Philodemus facts for kids

Philodemus of Gadara (Greek: Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, meaning "love of the people") was an ancient Greek Epicurean philosopher and poet. He lived around 110 BC to 40 or 35 BC. Philodemus first studied in Athens with a teacher named Zeno of Sidon. Later, he moved to Rome and then to Herculaneum.

For a long time, Philodemus was mostly known for his poems. These poems were collected in a book called the Greek Anthology. But since the 1700s, many more of his writings have been found. These writings were discovered among old, burned papyrus scrolls. They were found at a place called the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. It's very hard to dig up and read these old scrolls. Scientists are still working on them today. The writings found so far cover many topics. These include ethics (how to live well), theology (ideas about gods), rhetoric (the art of speaking well), music, poetry, and the history of different philosophical schools. Some people even think Philodemus owned the library at the Villa of the Papyri.

The Life of Philodemus

Philodemus was born around 110 BC in a city called Gadara. This city was in a region known as Coele-Syria, which is part of modern-day Jordan. He learned from Zeno of Sidon, who was the leader of the Epicurean school in Athens. The Epicurean school followed the ideas of Epicurus, who taught that happiness comes from a calm and peaceful life.

Around 80 BC, Philodemus moved to Rome. He was a loyal follower of Zeno's teachings. However, Philodemus also had new and interesting ideas about aesthetics. This is the study of beauty and art. Most Epicureans didn't focus much on art, so Philodemus's ideas were quite special. He was friends with a Roman politician named Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus. Even though a famous Roman speaker, Cicero, criticized Piso, Cicero spoke highly of Philodemus. He praised Philodemus for his smart philosophical ideas and his fun poems. Philodemus's work also influenced the famous Roman poet Horace and his poem Ars Poetica. The Greek Anthology contains 34 of Philodemus's short poems, called epigrams. Most of these are love poems.

The Villa of the Papyri and Its Hidden Treasures

The Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum had a huge library. A large part of this library was filled with Epicurean texts. Some of these books even had more than one copy. This makes many people think that this part of the library belonged to Philodemus himself. The villa and its contents were buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. The papyrus scrolls were burned and flattened by the heat. But this also helped to preserve them!

Discovering the Scrolls

In the 1700s, people started digging tunnels to explore the villa. From 1752 to 1754, they found many carbonized papyrus rolls. Thirty-six of these scrolls were identified as works by Philodemus. These writings discussed topics like music, rhetoric, ethics, and how to be a good king. They also defended Epicurean ideas against other schools of thought like the Stoics and Peripatetics. The first pieces of Philodemus's work from Herculaneum were published in 1824.

In 2019, scientists used special imaging technology to study one scroll. This scroll was about the history of Plato's Academy. It had been unrolled and glued to cardboard way back in 1795. The new technology helped researchers read what was written on the back of the scroll. It also showed 150 new words on the front!

Challenges and Modern Research

Reading and understanding these ancient texts is very difficult. For a long time, scholars weren't very interested in the Herculaneum papyri. This was partly because the philosophies of the Hellenistic schools weren't well-known. However, things have changed. Thanks to groups like the International Center for the Study of the Herculaneum Papyri, there's new interest. These scrolls are now giving us important information about ancient Greek philosophy.

Today, researchers use modern tools to study the scrolls. They use digital photos, infrared light, and special photography techniques. They also look at copies made in the 1700s. Back then, the scrolls were often damaged as they were unrolled and copied. The actual papyri are kept safely in the National Library in Naples, Italy.

The Philodemus Project

There's a big international effort called the Philodemus Project. It's named after the philosopher-poet himself. This project aims to put together new texts of Philodemus's works. They focus on his writings about poetry, rhetoric, and music. These texts will be edited, translated, and published in a series of books.

One important book, Philodemus: On Poems. I, was published in 2001. It was edited and translated by Richard Janko. Janko said that Philodemus's On Poems helps us understand a lost time in scholarship. This was the period between Aristotle's Poetics and Horace's Art of Poetry. These two works are very important in defining classic art for both ancient and modern times.

