This is a complete edition, with prolegomena, translation and commentary, of the first section of Philodemus's "De Pietate", preserved in papyri. Based on the papyri themselves (where they still exist), rather than on faulty reproductions, it brings together fragments hitherto thought to be from different rolls. The innovative format presents on facing pages the technical details of the papyrus, and a conventional, continuous text with interpretive notes. The work itself comprises a polemical treatise on the gods, mythography, and religion, presenting a defence of Epicurus's view of religion as an outgrowth of cultural history, and a philosophical rationale for participation in traditional cult practices in order to further social cohesion.
- ISBN10 0195089391
- ISBN13 9780195089394
- Publish Date 1 March 1994
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 448
- Language English