Liber Qvintvs: "That All Should Have Compassion on the Weak"

… and when they saw an offspring born
From out themselves, then first the human race
Began to soften. For 'twas now that fire
Rendered their shivering frames less staunch to bear,
Under the canopy of the sky, the cold;
And Love reduced their shaggy hardiness;
And children, with the prattle and the kiss,
Soon broke the parents' haughty temper down.
Then, too, did neighbours 'gin to league as friends,
Eager to wrong no more or suffer wrong,
And urged for children and the womankind
Mercy, of fathers, whilst with cries and gestures
They stammered hints how meet it was that all
Should have compassion on the weak. And still,
Though concord not in every wise could then
Begotten be, a good, a goodly part
Kept faith inviolate- or else mankind
Long since had been unutterably cut off,
And propagation never could have brought
The species down the ages.

Lvcretivs, De rervm natvra, Liber Qvintvs, 1015-1027

The above passage of Liber Qvintvs narrates the origin story of compassion, altruism, and of the social contract. Modern books like The Bonobo and the Atheist also give non-supernatural, anthropological accounts of what many modern people would call morality. Later, in verses 1136-1160, Lucretius offers another account of the origin of the social contract that depicts a move away from monarchy to constitutionalism (written laws) and elections. Although Kyria Doxa 6 does not support any one particular form of governance, here Lucretius appears to suggest that these inventions constitute superior forms of governance to the arbitrary authority of a monarch. But in this essay, I am specifically interested in verse 1023, which says:

Imbecillorum esse aequum misererier omnis

Let us look at the words chosen by Lucretius. While context may suggest that the text means to say that men should have compassion on women and children and the weak, in reality, the word used is omnis: not all men, but all people should have compassion. The term misererier means to commiserate, to have pity, to have compassion.

Of course, the word imbecillorum reminds us of our modern English word imbecile, but the original simply refers to the weak or feeble. That this word has evolved a bad connotation in our modern language is a sign of our (and our ancestors’) failure to live up to the noble standard set by Lucretius.

I realize that there might be some tension between this DRN verse and our discussion from last month on moral relativism and KD 39, which stresses the need for boundaries and the impossibility of a universal social contract. But I do not think the tension is as insurmountable, when we consider that the first thing that KD 39 says is that we should try to make all our friends into one family, so that the ideal is inclusivity; and when we consider that the DRN passage refers to extending compassion to those who are weak specifically (children, elderly, the sick), so that it invites a conversation on what policies we should have towards those individuals within our social contracts, and creates the possibility of mutual-aid arrangements so that if and when we are the ones who are sick or elderly, there will be others who will be considerate and caring toward us.

The Alternatives

One way to meleta on “that all should have compassion on the weak” is to place before our eyes the alternatives to compassion. This is the technique that Philodemus of Gadara used when he considered natural forms of anger: by placing before our eyes how it was irrational and unnatural to feel gratitude towards someone who abused us, it became understandable that anger could be rational. What are the alternatives to compassion for those who are weak?

In the case of those who feel cruelty towards the weak, who enjoy the suffering of others who are vulnerable, in his scroll On Anger, Philodemus says that people become like beasts when they imagine enjoying the suffering of others—much more when they actually indulge in vengeance. This is seen as a degrading attitude.

In the case of those who feel indifference towards the weak, this is a common attitude today and is less degrading, but the indifferent person does not inspire much trust from others. When we consider the benefits of having “that all should have compassion on the weak” as part of a community’s social contract, we quickly see that increased trust is one of the benefits or medicines of this doctrine. We will revisit the utility of this trust later. Individuals in this kind of community have greater reason to hope that there will be someone there to help them when they are vulnerable, sick or dying.

Compassion: Lucretian Innovation, or Part of the Epicurean Ethos?

We do not know if “that all should have compassion on the weak” was a literal repetition by Lucretius of something that Epicurus said, but the context strongly suggests that this doctrine fits within the logic of the earliest Epicurean community’s ethos. The passage takes place in the portion on how natural friendship and the social contract came about. 

If Epicurus didn’t mention it, it might have been because this statement has repercussions in the context of governance, and Epicurus did not intend his philosophy for the polis or for politicians. He may have stayed away from the subject, or perhaps he did discuss it at length, but we lack the sources. We just don’t know.

