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PHILOSOPHER

Epicurus

341 BC - 269 BC

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Icon of person Epicurus

Epicurus (, EH-pih-KURE-əs; Greek: Ἐπίκουρος Epikouros; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced by Democritus, Aristippus, Pyrrho, and possibly the Cynics, he turned against the Platonism of his day and established his own school, known as "the Garden", in Athens. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Epicurus has received more than 3,427,366 page views. His biography is available in 89 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 87 in 2019). Epicurus is the 23rd most popular philosopher (down from 21st in 2019), the 11th most popular biography from Greece (down from 10th in 2019) and the 6th most popular Greek Philosopher.

Epicurus is most famous for his philosophy of hedonism, which is the idea that the greatest pleasure is the absence of pain. He also believed that the soul dies with the body, and that there is no afterlife.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.4M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 84.58

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 89

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 15.76

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.83

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Epicuruses by language


Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Epicurus ranks 23 out of 1,081Before him are Thomas Aquinas, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Montesquieu, Thomas Hobbes, Democritus, and Arthur Schopenhauer. After him are Seneca the Younger, Erasmus, Auguste Comte, Friedrich Engels, Averroes, and Heraclitus.

Most Popular Philosophers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 341 BC, Epicurus ranks 1After him is Emperor Kōrei. Among people deceased in 269 BC, Epicurus ranks 1After him is Strato of Lampsacus.

Others Born in 341 BC

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Others Deceased in 269 BC

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In Greece

Among people born in Greece, Epicurus ranks 11 out of 936Before him are Homer (-800), Pythagoras (-570), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881), Hippocrates (-460), Sophocles (-497), and Democritus (-460). After him are Pericles (-494), Kösem Sultan (1590), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921), Aeschylus (-525), Spartacus (-109), and Aristophanes (-448).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In Greece

Among philosophers born in Greece, Epicurus ranks 6Before him are Aristotle (-384), Plato (-427), Socrates (-470), Pythagoras (-570), and Democritus (-460). After him are Protagoras (-486), Plutarch (46), Gorgias (-483), Leucippus (-500), Theophrastus (-371), and Pyrrho (-365).