Editing Epicurus (section)

===Theology===
[[File:Iphigeneia sacrificed MAN Napoli Inv9112.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|First-century AD Roman fresco from [[Pompeii]], showing the mythical [[human sacrifice]] of [[Iphigenia]], daughter of [[Agamemnon]]. Epicurus's devoted follower, the Roman poet [[Lucretius]], cited this myth as an example of the evils of popular religion, in contrast to the more wholesome theology advocated by Epicurus.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=46–47}}]]

In his ''Letter to Menoeceus'', a summary of his own moral and theological teachings, the first piece of advice Epicurus himself gives to his student is: "First, believe that a god is an indestructible and blessed animal, in accordance with the general conception of god commonly held, and do not ascribe to god anything foreign to his indestructibility or repugnant to his blessedness."{{sfn|Hickson|2014|pages=27}} Epicurus maintained that he and his followers knew that the gods exist because "our knowledge of them is a matter of clear and distinct perception", meaning that people can empirically sense their presences.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=39}} He did not mean that people can see the gods as physical objects, but rather that they can see visions of the gods sent from the remote regions of interstellar space in which they actually reside.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=39}} According to George K. Strodach, Epicurus could have easily dispensed of the gods entirely without greatly altering his materialist worldview,{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=39}} but the gods still play one important function in Epicurus's theology as the paragons of moral virtue to be emulated and admired.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=39}}

Epicurus rejected the conventional Greek view of the gods as anthropomorphic beings who walked the earth like ordinary people, fathered illegitimate offspring with mortals, and pursued personal feuds.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=39}} Instead, he taught that the gods are morally perfect, but detached and immobile beings who live in the remote regions of interstellar space.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=39–40}} In line with these teachings, Epicurus adamantly rejected the idea that deities were involved in human affairs in any way.{{sfn|Hickson|2014|pages=27}}{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=42–43}} Epicurus maintained that the gods are so utterly perfect and removed from the world that they are incapable of listening to prayers or supplications or doing virtually anything aside from contemplating their own perfections.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=39–40}} In his ''Letter to Herodotus'', he specifically denies that the gods have any control over natural phenomena, arguing that this would contradict their fundamental nature, which is perfect, because any kind of worldly involvement would tarnish their perfection.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=42–43}} He further warned that believing that the gods control natural phenomena would only mislead people into believing the superstitious view that the gods punish humans for wrongdoing, which only instills fear and prevents people from attaining ''ataraxia''.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=42–43}}

Epicurus himself criticizes popular religion in both his ''Letter to Menoeceus'' and his ''Letter to Herodotus'', but in a restrained and moderate tone.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=45–46}} Later Epicureans mainly followed the same ideas as Epicurus, believing in the existence of the gods, but emphatically rejecting the idea of divine providence.{{sfn|Hickson|2014|pages=27}} Their criticisms of popular religion, however, are often less gentle than those of Epicurus himself.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=46}} The ''Letter to Pythocles'', written by a later Epicurean, is dismissive and contemptuous towards popular religion{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=46}} and Epicurus's devoted follower, the Roman poet [[Lucretius]] ({{circa}} 99 BC – {{circa}} 55 BC), passionately assailed popular religion in his philosophical poem ''[[De rerum natura|On the Nature of Things]]''.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|page=46}} In this poem, Lucretius declares that popular religious practices not only do not instill virtue, but rather result in "misdeeds both wicked and ungodly", citing the mythical sacrifice of [[Iphigenia]] as an example.{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=46–47}} Lucretius argues that divine creation and providence are illogical, not because the gods do not exist, but rather because these notions are incompatible with the Epicurean principles of the gods' indestructibility and blessedness.{{sfn|Hickson|2014|pages=27–28}}{{sfn|Strodach|2012|pages=43–45}} The later [[Pyrrhonism|Pyrrhonist]] philosopher [[Sextus Empiricus]] ({{circa}} 160 – {{circa}} 210 AD) rejected the teachings of the Epicureans specifically because he regarded them as theological "Dogmaticists".{{sfn|Hickson|2014|page=28}}