The Intended Roman Audiences

Things are different with Lucretius and Philodemus, later disciples who were both close to people who were powerful in Ancient Rome. They both had to cater to their students, who were sometimes wealthy. Lucretius dedicates his poem to the prominent praetor Gaius Memmius, a politician. Philodemus instructed a family (the Pisos) which included the father-in-law of Caesar.

This doctrine serves many practical purposes. In saying that “all should have compassion for the weak”, Lucretius may have been expressing an Epicurean value meant to imprint a positive influence in Memmius’ methods of leadership and other activities. 

However, the intended audience of De rerum natura is a more average Roman type, as the poem is an invitation to adopt Epicurean ethical practices. Lucretius may have been expressing a view that he shared in common with many Romans as a way to entice those of like mind to discover how this value fits into Lucretius’ Epicurean philosophy. 

Good Will and Conflict Resolution

“That all should have compassion for the weak” may have also been meant by Lucretius as a thought-provoking conversation starter in the context of addressing grievances in the burgeoning Roman Epicurean communities of his day, or really in any community. With this belief as part of a community’s social contract, people who may have been abused or mistreated in any way (as young peers often do to each other) are able to gain confidence in the good will of the other members of their community, and to more easily reincorporate themselves into it.

Good will (eunoia) is mentioned by Epicurus as a pre-requirement to participate in his community, and Philodemus also considers it an important part of the type of frank criticism that Epicurean friends practice. Frank criticism must always be given in a spirit of good will. This doctrine and this good will would foster the intention to heal scars, and to engage in peace-making activities, helping former enemies to become friendly to each other once again. This doctrine “that all should have compassion for the weak” has utility related to community-building and conflict resolution.

This doctrine sustains a community of individuals of good will towards each other, and whenever this doctrine has not emerged, it is likely because good will has yet to emerge in that particular community and has yet to be seen as a choice-worthy value by its members.

Epicurean Charitable Institutions

Let us consider another angle for a community’s need for compassion as part of its ethos, keeping in mind that Liber Qvintvs means to replace old supernatural foundation myths with natural accounts. Why would Lucretius want to steal the sacred heavenly fire of compassion and give it to mortals? Religious groups today sometimes monopolize charitable organizations and activities. Sometimes this is praiseworthy, but sometimes these charitable organizations discriminate (Salvation Army has denied services to homeless LGBT people), carry out terrorist acts (Hamas is the largest charitable organization in Gaza), or have aggressive proselytizing agendas. Pressure to convert potentially places non-believers in an uncomfortable position, since they must be exposed to these conversion efforts if they are ever hungry, homeless, or otherwise vulnerable enough to need the social services on offer.

By adding this doctrine to De rerum natura, Lucretius (perhaps inadvertently?) gives Epicurean communities a non-supernatural excuse for doing charitable work, and even the opportunity to offer these services to like-minded individuals. At the very least, it divorces charitable work from the supernatural by providing a natural account of how charity emerged.

The Anthropology of Domestication

We see here that Lucretius saw domestication as a preamble to the evolution of compassion, in part because it made humans vulnerable in new ways. He says (verse 1011) that houses, hides and fire changed the human body so that humans softened (1014). Only after this happened, did compassion flourish when people observed each other’s tenderness and vulnerability—awareness of which is directly related to the utility of compassion.

“That all should have compassion on the weak” occurs in the context of man’s evolution from a wild, hairy beast into a tamed, domesticated, civilized animal in Liber Qvintvs. It’s an important part of that evolution, almost of initiatory power, since the Epicureans practically define civilized persons as those who abide by social contracts, the utility of which goes far beyond neither harming nor being harmed.

Symphonia (Epicurus’ term for the social contract) is an agreement, a shared choice and voice, and can be a type of insurance policy: it means to provide security, safety, stability, hope, and help from others when we are sick or in danger.

A Feminine Value

These verses continue the mystery at the opening of De rerum natura, where Venus conquers Mars. This trope goes all the way back to the Sumerian so-called “sacred prostitutes” who welcomed wild men into the first cities and taught them the ways of culture and civilization, as Semchat does in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Although elsewhere Lucretius seems misogynistic, here this passage shows compassion as a civilizing feminine value that should be embraced by both women and men.

