---
title: "Opinions of the Philosophers · Περὶ τῶν ἀρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις"
author: "Pseudo-Plutarch"
translator: "John Dowell, rev. William W. Goodwin"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Philosophy"
section: 3 of 6
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/3/
cite: "Pseudo-Plutarch, tr. John Dowell, rev. William W. Goodwin, Opinions of the Philosophers · Περὶ τῶν ἀρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/3/"
---

# Opinions of the Philosophers · Περὶ τῶν ἀρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις

*Pseudo-Plutarch, tr. John Dowell, rev. William W. Goodwin*

A summary of what the Greek philosophers thought about first principles, the gods, the heavens, the earth, the soul and the senses.

> Greek: ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0094.tlg003, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: John Dowell, rev. William W. Goodwin, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0094.tlg003.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 3. Book II

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/3/#p-N

[¶0] 1. PYTHAGORAS was the first philosopher that gave the name of χόσμος to the world, from the order and beauty of it; for so that word signifies. Thales and his followers say the world is one. Democritus, Epicurus, and their scholar Metrodorus affirm that there are infinite worlds in an infinite space, for that infinite vacuum in its whole extent contains them. Empedocles, that the circle which the sun makes in its motion circumscribes the world, and that circle is the utmost bound of the world. Seleucus, that the world knows no limits. Diogenes, that the universe is infinite, but this world is finite. The Stoics make a difference between that which is called the universe, and that which is called the whole world;—the universe is the infinite space considered with the vacuum, the vacuity being removed gives the right conception of the world; so that the universe and the world are not the same thing.

> Greek: 1. Πυθαγόρας πρῶτος ὠνόμασε τὴν τῶν ὅλων περιοχὴν κόσμον ἐκ τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ τάξεως. Θαλῆς καὶ οἱ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ἕνα τὸν κόσμον. Δημόκριτος καὶ Ἐπίκουρος καὶ ὁ τούτου καθηγητὴς Μητρόδωρος ἀπείρους κόσμους ἐν τῷ ἀπείρῳ κατὰ πᾶσαν περίστασιν. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς τὸν τοῦ ἡλίου περίδρομον εἶναι περιγραφὴν τοῦ πέρατος τοῦ κόσμου. Σέλευκος ἄπειρον τὸν κόσμον. Διογένης τὸ μὲν πᾶν ἄπειρον, τὸν δὲ κόσμον πεπεράνθαι. οἱ Στωικοὶ διαφέρειν τὸ πᾶν καὶ τὸ ὅλον· πᾶν μὲν γὰρ εἶναι τὸ σὺν τῷ κενῷ τῷ ἀπείρῳ, ὅλον δὲ χωρὶς τοῦ κενοῦ τὸν κόσμον· ὥστε οὐ τὸ αὐτὸ εἶναι τὸ ὅλον καὶ τὸν κόσμον.

[¶1] 2. THE Stoics say that the figure of the world is spherical, others that it is conical, others oval. Epicurus, that the figure of the world may be globular, or that it may admit of other shapes.

> Greek: 2. οἱ μὲν Στωικοὶ σφαιροειδῆ τὸν κόσμον, ἄλλοι δὲ κωνοειδῆ, οἱ δʼ ᾠοειδῆ. Ἐπίκουρος δʼ ἐνδέχεσθαι μὲν εἶναι σφαιροειδεῖς τοὺς κόσμους, ἐνδέχεσθαι δὲ καὶ ἑτέροις σχήμασι κεχρῆσθαι.

[¶2] 3. DEMOCRITUS, Epicurus, and those philosophers who introduced atoms and a vacuum, affirm that the world is not an animal, nor governed by any wise Providence, but that it is managed by a nature which is void of reason. All the other philosophers affirm that the world is informed with a soul, and governed by reason and Providence. Aristotle is excepted, who is somewhat different; he is of opinion, that the whole world is not acted by a soul in every part of it, nor hath it any sensitive, rational, or intellectual faculties, nor is it guided by reason and Providence in every part of it; of all which the heavenly bodies are made partakers, for the circumambient spheres are animated and are living beings; but those things which are about the earth are void of those endowments; and though those terrestrial bodies are of an orderly disposition, yet that is casual and not primogenial.

