How did Lucretius describe the soul’s relationship to the body?

In his work De rerum natura, the Latin poet and philosopher Lucretius describes the soul as a physical entity composed of exceedingly fine atoms. He posits that the soul is not immortal but is instead born and grows alongside the body, ultimately dissipating like "smoke" upon death.1

Lucretius divides the soul into two interconnected components:
* Anima: This part is distributed throughout the entire body and serves as the source of sensation.1
* Animus: Located in the breast, this part functions as the center of consciousness and thought.1

By characterizing the soul as a material system subject to the same laws of atomic rearrangement as the rest of the physical world, Lucretius sought to alleviate the human fear of death, arguing that because the soul is perishable, death is nothing to us.1