Lucretius pg. 47

From what I’ve read so far, the way I interpreted the poem is different than many of the others. It seems as though Lucretius is giving a sermon. He praises Venus but then he goes on to talk about the nature of man and our need for victory over everything we see including our own nature. Lucretius says, “religion now lies trampled beneath our feet, and we are made gods by the victory.” This is interesting because he soon after criticizes religion for sacrifices. It’s odd to me that he started with a prayer to Venus and once he starts talking about elements and all that, “you” becomes the reader and not Venus. Lucretius is telling us that through this knowledge we no longer need to sacrifice to gods because we will join them and what is considered evil changes. The sacrifice of a virgin by her own father is evil because it is willful ignorance of the greater knowledge that can be achieved to save her life and her future.