> Greek: 3. οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι πάντες ἔμψυχον τὸν κόσμον καὶ προνοίᾳ διοικούμενον. Δημόκριτος δὲ καὶ Ἐπίκουρος καὶ ὅσοι τὰ ἄτομα εἰσηγοῦνται καὶ τὸ κενὸν οὔτʼ ἔμψυχον οὔτε προνοίᾳ διοικεῖσθαι, φύσει δέ τινι ἀλόγῳ. Ἀριστοτέλης οὔτʼ ἔμψυχον ὅλον διʼ ὅλων, οὔτε μὴν αἰσθητικὸν οὔτε λογικὸν οὔτε νοερὸν οὔτε προνοίᾳ διοικούμενον τὰ μὲν γὰρ οὐράνια τούτων ἁπάντων κοινωνεῖν, σφαίρας γὰρ περιέχειν ἐμψύχους καὶ ζωτικάς· τὰ δὲ περίγεια μηδενὸς αὐτῶν, τῆς δʼ εὐταξίας κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς οὐ προηγουμένως μετέχειν.

[¶3] 4. PYTHAGORAS [and Plato], with the Stoics, affirm that the world was framed by God, and being corporeal is obvious to the senses, and in its own nature is obnoxious to destruction; but it shall never perish, it being preserved by the providence of God. Epicurus, that the world had a beginning, and so shall have an end, as plants and animals have. Xenophanes, that the world never had a beginning, is eternal and incorruptible. Aristotle, that the part of the world which is sublunary is obnoxious to change, and there terrestrial beings find a decay.

> Greek: 4. Πυθαγόρας καὶ Πλάτων καὶ οἱ Στωικοὶ γενητὸν ὑπὸ θεοῦ τὸν κόσμον· καὶ φθαρτὸν μὲν ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ φύσει, αἰσθητὸν γὰρ εἶναι διότι καὶ σωματικὸν οὐ μὴν φθαρησόμενόν γε προνοίᾳ καὶ συνοχῇ θεοῦ. Ἐπίκουρος φθαρτόν, ὅτι καὶ γενητόν, ὡς ζῷον ὡς φυτόν. Ξενοφάνης ἀγένητον καὶ ἀίδιον καὶ ἄφθαρτον τὸν κόσμον. Ἀριστοτέλης τὸ ὑπὸ τὴν σελήνην τοῦ κόσμου μέρος παθητόν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὰ περίγεια κηραίνεται.

[¶4] 5. ARISTOTLE says that, if the world be nourished, it will likewise be dissolved; but it requires no aliment, and will therefore be eternal. Plato, that this very world prepares for itself a nutriment, by the alteration of those things which are corruptible in it. Philolaus believes that a destruction happens to the world in two ways; either by fire falling from heaven, or by the lunary water being poured down through the whirling of the air; and the exhalations proceeding from thence are the aliment of the world.

> Greek: 5. Ἀριστοτέλης· εἰ τρέφεται ὁ κόσμος, καὶ φθαρήσεται· ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδεμιᾶς τινος ἐπιδεῖται τροφῆς· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀίδιος. Πλάτων αὐτὸν αὑτῷ τὸν κόσμον ἐκ τοῦ φθίνοντος κατὰ μεταβολὴν τὸ τρέφον παρέχεσθαι. Φιλόλαος διττὴν εἶναι τὴν φθοράν, τὸ μὲν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πυρὸς ῥυέντος, τὸ δʼ ἐξ ὕδατος σεληνιακοῦ περιστροφῇ τοῦ ἀέρος ἀποχυθέντος· καὶ τούτων εἶναι τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις τροφὰς τοῦ κόσμου.

