In the highlands of Lycia, Diogenes of Oenoanda erected a massive inscription to share Epicurean philosophy with neighbors who didn't share his views. It covered physics, ethics, and critiques of Stoic theology, plus an original treatise on old age he wrote himself. The inscription stood for over a century before being quarried for building stone in late antiquity. What a loss — and what a find!
Diogenes of Oenoanda's great Epicurean inscription in Lycia
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Key facts
- Diogenes of Oenoanda commissioned the great inscription to address the ignorance of his fellow citizens, who largely did not share his Epicurean convictions.
- The inscription presented a comprehensive summary of orthodox Epicureanism, covering physics, ethics, and a sustained polemic against the Stoic view of the gods.
- The last part of the inscription was an original treatise on old age composed by Diogenes himself.
- The inscription stood for over a century before being demolished for building material in late antiquity.
- It proclaimed Diogenes' faith in the power of Epicurean philosophy to free the people of Oenoanda from fear.
Sources
Diogenes of Oinoanda The Epicurean Inscritionenglish.enoanda.cat
This website is devoted to Diogenes Oinoanda and Epicurean philosophy. Here you can find information about Diogenes and Oinoanda, Epicurus and Epicureanism.
In Search of a Philosopher's Stonearchaeology.org
Scattered in the well-preserved ruins … they found five stone fragments inscribed with writings of a then-unknown philosopher, Diogenes of Oinoanda.
Diogenes of Oinoanda Epicureanism and Philosophical Debates. ...bmcr.brynmawr.edu
Diogenes of Oinoanda, whose early second-century CE inscription, found in Oinoanda in 1884, contains an important summary of Epicurus' ...
Diogenes of Oenoanda Creates the Longest Ancient Greek Stone ...historyofinformation.com
The inscription was assigned on epigraphic grounds to the period of the Roman emperior Hadrian Offsite Link . The inscription expounds upon Epicurus's ...
The Epicurean inscription of Oinoandanotes.papacambridge.com
The fact that he could set up the inscription also shows that Diogenes must have had huge influence in Oinoandan local politics, even though as ...
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