“The Swerve” Chapter 5 2-1Q

In chapter 5 of “The Swerve” by Stephan Greenblatt he talks about the impact of Epicurean philosophy on the renaissance. He says “The universe is not governed by a divine plan but is instead the result of random motions and interactions of atoms.” This quote shows the shift from medieval thinking to modern thinking and highlights the idea of the world being driven by natural laws. Another detail I really loved in chapter 5 was how the author talks about “On the Nature of Things” and how it talks about Epicurean thought revival.  The quote “Death is nothing to us; when we are, death is not come, and when death is come, we are not.” shows how the poem addresses the fear people have of death. He shows that people have to learn to accept death. 

    A connection to the world, I think, would be how people are a part of religions. A reason why some people are a part of a religion is because they are afraid of what happens to them after they die, because nobody knows what happens. Being a part of a religion gives them a sense of comfort on knowing what is going to happen. 

   A question I have is, if people read Lucrious poem today, would it have a big effect on society as it did back then?