person

Democritus of Abdera

Democritus

also: Democritus

The Presocratic atomist philosopher of Abdera (c. 460–c. 370 BC), founder with Leucippus of the atomic theory and source of the eidola (images) doctrine that Epicurus inherited. Cited in Fam. 15.16 as the originator, before Epicurus, of the theory of perception by images. Distinct from person:democritus-sicyonius, Cicero's Achaean guest-friend.

Reading notes

On the Ends of Good and Evil §1.17 Democritus
Democritus of Abdera (c. 460-370 BC), the founder of atomism, from whom Epicurus took his physics of atoms and void. Cicero argues Epicurus borrowed wholesale and worsened what he changed.
On the Ends of Good and Evil §2.102 the one man Epicurus himself followed
Democritus of Abdera (c. 460-370 BC), the atomist whose physics of innumerable worlds Epicurus largely adopted. Cicero contrasts Democritus's cosmic outlook with Epicurus's petty concern for posthumous birthday feasts.
On the Ends of Good and Evil §4.13 Epicurus, in physics at any rate, is a Democritean
Epicurus took over the atomism of Democritus of Abdera, altering details (such as the atomic swerve) while keeping the core. Cicero uses this as a parallel: Zeno likewise depended on his Academic predecessors yet renamed his school.
On the Ends of Good and Evil §5.87 For that highest good he calls cheerfulness \textit{[Greek: euthymia]}, and often fearlessness \textit{[Greek: athambia]}
Democritus named the goal of life euthymia (cheerfulness) and athambia (freedom from dread). Cicero glosses both as a mind free of terror, the fruit of his enquiry into nature.
On the Nature of the Gods §2.76 which Democritus, bringing in his "likenesses,"
Democritus of Abdera (5th c. BC), atomist who explained the gods as films or "likenesses" (eidola) streaming from atomic bodies. Balbus groups his and Epicurus's image-theology as effectively a denial of real gods.
Tusculan Disputations §1.22 Democritus — a great man, to be sure, but one who makes the soul out of smooth and round little bodies
Democritus of Abdera, the atomist, who composed the soul of smooth spherical atoms moving by chance. Cicero sets his materialism aside as the basis of the Epicurean view he opposes.
Tusculan Disputations §5.104 "I came to Athens," says Democritus, "and no one there recognized me"
Democritus of Abdera, the atomist philosopher, who gloried in his anonymity at Athens. The saying exemplifies the wise man's indifference to popular fame.