He declares, indeed, his opposition to the doctrine of empedocles, which traced the origin of all things to four original elements; but he adopted into his own system many both of his expressions and of his philosophical ideas.
"The Roman Poets of the Republic"
W. Y. Sellar
He thus seems to stand midway between the spiritual aspirations of empedocles and the negation of Lucretius.
"The Roman Poets of the Republic"
W. Y. Sellar
Even Lucretius, whose diction, more than that of most poets, produces the impression of being the immediate creation of his own mind, has described outward objects, and clothed his thoughts, in language borrowed from Homer, empedocles, and Euripides.
"The Roman Poets of the Republic"
W. Y. Sellar