Editing Epicurus (section)

===Upbringing and influences===
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Epicurus was born in the Athenian settlement on the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] island of [[Samos]] in February 341&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Barnes|1986}} His parents, Neocles and Chaerestrate, were both Athenian-born, and his father was an Athenian citizen. Epicurus grew up during the final years of the Greek Classical Period. Plato had died seven years before Epicurus was born and Epicurus was seven years old when [[Alexander the Great]] crossed the [[Hellespont]] into Persia. As a child, Epicurus would have received a typical ancient Greek education. Epicurus is known to have studied under the instruction of a Samian Platonist named Pamphilus, probably for about four years. His ''Letter of Menoeceus'' and surviving fragments of his other writings strongly suggest that he had extensive training in rhetoric. After the death of [[Alexander the Great]], [[Perdiccas]] expelled the Athenian settlers on Samos to [[Colophon (city)|Colophon]], on the coast of what is now Turkey. Epicurus joined his family there after the completion of his military service. He studied under [[Nausiphanes]], who followed the teachings of [[Democritus]].{{sfn|DeWitt|1976|pages=8–12}}

Epicurus's teachings were heavily influenced by those of earlier philosophers, particularly Democritus. Nonetheless, Epicurus differed from his predecessors on several key points of determinism and vehemently denied having been influenced by any previous philosophers, whom he denounced as "confused". Instead, he insisted that he had been "self-taught".{{sfn|Erler|2011|page=9}}

According to DeWitt, Epicurus's teachings also show influences from the contemporary philosophical school of [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynicism]]. The Cynic philosopher [[Diogenes|Diogenes of Sinope]] was still alive when Epicurus would have been in Athens for his required military training and it is possible they may have met. Diogenes's pupil [[Crates of Thebes]] ({{circa}} 365 – {{circa}} 285 BC) was a close contemporary of Epicurus. Epicurus agreed with the Cynics' quest for honesty, but rejected their "insolence and vulgarity", instead teaching that honesty must be coupled with courtesy and kindness. Epicurus shared this view with his contemporary, the comic playwright [[Menander]].{{sfn|DeWitt|1976|pages=8–12}}

Epicurus's ''Letter to Menoeceus'', possibly an early work of his, is written in an eloquent style similar to that of the Athenian rhetorician [[Isocrates]] (436–338 BC), but, for his later works, he seems to have adopted the bald, intellectual style of the mathematician [[Euclid]]. Epicurus's epistemology also bears an unacknowledged debt to the later writings of [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BC), who rejected the Platonic idea of hypostatic [[Reason]] and instead relied on nature and empirical evidence for knowledge about the universe. During Epicurus's formative years, Greek knowledge about the rest of the world was rapidly expanding due to the [[Hellenization]] of the Near East and the rise of [[Hellenistic kingdoms]]. Epicurus's philosophy was consequently more universal in its outlook than those of his predecessors, since it took cognizance of non-Greek peoples as well as Greeks. He may have had access to the now-lost writings of the historian and ethnographer [[Megasthenes]], who wrote during the reign of [[Seleucus I Nicator]] (ruled 305–281 BC).{{sfn|DeWitt|1976|pages=8–12}}