At Bonn University in 1934, under the aegis of Ernst Robert Curtius, Hocke wrote his doctoral dissertation, which was devoted to the reception of Lucretius in Paris between the 16th and 18th centuries. In his comprehensive treatment of the subject, Hocke considers the Epicurean philosopher’s influence on French literature as well as on the natural sciences and philosophy. Schooled in his tutor’s rigorously philological method, Hocke brings out motifs from De rerum natura and examines their topical employment in the works of over 40 representatives of French intellectual life ranging from Ronsard to Rousseau and André Chenier.