one of the most celebrated philosophers of antiquity, and founder of the sect which bears his name, was descended from the family of the Philaidei, who traced their lineage from Philaeus, grandson of Ajax. His father, Neocles, resided in Gargettium, a borough of Attica, and is hence sometimes simply styled the Gargettian; but finding himself ill provided in point of fortune, he emigrated along with an Athenian colony to Samos, B.C. 352. As Diogenes Laertius fixes the birth of Epicurus in the year 341 B.C., it may be regarded as certain that the philosopher was born at Samos, and not at Gargettium, as some suppose. In his early youth he is said to have followed his mother Charestrata, who appears to have been an itinerant sorceress, reading the formulæries of exorcism and expiation, whilst she performed the ceremonies usual on such occasions; but as he advanced in years he assisted his father in keeping a school, which the latter had established at Samos. At the age of fourteen Epicurus began to devote himself to philosophy, impelled to this study by his inability to solve his doubts in regard to the chaos of Hesiod. He at first attended Pamphilus, one of the disciples of Plato, and Nauphane, a philosopher of the school of Democritus, but not the disciple of Pyrrho, as Diogenes Laertius affirms, Pyrrho having been the contemporary of Epicurus. But the lessons he received from these teachers did not satisfy his mind; and having applied himself to the study of the writings of Democritus, he made great progress in philosophy, and soon thought himself in a condition to form a new sect. At the age of eighteen he proceeded to Athens; but during the troubles which ensued after the death of Alexander, he repaired to Colophon, in Ionia, whence he afterwards went to Mitylene and Lampsacus. It was at these latter places that he began to profess his new principles of philosophy. Having attracted a great number of disciples, amongst whom were the three brothers Neocles, Charidemus, and Aristobulus, he returned with them to Athens, B.C. 309; and having there purchased a garden for eighty minæ, he immediately commenced teaching his philosophy. In imitation of the Pythagoreans, his disciples formed a community by themselves. Epicurus did not, however, recommend or encourage a community of goods, which he considered as calculated to excite distrust; but each paid a portion of the general expense, which was in itself inconsiderable, as they were content with the simplest fare. The most per- Epicycle sect union reigned amongst them, and indeed subsisted undisturbed long after the death of Epicurus. Cicero says that the Epicureans of his time still lived in common, and in the best understanding with one another. Women were even admitted into this society; and amongst its most celebrated female disciples are mentioned Leontium, an Athenian courtezan, and Themista, wife of Leontius of Lampascus. As Epicurus never taught in public, the sect was little celebrated during his lifetime; but after his death, when his writings became generally known, the doctrine therein taught was warmly attacked by the Stoics, who did not blush even to have recourse to the most atrocious calumnies. Diotimus the Stoic went so far as to fabricate, in the name of Epicurus, fifty letters addressed to courtezans, in which the philosopher is made to express himself in the most obscene manner; but Chrysippus himself bears testimony to the blameless conduct and manners of Epicurus; and although the latter alleged that this was not the result of philosophy, but attributable solely to coldness and insensibility of temperament, it is certain that his life was wholly free from those vices with which his enemies have reproached him. For a short account of the system taught by this philosopher, see Epicurean Philosophy. Epicurus died of the stone, B.C. 270, in the seventy-second year of his age. He was never married, and kept himself entirely aloof from the political parties of the state. By his will, which Diogenes Laertius has preserved, he bequeathed his garden and a house which he had at Melitus to his successor Hermachus, and to those who should after him be at the head of his school, in order that his followers might assemble on the spot where his system was first taught. His memory was held in veneration by his disciples, and the anniversary of his birth was celebrated as a festival; they had his portrait engraved on their rings and on their cups, as well as placed in their chambers; and they never spoke of him but with the greatest respect. Epicurus is said to have been a most voluminous author. Almost all his works, however, have perished; but in the four letters preserved by Diogenes, we have a tolerably complete outline of his system. Parts of his work On Nature have been found among the Greek MSS. discovered at Herculaneum. These were published by Corsini, and have been reprinted separately by Orelli. No one has better developed the philosophical system of Epicurus than Gassendi in his Syntagma de Vita et Moribus Epicuri, lib. viii., Lyons, 1647. See also Durondel, Vie d'Epicure, Paris, 1679; Contours, La Morale d'Epicure, Paris, 1685; Apologie pour Epicure, and Discours sur Epicure, Paris, 1651 and 1684, 12mo; Warnckros, Apologie und Leben Epicure, Greifswald, 1795; and Steinhart in Ersh and Gruber's Allgem. Encyclop., xxxv., p. 459.