# Epicurus — The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers character guide

> Epicurus in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Book X Epicurus

**First appearance:** 0094-epicurus

## Snapshot

The garden philosopher who taught that pleasure rightly understood is the absence of pain, and that death is nothing to us.

## Who they are

Epicurus closes Diogenes Laërtius's Lives as the founder of the last great school, the Garden, whose doctrines of atomism, friendship, and tranquil pleasure stand in deliberate contrast to Stoic austerity. His letters and maxims, preserved at length in Book X, present a teacher who prized the quiet life, the company of friends, and the removal of fear above public honor. He matters to the book's arc as the counterweight to Zeno: two paths out of Socrates, one through endurance, one through pleasure, both claiming the wise man's peace.

## In the story

### [Zeno](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/zeno)

Mentioned as having referred to Zeno's pupils as Zenonians in his Epistles.

### [Protagoras](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/protagoras)

Mentioned as a source for the claim that Protagoras was a porter.

### [Pyrrho](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/pyrrho)

Admired Pyrrho's conversation and manners, and frequently asked about him according to Nausiphanes.

### [Book X: Epicurus and the Pursuit of Pleasure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/book-x)

Central figure of the chapter; his doctrines on pleasure, virtue, and the gods are expounded, and his will and death are described.

### [Epicurus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/epicurus)

Central figure of the chapter; his doctrines, will, and death are described.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters/epicurus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters