The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Stephen Greenblatt’s The Swerve: How the World Became Modern was published in 2011 and describes how the rediscovery of an ancient poem launches the Renaissance and helps shape the modern age. The Swerve won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Lowell Prize.

With the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 CE, Europe moves into the Middle Ages, and Christianity is the only permitted religion. Most of the literary works of ancient Greeks and Romans are lost through neglect or destruction; the rest lie unused in the moldy recesses of monastic libraries.

In 1417, papal secretary Poggio Bracciolini sets out on a search for the lost books of the Roman Empire. Poggio scours Europe and finds many such manuscripts; one of these is a long and beautiful poem by Titus Lucretius Carus, On the Nature of Things. It describes the ideas of an ancient sect, the Epicureans, whose beliefs will overturn many of the medieval church’s most cherished tenets and remake the western world. The Swerve is the story of how that happens.

Chapters 1 and 2 describe how, in the 1300s, ancient tomes long lost are brought back to life, beginning with the rediscovery of Titus Livius’ History of Rome. This inspires further searches by a new breed of scholars, the humanists, who want to learn more about the ideas and beliefs of classical writers. However, time is running out for some of the ancient works. Much of the old literature has long since been copied by Christian monks onto parchment, but over the centuries the monks have forgotten the importance of these texts, and some parchments are erased and reused. Thus, ancient works continually disappear from European libraries.

Chapter 3 discusses the philosophy behind Lucretius’ poem. As a follower of the philosopher Epicurus, Lucretius believes that the universe is made of tiny specks called atoms that collide to create all of the things of the world. This requires no involvement by gods, and people need not fear divine punishment after death but instead should seek happiness and pleasure in their daily lives. Living simply and being kind are important to such a way of life. Though religions are suspicious of this approach because it requires no priestly help, the Epicurean way is popular, especially among the wealthy of the Roman Empire. 

Christianity becomes the only legal religion of the Empire in 391, and Chapter 4 depicts how the church seeks out and destroys remnants of paganism, including Epicurean practices. The Alexandrian Library—the empire’s largest repository of books—is vandalized and looted, its manuscripts replaced by Christian ones. The Epicurean belief in personal happiness suffers ridicule, while the Christian belief in penitence through pain is idealized.

Chapters 5 through 7 explain how Poggio becomes a book hunter. Scion of a town official in Florentine Italy, Poggio quickly masters Latin, principles of law, and the valuable art of handwriting; he becomes scriptor to important figures in the church, culminating in his appointment as personal secretary to the pope. A schism in the church hierarchy threatens the pope’s power, and soon he is deposed. Poggio, out of work but sporting an impressive résumé, talks his way into the libraries of old monasteries, where he finds and copies ancient texts to share with his humanist friends.

Chapter 8 revisits the beliefs outlined in Lucretius’ poem. Many of its Epicurean concepts—atomism, lack of divine intercession in the laws of the universe, humans as members of the animal kingdom, the virtue of personal happiness—show remarkable similarity to modern beliefs. These ideas run counter to medieval church tenets, but are seductive to the artists, scholars, and thinkers who read the rediscovered work.

In Chapter 9, Poggio finds his way back into the Vatican, where he becomes papal secretary to a series of popes. He serves a term as Chancellor of Florence and retires to his birth town, where he dies wealthy and famous. Poggio’s renown fades over time, but his influence remains in his greatest discovery: the poem of Lucretius.

Alarmed, in Chapter 10, by the increasing interest in Epicurean ways, the church begins to resist in earnest. English statesman and author Thomas More writes Utopia about a fictional land where Epicurean ideas prevail but fear of God still holds sway. Friar Savonarola of Florence condemns Epicureanism and collects objects of frivolous pleasure, which he burns ceremoniously in a public square. In 1600, the Inquisition condemns avowed Epicurean priest Giordano Bruno of heresy and burns him at the stake.

Despite the church’s efforts, Lucretius' ideas escape their confines and begin to change the outlook of more and more leaders in the arts and sciences. Chapter 11 notes that William Shakespeare writes play passages influenced by On the Nature of Things, and Galileo risks his life to uphold the Epicurean belief that the Earth is but one of many planets. As well, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution echoes Lucretius’ precepts, and Thomas Jefferson, a devotee of Epicureanism, includes in his Declaration of Independence that people have a right to “the pursuit of Happiness.”