[¶5] 6. THE natural philosophers pronounce that the forming of this world took its original from the earth, it being its centre, for the centre is the principal part of the globe. Pythagoras, from the fire and the fifth element. Empedocles determines, that the first and principal element separated from the rest was the ether, then fire, after that the earth, which earth being strongly compacted by the force of a violent revolution, water springs from it, the exhalations of which water produce the air; the heaven took its origin from the ether, and fire gave a being to the sun; those things that belong to the earth are condensed from the remainders. Plato, that the visible world was framed after the exemplar of the intellectual world; the soul of the visible world was first produced, then the corporeal figure, first that which came from fire and earth, afterwards that which came from air and water. Pythagoras, that the world was formed of five solid figures which are called mathematical; the earth was produced by the cube, the fire by the pyramid, the air by the octahedron, the water by the icosahedron, and the globe of the universe by the dodecahedron. In all these Plato hath the same sentiments with Pythagoras.

> Greek: 6. οἱ φυσικοὶ ἀπὸ γῆς ἄρξασθαί φασι τὴν γένεσιν τοῦ κόσμου καθάπερ ἀπὸ κέντρου· ἀρχὴ δὲ σφαίρας τὸ κέντρον. Πυθαγόρας ἀπὸ πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ πέμπτου στοιχείου. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς τὸν μὲν αἰθέρα πρῶτον διακριθῆναι, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ πῦρ, ἐφʼ ᾧ τὴν γῆν, ἐξ ἧς ἄγαν περισφιγγομένης τῇ ῥύμῃ τῆς περιφορᾶς ἀναβλύσαι τὸ ὕδωρ ἐξ οὗ ἀναθυμιαθῆναι τὸν ἀέρα καὶ γενέσθαι τὸν μὲν οὐρανὸν ἐκ τοῦ αἰθέρος τὸν δʼ ἥλιον ἐκ τοῦ πυρός, πιληθῆναι δʼ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων τὰ περίγεια. Πλάτων ὁρατὸν τὸν κόσμον γεγονέναι πρὸς παράδειγμα τοῦ νοητοῦ κόσμου· τοῦ δʼ ὁρατοῦ κόσμου προτέραν μὲν εἶναι τὴν ψυχήν, μετὰ δὲ ταύτην τὸ σωματοειδὲς τὸ ἐκ πυρὸς μὲν καὶ γῆς πρῶτον ὕδατος δὲ καὶ ἀέρος δεύτερον. Πυθαγόρας, πέντε σχημάτων ὄντων στερεῶν, ἅπερ καλεῖται καὶ μαθηματικά, ἐκ μὲν τοῦ κύβου φησὶ γεγονέναι τὴν γῆν, ἐκ δὲ τῆς πυραμίδος τὸ πῦρ, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ὀκταέδρου τὸν ἀέρα, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ εἰκοσαέδρου τὸ ὕδωρ, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ δωδεκαέδρου τὴν τοῦ παντὸς σφαῖραν. Πλάτων δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτοις πυθαγορίζει.

[¶6] 7. PARMENIDES believes that there are small coronets alternately twisted one within another, some made up of a thin, others of a condensed matter; and there are others between them mixed mutually together of light and of darkness, and about them all there is a solid substance, which like a firm wall surrounds these coronets. Leucippus and Democritus wrap the world round about, as with a garment and membrane. Epicurus says that that which bounds some worlds is thin, and that which limits others is gross and condensed; and of these worlds some are in motion, others are fixed. Plato, that fire takes the first place in the world, the second the ether, after that the air, under that the water; the last place the earth possesseth: sometimes he puts the ether and the fire in the same place. Aristotle gives the first place to the ether, as that which is impassible, it being a kind of fifth body; after which he placeth those that are passible, fire, air, and water, and last of all the earth. To those bodies that are accounted celestial he assigns a motion that is circular, but to those that are seated under them, if they be light bodies, an ascending, if heavy, a descending motion. Empedocles, that the places of the elements are not always fixed and determined, but they all succeed one another in their respective stations.

