton me\n e)n *sa/mw| diatri/yas su\n toi=s goneu=sin, ei)=ta sxolarxh/sas e)n *mitulh/nh| e)niautw=n w(=n h)=n, ei)=ta e)n *lamya/kw| kai\ ou(/tws e)n *)aqh/nais e)n i)di/w| kh/pw|, a)kou/sas de\ *nausifa/nous tou= *dhmokritei/ou kai\ *pamfi/lou tou= *pla/twnos maqhtou=. ge/gone de\ e)pi\ th=s rq# o)lumpia/dos meta\ e(pta\ e)niautou\s th=s *pla/twnos teleuth=s kai\ pare/teinen e)pi\ tw=n diado/xwn kai\ *)antigo/nou tou= *gonata=: kai\ die/meinen h( au)tou= sxolh\ e(/ws *kai/saros tou= prw/tou, e)/th skz#. e)n oi(=s dia/doxoi au)th=s e)ge/nonto id#. suggra/mmata de\ au)tou= plei=sta.

341-270 BCE. See generally D.J. Furley in OCD(4) s.v. Epicurus. The present entry reproduces (with some variations) the Life of Epicurus in Diogenes Laertius 10.1-16. See also epsilon 2405, epsilon 2406, sigma 1798.
[1] Some consider the text faulty here and supply a numeral.
[2] The 109th Olympiad embraced the years 344/3 through 341/0, and the extra chronological fix from Plato's death allows Epicurus' birth-year to be calculated as 341/0.
[3] For the Macedonian king Antigonus Gonatas (whose reign began in 277/6) see alpha 3745, alpha 3911, epsilon 2404, zeta 79, pi 1368.

David Whitehead (internal rearrangement; modified translation; augmented and modified notes; augmented keywords) on 23 October 2003@03:40:55.
Catharine Roth (added cross-references) on 27 September 2005@11:29:20.
Catharine Roth (my typo) on 27 September 2005@11:30:17.
David Whitehead (another keyword; cosmetics) on 14 October 2012@07:26:20.
David Whitehead (another note) on 31 March 2014@08:52:34.
David Whitehead on 3 August 2014@08:09:43.
David Whitehead (tweaks) on 28 January 2016@10:22:35.

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