At the beginning of the Hellenistic period, society became helpless and disillusioned with the current system after the fall of the Platonic and Aristotelian systems. In this context, man, alone and without support, seeks within himself an ethics that can direct his actions. Epicurus was a philosopher of this period, who proposed a doctrine that would enable the individual to achieve his happiness. The doctrine of Epicurus is inspired by the atomism of Democritus. Epicurus uses his atomistic theory to explain bodies, souls, worlds, emptiness and movement in a materialistic conception. The study of this theory is called physiology. Through it, man reaches the comprehension of the totality of nature, which for Epicurus is the way to the balance of the body, absence of pain or apostasy, and of the soul (ataraxia), which gives conditions for man to exercise his wisdom reaching happiness.