- published: 29 Apr 2016
- views: 18880
Ataraxia (Ἀταραξία "tranquility") is a Greek term used by Pyrrho and Epicurus for a lucid state, characterized by freedom from worry or any other preoccupation.
For the Epicureans, ataraxia was synonymous with the only true happiness possible for a person. It signifies the state of robust tranquility that derives from eschewing faith in an afterlife, not fearing the gods because they are distant and unconcerned with us, avoiding politics and vexatious people, surrounding oneself with trustworthy and affectionate friends and, most importantly, being an affectionate, virtuous person, worthy of trust.
For the Pyrrhonians, owing to one's inability to say which sense impressions are true and which ones are false, it is the quietude that arises from suspending judgment on dogmatic beliefs or anything non-evident and continuing to inquire. The experience was said to have fallen on the painter Apelles who was trying to paint the foamy saliva of a horse. He was so unsuccessful that, in a rage, he gave up and threw the sponge he was cleaning his brushes with at the medium, thus producing the effect of the horse's foam.
Riposa sul petto di una morbida compagna
crine di viola eletta dolceridente Saffo
posero intorno al petto fiori di loto ed intrecci di collane
io sono vecchio, ascoltami, sei bella
con quei capelli lunghi e quella veste d'oro
hai cosi' vaga l'anima
voce di cigno sul fluire ondoso dello Xanto
incoronata lei da quei capelli biondi,
desiderio...