That charity is recognized as a feminine virtue in many cultures is attested by the fact that in places like Cuba, the African Aphrodite (Oshun) is syncretized into Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of the island. There are hospitals and charitable institutions dedicated to the Goddess Oxum (same Yoruba deity) in Brasil. These diverse societies associate compassion with womanly virtues, and the Greek goddesses known as Charites (the Graces) were also imagined as feminine.

Some of the translations of verse 1017 seem to ignore the feminine quality of the compassion that Lucretius describes here. Lucretius uses the word Venus. Copley translates Venus as Venus, but the Leonard translation changes her name for the word Love.

Birth of Concordia

There is another way in which this passage from Liber Qvintvs follows from the Opening. Although' Copley’s translation is consistently the best and clearest, here it loses some of the mythical and poetic layers of the poem. In the specific case of Lucretius’ choice of the word concordia, William translated it as “concord” while Copley—following the instructions of the original founders—preferred clarity and chose the English words covenants and agreements. In this case, I believe that William’s choice better evokes the originally intended mythical layer of meaning that Lucretius was weaving into the text.

Concordia is the Latin name of (according to one interpretation) the divine daughter of Venus with Mars, who was known as Harmonia in Greek. In the Opening, Lucretius is praying for peace for Rome, and the emergence of Concordia personifies the answer to his prayer. This Goddess (divine embodiment of peaceful and happy social relations) is therefore one of the direct results of the epiphany at the opening.

If we juxtapose the six books of DRN next to the cycle of the year, each book corresponds to two months, so that Liber Primvs = 1st and 2nd month, and so on until Liber Qvintvs (9th and 10th months) and Liber Sextvs (11th and 12th months). It’s curious that Mars mates with Venus near the Opening of Liber Primvs, and their daughter Concordia is born in Liber Qvintvs, which corresponds to the 9th month, which is about the term of a pregnancy. Did Lucretius mean to weave this natural cycle into his Magnum Opus, or is this just a coincidence? It would not have been out of character for a poet and artist like Lucretius to weave natural rhythms into his epic poem. Let us remember that the poem begins with the word “mater” and with springtime sexual imagery, and ends with a plague and with death.

Venus, once having conquered Mars, becomes pregnant with their daughter the Goddess Concordia, who embodies agreement and peace in marriage and community. How does Venus procure this agreement? Lucretius says that “Venus took toll of strength” in Liber Qvintvs. To take a toll is defined as to have a negative effect on something over the long term. In this case, it’s Mars strength (used in coercion and violence) that decreases as Venus’ charms overpower him. This is how Mother Nature, as Venus the Savior, procures Concordia.

Trust and the Foedus

The word used by Lucretius for the bonds of the social contract strongly imply a connection with trust, which is one of the human values that is sustained by foedus.

The term foedera (1025) implies something established by federation or alliance, and reminds us of words like federal, or confederates. The related word foedus (= league, treaty, compact, alliance in perpetuity) shares semantic roots with fido (trust, confidence, faith) and with our word fidelity (loyalty). Foedus aequum is a pact between equals. The word fidere means “to trust, to rely upon, to put confidence in”. In Spanish, the word fiar means to sell on credit, give credit, guarantee.

Lucretius uses the fact that the human race has continued to this day as an argument in favor of his proposed Cytherean social contract, and of “keeping the faith”. If enough people abide by Venus’ covenant of peace, including no harm, protection of the weak and children, welfare of elderly and sick, then we have reason to hope that our future generations will persist just as the previous ones did.

Conclusion

In the past, we have studied Liber Qvintvs as an epitome of ancient anthropology that seeks to demystify all the civilizational gifts that used to be attributed to the gods, and to come up with natural explanations for these cultural memes. Here, we see that logic applied to the evolution of altruism and compassion, with layers of poetry and myth, and appealing to the legal practices and institutions prominent in ancient Roman society. “That all should have compassion on the weak” meant to give a natural explanation to the origin of charity and compassion, and also to cement stronger and healthier social bonds in the Ancient Roman world and in the Epicurean communities.