PHILOSOPHER

Epicurus

341 BC - 269 BC

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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 3,534,241 page views. His biography is available in 94 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 89 in 2019). Epicurus is the 23rd most popular philosopher, the 12th most popular biography from Greece (down from 11th 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

  • 3.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 83.74

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 94

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 15.21

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.11

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Epicurus ranks 23 out of 1,267. Before him are Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Montesquieu, and Democritus. After him are Seneca the Younger, Friedrich Engels, Averroes, Auguste Comte, Thomas Hobbes, and Al-Ghazali.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 341 BC, Epicurus ranks 1. After him is Emperor Kōrei. Among people deceased in 269 BC, Epicurus ranks 1. After 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 12 out of 1,024. Before him are Homer (-800), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881), Hippocrates (-460), Sophocles (-497), Pericles (-494), and Democritus (-460). After him are El Greco (1541), Kösem Sultan (1590), Saint Stephen (1), Euripides (-480), Aristophanes (-448), and Plutarch (46).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In Greece

Among philosophers born in Greece, Epicurus ranks 6. Before him are Aristotle (-384), Plato (-427), Socrates (-470), Pythagoras (-570), and Democritus (-460). After him are Plutarch (46), Protagoras (-486), Gorgias (-483), Theophrastus (-371), Antisthenes (-445), and Pyrrho (-365).

Greek born Philosophers

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