More books from the Philodemus Project are planned:

• On Poems V, edited and translated by David Armstrong, James Porter, Jeffrey Fish, and Cecilia Mangoni
• On Rhetoric I-II, edited and translated by David Blank
• On Rhetoric III, edited and translated by Dirk Obbink and Juergen Hammerstaedt.

Philodemus's Ideas on Reasoning

In his work On Methods of Inference, Philodemus talked about a problem in inductive reasoning. This is a way of thinking where you use what you've observed to guess what will happen in the future. Philodemus doubted if this method was always reliable.

He pointed out that some events are unique. You could never guess them from what usually happens. For example, he mentioned a very short man in Alexandria with a huge head. Or a person in Epidaurus who was born a girl and later became a man. These are very rare events.

Philodemus also said that inductive reasoning isn't good if you try to guess too far beyond your experience. He gave an example: "We shouldn't say that since people here are mortal, people in Libya must also be mortal." Even more, he said, "We shouldn't say that since living things here are mortal, if there are any living things in Britain, they would be mortal." This shows he was careful about making big guesses based on limited information.

Another important work is the fourth book of Philodemus's On Death. This text helps us understand the famous Epicurean idea that "death is nothing to us."

List of Philodemus's Works

Here is a list of the main works by Philodemus that have been found so far at Herculaneum.

Historical Writings

• Index Stoicorum (PHerc. 1018)
• Index Academicorum (PHerc. 164, 1021)
• On the Stoics (PHerc. 155, 339)
• On Epicurus (PHerc. 1232, 1289)
• Works on the Records of Epicurus and some others (PHerc. 1418, 310)
• To Friends of the School (PHerc. 1005)

Scientific Writings

• On Phenomena and Inferences (PHerc. 1065)

Theological Writings

• On Piety (P.Herc. 229, 242, 243, 247, 248, 433, 437, 1077, 1088, 1098, 1114, 1428, 1609, 1610, 1648, 1788)
• On the Gods (PHerc. 26)
• On the Way of Life of the Gods (PHerc. 152, 157)

Ethics (How to Live Well)

• On Vices and Virtues, book 7 (On Flattery) (PHerc. 222, 223, 1082, 1089, 1457, 1675)
• On Vices and Virtues, book 9 (On Household Management) (PHerc. 1424)
• On Vices and Virtues, book 10 (On Arrogance) (PHerc. 1008)
• Comparetti Ethics (named after its first editor; PHerc. 1251)
• On Death (PHerc. 1050)
• On Frank Criticism (PHerc. 1471)
• On Anger (PHerc. 182)

On Rhetoric, Music, and Poetry

• On Rhetoric (on many papyri)
• On Music (PHerc. 1497)
• On Poems (on many papyri)
• On the Good King according to Homer (PHerc. 1507)

Unpublished Fragments

• PHerc. Paris. 4

English Translations

• Philodemus: On Anger. (2020), David Armstrong & Michael McOsker. SBL. ISBN: 1628372699
• Philodemus: On Death. (2009), W. Benjamin Henry. SBL. ISBN: 1-58983-446-1
• Philodemus: On Frank Criticism. (1998), David Konstan, Diskin Clay, Clarence, E. Glad. SBL. ISBN: 1-58983-292-2
• Philodemus: On Methods of Inference. 2nd edition. (1978). Phillip Howard De Lacy, Estelle Allen De Lacy. Bibliopolis.
• Philodemus, On Piety, Part 1. (1996). Critical Text with Commentary by Dirk Obbink. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0-19-815008-3
• Philodemus, On Poems, Book 1. (2001). Edited with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary by Richard Janko. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0-19-815041-5
• Philodemus, On Poems, Book 2, with the fragments of Heracleodorus and Pausimachus. (2020). Edited with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary by Richard Janko. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780198835080
• Philodemus, On Poems, Books 3-4, with the Fragments of Aristotle, On Poets. (2010). Edited with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary by Richard Janko. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0-19-957207-0
• Philodemus, On Property Management. (2013), Voula Tsouna. SBL. ISBN: 1-58983-667-7
• Philodemus, On Rhetoric Books 1 and 2: Translation and Exegetical Essays. (2005). Clive Chandler (editor). Routledge. ISBN: 0-415-97611-1
• David Sider, (1997), The Epigrams of Philodemos. Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0-19-509982-6