> Greek: 7. Παρμενίδης στεφάνας εἶναι περιπεπλεγμένας ἐπαλλήλους, τὴν μὲν ἐκ τοῦ ἀραιοῦ τὴν δʼ ἐκ τοῦ πυκνοῦ· μικτὰς δʼ ἄλλας ἐκ φωτὸς καὶ σκότους μεταξὺ τούτων· καὶ τὸ περιέχον δὲ πάσας τείχους δίκην στερεὸν ὑπάρχειν. Λεύκιππος καὶ Δημόκριτος χιτῶνα κύκλῳ καὶ ὑμένα περιτείνουσι τῷ κόσμῳ· Ἐπίκουρος ἐνίων μὲν κόσμων ἀραιὸν τὸ πέρας ἐνίων δὲ πυκνόν, καὶ τούτων τὰ μέν τινα κινούμενα τὰ δʼ ἀκίνητα. Πλάτων πῦρ πρῶτον εἶτʼ αἰθέρα μεθʼ ὃν ἀέρα ἐφʼ ᾧ ὕδωρ, τελευταίαν δὲ γῆν· ἐνίοτε δὲ τὸν αἰθέρα τῷ πυρὶ συνάπτει. Ἀριστοτέλης πρῶτον μὲν αἰθέρα ἀπαθῆ, πέμπτον δή τι σῶμα· μεθʼ ὃν παθητὰ πῦρ ἀέρα ὕδωρ τελευταίαν δὲ γῆν. τούτων δὲ τοῖς μὲν οὐρανίοις ἀποδεδόσθαι τὴν κυκλικὴν κίνησιν, τῶν δʼ ὑπʼ ἐκεῖνα τεταγμένων τοῖς μὲν κούφοις τὴν ἄνω τοῖς. δὲ βαρέσι τὴν κάτω. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς μὴ διὰ παντὸς ἑστῶτας εἶναι μηδʼ ὡρισμένους τοὺς τόπους τῶν στοιχείων, ἀλλὰ πανταχῶς ἀλλήλων μεταλαμβάνειν.

[¶7] 8. DIOGENES and Anaxagoras affirm that, after the world was composed and the earth had produced living creatures, the world out of its own propensity made an inclination towards the south. Perhaps this may be attributed to a wise Providence (they say), that thereby some parts of the world may be habitable, others uninhabitable, according as the various climates are affected with a rigorous cold, or a scorching heat, or a just temperament of cold and heat. Empedocles, that the air yielding to the impetuous force of the solar rays, the pole received an inclination; whereby the northern parts were exalted and the southern depressed, by which means the whole world received its inclination.

> Greek: 8. Διογένης καὶ Ἀναξαγόρας μετὰ τὸ συστῆναι τὸν κόσμον καὶ ζῷα ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐξαγαγεῖν; ἐγκλιθῆναί πως τὸν κόσμον ἐκ τοῦ αὐτομάτου εἰς τὸ μεσημβρινὸν αὑτοῦ μέρος, ἴσως ὑπὸ, προνοίας, ἵνʼ ἃ μὲν ἀοίκητα γένηται ἃ δʼ οἰκητὰ μέρη τοῦ κόσμου, κατὰ ψῦξιν καὶ ἐκπύρωσιν καὶ εὐκρασίαν. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, τοῦ ἀέρος εἴξαντος τῇ τοῦ ἡλίου ὁρμῇ, ἐγκλιθῆναι τὰς ἄρκτους, καὶ τὰ μὲν βόρεια ὑψωθῆναι τὰ δὲ νότια ταπεινωθῆναι, καθʼ ὃ καὶ τὸν ὅλον κόσμον.

[¶8] 9. PYTHAGORAS and his followers say that beyond the world there is a vacuum, into which and out of which the world hath its respiration. The Stoics, that there is a vacuum into which the infinite world by a conflagration shall be dissolved. Posidonius, not an infinite vacuum, but as much as suffices for the dissolution of the world; and this he asserts in his first book concerning the Vacuum. Aristotle affirms, that there is no vacuum. Plato concludes that neither within nor without the world there is any vacuum.

> Greek: 9. οἱ μὲν· ἀπὸ Πυθαγόρου ἐκτὸς εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου κενόν, εἰς ὃ ἀναπνεῖ ὁ κόσμος καὶ ἐξ οὗ. οἱ δὲ Στωικοί, εἰς ὃ κατὰ τὴν ἐκπύρωσιν ἀναλύεται τὸ ἄπειρον. Ποσειδώνιος οὐκ ἄπειρον, ἀλλʼ ὅσον αὔταρκες εἰς τὴν διάλυσιν, ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ Περὶ κενοῦ. Ἀριστοτέλης μηδὲν εἶναι κενόν. Πλάτων μήτʼ ἐκτὸς τοῦ κόσμου μήτʼ ἐντὸς μηδὲν εἶναι κενόν.

