Horace 2.14

anni fugAces
nec moram tristis morti,
facies tenebrae

years fleeting
not delay sad death,
face darkness

Carpe Diem Haiku

NE quaesieris (Don't ask)
de posterO afferre (about the future assigned)
ab deum Iovis (by the god Jupiter)

Five Works of Children's Philosophy

Last week in class we learned how simple children's books have philosophy in them. I found in Laura Numeroff's, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was filled with Epicurus philosophy. The whole idea of this story was if you gave a mouse something it asked for what it will need to go with it. This was just one great big cycle. Many people who may read this book might think that the mouse is like a child with a new toy. When you give a child a new toy they will play with it none stop until they get sick with it and move onto another new toy. But if you look past that I found that this was just Epicurus philosophy. This brought the mouse pleasure and according to Epicurus philosophy "pleasure is the beginning and end of living happily" Leo Lionni's, It's Mine, was another story we read that was full of Epicurus philosophy. At the beginning of the story the three frogs fought all the time, its mine, no its mine, no its mine. This drove the adult toad crazy. This all changed once a storm came and there was only a little rock the three frogs could stand on for safety. Turn out it was the toad. Since all the frog were scared they felt safe when they were all huddled together. This ended up making the three frogs find the pleasure of not fighting and playing together. Finally I also found Epicurus philosophy in Janell Cannon's, Verdi. Throughout the whole story young Verdi tried so hard to stay young and yellow because he thought when he grew up there would be no more pleasure in this life. Turns out he was wrong. He learn it is what you make of a situation and fun and pleasure doesn't have to end when you grow up. Young or old he still could pull off a figure eight flying through the sky.

Horace the Epicurian

In Horace poem 1.9, it was clear to the readers that Horace is an Epicurean. When we had our guest speaker in class Wednesday, he shared with us how Epicurean philosophy states, "We say that pleasure is the beginning and end of living happily". 1.9 starts out with no pleasure, "geluque flumina constiterint acuto" (and how the rivers are frozen with sharp ice). But when you move in to the next stanza Horace introduces the pleasure, "Deprome quadrimum Sabina, O Thaliarche, merum diota" (O Thaliarchus, four-year-old unmixed wine from the two-handled Sabine jar). Horace is going from a cold solid liquid to a warm pleasurable liquid. Since win brings pleurae then this follows Epicurus and his philosophy. Horace then continues and tells young boys to not pass up love and dance, live life to the fullest when your young because your youth is meant to be full with pleasure until your hair turns white and the pleasure runs out.