Why did Epicurus say that death is nothing to humans?

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Bronze bust of Epicurus with a full beard and draped clothing, displayed on a round inscribed base at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. — Epicureanism Epicurus, bronze bust from a Greek original, c. 280–270 bce; in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

Epicurus taught that death is nothing to humans because of the nature of existence and the soul. According to his physics, the soul is a physical entity composed of atoms that dissolves when the body dies.

Because of this, he reasoned that death cannot be experienced: "so long as we exist, death is not with us; but when death comes, then we do not exist." Since there is no consciousness or sensation after the soul dissolves, there is no state in which a person can experience pain or suffering related to being dead. By understanding that death is simply the end of existence, Epicurus believed individuals could overcome the irrational fear of the afterlife and the anxiety surrounding nonexistence, which he identified as a primary source of human unhappiness.1