Epikouros & 5954 Epikouros Asteroid - New York City, NY
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Metro2
N 40° 46.720 W 073° 57.767
18T E 587523 N 4514704
This bust of Epikouros is located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Waymark Code: WMKBJ1
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 03/14/2014
Views: 9
This life-sized marble bust of Epikouros depicts him as a middle-aged man, thin face, curly hair and beard. A placard at the site dates it to the 2nd century AD and indicates it is a copy of a Greek statue from the 3rd century BC.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Epicurus ... 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher as well as the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters of Epicurus's 300 written works remain. Much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators.
For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by ataraxia—peace and freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain—and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are the measures of what is good and evil; death is the end of both body and soul and should therefore not be feared; the gods neither reward nor punish humans; the universe is infinite and eternal; and events in the world are ultimately based on the motions and interactions of atoms moving in empty space."
As for the asteroid, Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"5954 Epikouros (1987 QS1) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on August 19, 1987 by Elst, E. W. at La Silla."\
Discovered by Elst, E. W.
Discovery site La Silla
Discovery date August 19, 1987
Designations
MPC designation 5954
Named after Epicurus
Alternative names 1987 QS1
Orbital characteristics
Epoch May 14, 2008
Aphelion 2.8660822
Perihelion 2.0327078
Eccentricity 0.1701184
Orbital period 1400.1890411
Mean anomaly 217.70580
Inclination 6.52444
Longitude of ascending node 328.64605
Argument of perihelion 249.26340
Physical characteristics
Absolute magnitude (H) 13.1"