At the end of the first book of Apollonius' Argonautica, Telamon accuses Jason of plotting to leave Heracles behind, an insult for which Telamon later apologizes. This article suggests that their reconciliation unites the Alexandrian interest in what is appropriate for epic with Aristotelian views on anger and political friendship, two themes that resonate throughout the poem. While Telamon's apology and Jason's moderate response revise the structure of traditional epic quarrels, the portrayal of self-control in this episode constitutes a moral exemplar in keeping with those Homeric scenes that were admired by ancient philosophers.
No less engaging are three papers toward the end of the collection that also concern themselves with the continuing relevance of Epicurean perspectives on ethical questions. D. B. Suits juxtaposes Epicurus with C. S. Peirce, whose distinction between doubt and belief he uses to unsnarl some of the complications that arise when pleasure tries to banish pain and surmount the obstacles to its ataraxic goal. The papers of both D. C. Russell and M. R. Wheeler are concerned with how the idea of Epicurean friendship relates to the goal of Epicurean happiness, and they provide very di ¶erent and very interesting answers to questions about how friends can help in (and complicate) the askesis for becoming happy and also how they can participate in the activity of being happy. (On the topic of Epicurean happiness, the discussion by Norman Lillegard on Bentham, Mill, and Kierkegaard in his On Epicurus [Belmont, 2003], is well worth consulting.) µnally, S. E. Rosenbaum o ¶ers a brilliant meditation on various meanings that Epicurus' 'death is nothing to us' can have for us when we relate them to current arguments for and against the death penalty; its ferocious logic is enhanced by the perfect equipoise of its style. As with all such collections, di ¶erent readers will µnd themselves more drawn to certain papers than others, but this rich and varied volume makes a handsome contribution to what appears to be a robust and much overdue Epicurean revival.
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