The Classical WorldIdeas & Belief Epicurus c. 307 BCENotable A philosophy of simple pleasures, friendship and a universe of atoms. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → Habitual fire and cooking → Homo sapiens appears → Complex language → Natufian villages → Oldest known bread → Agriculture begins → Irrigation → Uruk and the first cities → Cylinder seals → Writing (cuneiform) → Babylonian mathematics → Babylonian astronomical diaries → Thales and natural philosophy → Atomism → Epicurus Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesBookStephen GreenblattThe Swerve: How the World Became Modern ↗Editor's pickBookBrad Inwood and L. P. Gerson (trans.)The Epicurus Reader ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubeEpicurus philosophy explained ↗Editor's pick