Atomism and the Worldview of the Aeneid

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the findings of the various chapters, noting that, by the end of the Aeneid, the putative disorder of atomism yields, on the whole, to Roman rule and a divinely organized cosmos. It argues that this conclusion reveals an important preference for teleology and hierarchy in the world of the poem, which is starkly opposed to the worldview of Epicurean atomism. In terms of Virgil’s biography, the poem’s endorsement of an anti-atomist perspective also indicates a level of intellectual seriousness to his philosophical allusions beyond what is often supposed for the Aeneid. Last, the chapter calls for further study of anti-atomist discourse in authors after Virgil, noting similar treatments of atomism as a symbol of disorder in later periods of Greek and Roman literature.