[¶9] 10. PYTHAGORAS, Plato, and Aristotle say that the eastern parts of the world, from whence motion commences, are of the right, those of the western are of the left-hand of the world. Empedocles, that those that are of the right-hand are towards the summer solstice, those of the left towards the winter solstice.

> Greek: 10. Πυθαγόρας Πλάτων Ἀριστοτέλης δεξιὰ τοῦ κόσμου τὰ ἀνατολικὰ μέρη, ἀφʼ ὧν ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως, ἀριστερὰ δὲ τὰ δυτικά. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δεξιὰ μὲν τὰ κατὰ τὸν θερινὸν τροπικόν, ἀριστερὰ δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὸν χειμερινόν.

[¶10] 11. ANAXIMENES declares that the circumference of heaven is the limit of the earth’s revolution. Empedocles, that the heaven is a solid substance, and hath the form and hardness of crystal, it being composed of the air compacted by fire, and that in both hemispheres it invests the elements of air and fire. Aristotle, that it is formed by the fifth body, and by the mixture of extreme heat and cold THALES, Pythagoras, and the followers of Pythagoras do distribute the universal globe of heaven into five circles, which they denominate zones; one of which is called the arctic circle, which is always conspicuous to us, another is the summer tropic, another is the equinoctial, another is the winter tropic, another is the antarctic circle, which is always invisible.

> Greek: 11. Ἀναξιμένης τὴν περιφορὰν τὴν ἐξωτάτω γῆς εἶναι. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς στερέμνιον εἶναι τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξ ἀέρος συμπαγέντος ὑπὸ πυρὸς κρυσταλλοειδῶς, τὸ πυρῶδες καὶ τὸ ἀερῶδες ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τῶν ἡμισφαιρίων περιέχοντα. Ἀριστοτέλης ἐκ πέμπτου σώματος, πυρὸς, ἢ ἐκ θερμοῦ καὶ ψυχροῦ μίγματος.

[¶11] 12. The circle called the zodiac is placed under the three that are in the midst, and lies obliquely, gently touching them all. Likewise, they are all cut in right angles by the meridian, which runs from pole to pole. It is supposed that Pythagoras made the first discovery of the obliquity of the zodiac, but one Oenopides of Chios challenges to himself the invention of it.

> Greek: 12. Θαλῆς Πυθαγόρας οἱ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ μεμερίσθαι τὴν τοῦ παντὸς οὐρανοῦ σφαῖραν εἰς κύκλους πέντε, οὕστινας προσαγορεύουσι ζώνας· καλεῖται δʼ αὐτῶν ὁ μὲν ἀρκτικός τε καὶ ἀειφανής, ὁ δὲ θερινὸς τροπικός, ὁ δʼ ἰσημερινός, ὁ δὲ χειμερινὸς τροπικός, ὁ δʼ ἀνταρκτικός τε καὶ ἀφανής· λοξὸς δὲ τοῖς τρισὶ μέσοις ὁ καλούμενος ζῳδιακὸς ὑποβέβληται, παρεπιψαύων τῶν μέσων τριῶν· πάντας αὐτοὺς ὁ μεσημβρινὸς πρὸς ὀρθὰς ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρκτων ἐπὶ τὸ ἀντίξουν τέμνει. Πυθαγόρας πρῶτος ἐπινενοηκέναι λέγεται τὴν λόξωσιν τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ κύκλου, ἥντινα Οἰνοπίδης ὁ Χῖος ὡς ἰδίαν ἐπίνοιαν σφετερίζεται.

[¶12] 13. THALES believes that they are globes of earth set on fire. Empedocles, that they are fiery bodies arising from that fire which the ether embraced within itself, and did shatter in pieces when the elements were first separated one from another. Anaxagoras, that the circumambient ether is of a fiery substance, which, by a vehement force in its whirling about, did tear stones from the earth, and by its own power set them on fire, and establish them as stars in the heavens. Diogenes thinks they resemble pumice stones, and that they are the breathings of the world; again he supposeth that there are some invisible stones, which sometimes fall from heaven upon the earth, and are there quenched; as it happened at Aegos-potami, where a stony star resembling fire did fall. Empedocles, that the fixed stars are fastened to the crystal, but the planets are loosened. Plato, that the stars for the most part are of a fiery nature, but they are made partakers of another element, with which they are mixed after the resemblance of glue. Xenophanes, that they are composed of inflamed clouds, which in the daytime are quenched, and in the night are kindled again. The like we see in coals; for the rising and setting of the stars is nothing else but the quenching and kindling of them. Heraclides and the Pythagoreans, that every star is a world in an infinite ether, and itself encompasseth air, earth, and ether; this opinion is current among the followers of Orpheus, for they suppose that each of the stars does make a world. Epicurus condemns none of these opinions, for he embraces any thing that is possible.

> Greek: 13. Θαλῆς γεώδη μὲν ἔμπυρα δὲ τὰ ἄστρα. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς πύρινα ἐκ τοῦ πυρώδους, ὅπερ ὁ ἀὴρ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιέχων ἐξανέθλιψε κατὰ τὴν πρώτην διάκρισιν. Ἀναξαγόρας τὸν περικείμενον αἰθέρα πύρινον μὲν εἶναι κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν, τῇ δʼ εὐτονίᾳ τῆς περιδινήσεως ἀναρπάσαντα πέτρους ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ καταφλέξαντα τούτους ἠστερικέναι. Διογένης κισηρώδη τὰ ἄστρα, διαπνοὰς δʼ αὐτὰ νομίζει τοῦ κόσμου· πάλιν δʼ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀφανεῖς μὲν λίθους, πίπτοντας δὲ πολλάκις ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν σβέννυσθαι, καθάπερ τὸν ἐν Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς πυροειδῶς κατενεχθέντα ἀστέρα πέτρινον. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς τοὺς μὲν ἀπλανεῖς ἀστέρας συνδεδέσθαι τῷ κρυστάλλῳ, τοὺς δὲ πλανήτας ἀνεῖσθαι. Πλάτων ἐκ μὲν τοῦ πλείστου μέρους πυρίνους, μετέχοντας δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων στοιχείων κόλλης δίκην. Ξενοφάνης ἐκ νεφῶν μὲν πεπυρωμένων, σβεννυμένους δὲ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀναζωπυρεῖν νύκτωρ, καθάπερ τοὺς ἄνθρακας· τὰς γὰρ ἀνατολὰς καὶ τὰς δύσεις ἐξάψεις εἶναι καὶ σβέσεις. Ἡρακλείδης καὶ οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι ἕκαστον τῶν ἀστέρων κόσμον ὑπάρχειν, γῆν περιέχοντα ἀέρα τε καὶ αἰθέρα ἐν τῷ ἀπείρῳ αἰθέρι ταῦτα δὲ τὰ δόγματα ἐν τοῖς Ὀρφικοῖς φέρεται κοσμοποιοῦσι γὰρ ἕκαστον τῶν ἀστέρων. Ἐπίκουρος οὐδὲν ἀπογινώσκει τούτων, ἐχόμενος τοῦ ἐνδεχομένου.

[¶13] 14. THE Stoics say that the stars are of a circular form, like the sun, the moon, and the world. Cleanthes, that they are of a conical figure. Anaximenes, that they are fastened as nails in the crystalline firmament; some others, that they are fiery plates of gold, resembling pictures.

> Greek: 14. οἱ Στωικοὶ σφαιρικοὺς τοὺς ἀστέρας, καθάπερ τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἣλιον καὶ σελήνην. Κλεάνθης κωνοειδεῖς. Ἀναξιμένης ἥλων δίκην καταπεπηγέναι τῷ κρυσταλλοειδεῖ. ἔνιοι δὲ πέταλα εἶναι πύρινα, ὥσπερ ζῳγραφήματα.

