Sign-In
Cart
Martin the Epicurean
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781800423244
Publisher: Silverwood Books
Published: Apr 15 2026
Pages: 312
Weight: 0.92
Height: 0.70 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
For most of his life Martin Ferguson Smith (born 1940) has been closely engaged with the teachings of the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BC). Epicurus adopted and adapted the atomic theory developed by Democritus, but regarded scientific knowledge as subservient to the moral end, which is pleasure, specifically absence of pain in the body and absence of trouble in the mind.
Martin has a particular interest in two of Epicurus' followers, each of whom regarded his master as the saviour of humanity. One is the Roman poet Lucretius (first century BC), author of On the Nature of Things, which Martin has translated and edited. The other is Diogenes of Oinoanda (second century AD), who displayed his exposition of Epicureanism in a gigantic Greek inscription, the longest one known from antiquity, in his upland home city in southwest Turkey. Diogenes addresses not only the people of Oinoanda, but also so-called foreigners who are actually fellow citizens in a world which is one country for humanity.
Since 1968 Martin has been involved in Oinoanda's exploration, first independently, later in collaboration, and has seen the number of known pieces of Diogenes' work more than tripled. The new texts are among the most remarkable classical finds to have been made anywhere in the last two centuries, and the inscription has the fascination of an unfinished jigsaw puzzle.
Martin was educated at Shrewsbury School, alongside John Peel, and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was a foundation scholar, took a first in Classics, and wrote a postgraduate dissertation on Lucretius. After service as professor of Classics in Bangor and Durham and adventures not only in Turkey, but also in communist Albania and Romania, he moved to the remote island of Foula in Shetland. There he has lived in contented isolation for thirty years, without a shop, television, or smart phone.
Alongside his classical work, he has written four modern books: Dearest Jean (2011); Madeleine Symons (2017); In and Out of Bloomsbury (2021); and The Artist Helen Coombe (2023). Of particular relevance to Martin the Epicurean is his Urbi et Orbi: The Epicurean Inscription and Prescription of Diogenes of Oinoanda (2026), Open Access and paperback.
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Pete Welding (ED.)
Toby Byron (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Cooper, Christian
Hardcover
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Kinney, David
Wittman, Robert K.
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man
Erdoes, Richard
Lame Deer, Chief Archie Fire
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover