Atomic Theory: On The Smallness of Things
By Lucilius
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Thus spake Epicurus: "all things in the cosmos are made of atoms"
Thinking the atom the smallest thing of all.
Had he known Diophantus, he'd have said "made of Diophantus",
(The subatomic smallest of the small),
Or just "most things are made of atoms", and grant us
That "the atom itself is made of Diophantus."
The Original:
ἐξ ἀτόμων Ἐπίκουρος ὅλον τὸν κόσμον ἔγραψεν
εἶναι, τοῦτο δοκῶν, Ἄλκιμε, λεπτότατον.
εἰ δὲ τότ᾽ ἦν Διόφαντος, ἔγραψεν ἂν ἐκ Διοφάντου,
τοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀτόμων πουλύ τι λεπτοτέρου,
ἢ τὰ μὲν ἄλλ᾽ ἔγραψε συνεστάναι ἐξ ἀτόμων ἄν,
ἐκ τούτου δ᾽ αὐτάς, Ἄλκιμε, τὰς ἀτόμους.
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