Marcus Tullius Cicero, De natura deorum [On the Nature of the Gods]

Clara Auvrey-Assayas (Université de Rouen)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Domains

Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication -45 - 44

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Dialogue

Resources

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Cicero’s dialogue

On the Nature of the Gods

is part of a coherent and well-planned series written between 45 and 43 BCE (

De diuinatione

2, 1-4). It exercised a strong influence on philosophers and particularly on theologians, from the early Christian writers through to the 18th century English and French Enlightenments, from Minucius Felix through to Locke, Hume, Diderot and Voltaire, to name but a few. The reception accorded this rich and complex dialogue from such a variety of thinkers over the centuries is well deserved.

As Cicero himself pointed out in its preface, the dialogue aims at throwing some light on a very difficult question whose resolution could be profitable as much for our understanding of what we are – as human beings in our relation to some higher principle – as

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2407 words

Citation: Auvrey-Assayas, Clara. "De natura deorum". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 July 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13347, accessed 31 October 2024.]