Social Commentaries
The Atomic Theory (Mackail)
Translated by J. W. Mackail (1890) · From Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology (1890)
Epicurus wrote that the whole universe consisted of atoms, thinking, Alcimus, that the atom was the least of things. But if Diophantus had lived then, he would have written, "consisted of Diophantus," who is much more minute than even the atoms, or would have written that all other things indeed consist of atoms, but the atoms themselves of him.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Cite this poem
MLA
Lucillius. “The Atomic Theory (Mackail).” Translated by J. W. Mackail. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/lucillius/135/.
Chicago
Lucillius. “The Atomic Theory (Mackail).” Translated by J. W. Mackail. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/lucillius/135/.
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