Empedocles Redivivus: Poetry and Analogy in Lucretius

Personification 31
Therefore, by no means could Lucretius accept any kind of “religious
personification,” 8 as this could certainly cause a conflict with his master, contradicting
his theological precepts. In other words, by imitating Empedocles’
personifications he runs the risk of introducing into his text theological and
teleological connotations that could prove rather unsettling within an Epicurean
context. In what follows, it will be seen how Lucretius, instead of completely
rejecting the use of personification alongside myth and allegorism,
creatively assimilates it as an indispensable part of his didactic project, and also
why Empedocles could be a particularly convenient model in this instance. 9
Whatever the case may be, it seems that Lucretius plays on dangerous ground.
In order to dispel any doubts about his method and his actual goals,
Lucretius provides us with self-referential comments and invites us to use
them as our reading guidelines throughout DRN. Just after the account of
the Magna Mater cult, in which myth has been provocatively used to illustrate
his arguments (2.598–643), 10 Lucretius explains in detail the workings
of his device (2.644–660):
Quae bene et eximie quamvis disposta ferantur,
longe sunt tamen a vera ratione repulsa. 645
omnis enim per se divom natura necessest
inmortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur
semota ab nostris rebus seiunctaque longe;
nam privata dolore omni, privata periclis,
ipsa suis pollens opibus, nil indiga nostri, 650
nec bene promeritis capitur neque tangitur ira.
terra quidem vero caret omni tempore sensu,
et quia multarum potitur primordia rerum,
multa modis multis effert in lumina solis.
hic siquis mare Neptunum Cereremque vocare 655
constituet fruges et Bacchi nomine abuti
mavolt quam laticis proprium proferre vocamen,
concedamus ut hic terrarum dictitet orbem
esse deum Matrem, dum vera re tamen ipse
religione animum turpi contingere parcat. 660
“But well and excellently as all this is set forth and told, yet it is far removed
from true reasoning. For the very nature of divinity must necessarily enjoy
immortal life in the deepest peace, far removed and separated from our
affairs; for without any pain, without danger, itself mighty by its own
resources, needing us not at all, it is neither propitiated with services nor