Epikouros at the British Museum, London, UK

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Epicurus was a renowned ancient Greek philosopher who established the school of philosophy known as Epicureanism. Despite his prolific output of 300 written works, only a few fragments and letters remain today. Most of what is understood about Epicurean philosophy comes from later followers and commentators. For Epicurus, the primary goal of philosophy was to achieve a life marked by happiness and tranquility, characterized by ataraxia—freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain—, as well as living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are the ultimate measures of what is good or evil; death marks 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 determined by the motions and interactions of atoms moving in empty space.