Glückselig und unsterblich

Thus, the Epicurean gods have a beneficial influence on humans. By emitting images like all objects, they allow people to form a conception of a blissful life and thus have an ideal before their mind's eye that the wise strive to approach.

Since antiquity, the Epicureans have faced attacks on their doctrine of the gods. The accusations range from atheism to absurdity. The main argument is the impossibility of the existence of gods within the atomic worldview: the Epicurean notion of God as an imperishable and blissful being seems incompatible with the laws of Epicurean physics, which state that everything consists of atoms and all atomic connections are dissolvable. A clear response from the Epicureans has not been received. To resolve the contradiction, one can approach it from both sides. Either one assumes a special, imperishable corporeality for the gods as an exception in Epicurean physics, or one explains them as mere concepts, as thought projections that do not fall under physical laws. A central role is played by the concept one has of the gods, the gods' prolepsis, which is illuminated from all directions: Cicero and Diogenes Laertius describe the function of prolepsis, while Lucretius and Hermarchus discuss concept formation. Philodemus provides the theoretical foundation and explains how false concepts of gods arise. Taken together, the sources point to an external origin of the concept, to gods made of special atoms. The testimonies regarding the Epicurean doctrine of prolepsis and gods all argue against the assumption of mere thought constructs.