Sfuggire agli dei, sfuggire agli uomini: religio e giustizia in Lucrezio

Escaping the Gods, Escaping Men: Religio and Justice in Lucretius · Starting from surveying a particularly tricky verse from De rerum natura (v 1156), the present study aims to shed some light on Lucretius’s intricate attitude towards religion. On the one hand, attention shall be drawn to the (plausible) strategic recourse, by the poet, to the so-called Sisyphus fragment to condemn some specific (and harmful) aspects of human worship of the gods. On the other hand, an attempt will be made to assess Lucretius’ consideration of civil religion and its connection to justice, primarily by rigorously considering his historical context.