[¶14] 15. XENOCRATES says that the stars are moved in one and the same superficies. The other Stoics say that they are moved in various superficies, some being superior, others inferior. Democritus, that the fixed stars are in the highest place; after those the planets; after which the sun, Venus, and the moon, in their order. Plato, that the first after the fixed stars that makes its appearance is Phaenon, the star of Saturn; the second Phaëton, the star of Jupiter; the third the fiery, which is the star of Mars; the fourth the morning star, which is the star of Venus; the fifth the shining star, and that is the star of Mercury; in the sixth place is the sun, in the seventh the moon. Plato and some of the mathematicians conspire in the same opinion; others place the sun as the centre of the planets. Anaximander, Metrodorus of Chios, and Crates assign to the sun the superior place, after him they place the moon, after them the fixed stars and planets.

> Greek: 15. Ξενοκράτης κατὰ μιᾶς ἐπιφανείας οἴεται κινεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀστέρας. οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι Στωικοὶ πρὸ τῶν ἑτέρων τοὺς ἑτέρους ἐν ὕψει καὶ βάθει. Δημόκριτος τὰ μὲν ἀπλανῆ πρῶτον, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς πλανήτας, ἐφʼ οἷς ἣλιον φωσφόρον σελήνην. Πλάτων μετὰ τὴν τῶν ἀπλανῶν θέσιν πρῶτον φαίνοντα λεγόμενον τὸν τοῦ Κρόνου δεύτερον φαέθοντα τὸν τοῦ Διός, τρίτον πυρόεντα τὸν τοῦ Ἄρεος, τέταρτον ἑωσφόρον τὸν τῆς Ἀφροδίτης, πέμπτον στίλβοντα τὸν τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ, ἕκτον ἣλιον, ἕβδομον σελήνην. τῶν μαθηματικῶν τινὲς μὲν ὡς Πλάτων, τινὲς δὲ μέσον πάντων τὸν ἣλιον. Ἀναξίμανδρος καὶ Μητρόδωρος ὁ Χῖος καὶ Κράτης ἀνωτάτω μὲν πάντων τὸν ἥλιον τετάχθαι, μετʼ αὐτὸν δὲ τὴν σελήνην, ὑπὸ δʼ αὐτοὺς τὰ ἀπλανῆ τῶν ἄστρων καὶ τοὺς πλανήτας.

[¶15] 16. ANAXAGORAS, Democritus, and Cleanthes say that all the stars have their motion from east to west. Alcmaeon and the mathematicians, that the planets have a contrary motion to the fixed stars, and in opposition to them are carried from the west to the east. Anaximander, that they are moved by those circles and spheres on which they are placed. Anaximenes, that they are turned under and about the earth. Plato and the mathematicians, that the sun, Venus, and Mercury have equal measures in their motions.

> Greek: 16. Ἀναξαγόρας Δημόκριτος Κλεάνθης ἀπʼ ἀνατολῶν ἐπὶ δυσμὰς φέρεσθαι πάντας τοὺς ἀστέρας. Ἀλκμαίων καὶ οἱ μαθηματικοὶ τοὺς πλανήτας τοῖς ἀπλανέσιν ἐναντίους ἀπὸ γὰρ δυσμῶν ἐπʼ ἀνατολὰς ἀντιφέρεσθαι. Ἀναξίμανδρος ὑπὸ τῶν κύκλων καὶ τῶν σφαιρῶν, ἐφʼ ὧν ἕκαστος βέβηκε, φέρεσθαι. Ἀναξιμένης οὐχ ὑπὸ τὴν γῆν περὶ αὐτὴν δὲ στρέφεσθαι τοὺς ἀστέρας. Πλάτων καὶ οἱ μαθηματικοὶ ἰσοδρόμους εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον τὸν ἑωσφόρον τὸν στίλβοντα.

[¶16] 17. METRODORUS says that all the fixed stars derive their light from the sun. Heraclitus and the Stoics, that earthly exhalations are those by which the stars are nourished. Aristotle, that the heavenly bodies require no nutriment, for they being eternal cannot be obnoxious to corruption. Plato and the Stoics, that the whole world and the stars are fed by the same things.

> Greek: 17. Μητρόδωρος ἅπαντας τοὺς ἀπλανεῖς ἀστέρας ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου προσλάμπεσθαι. Ἡράκλειτος καὶ οἱ Στωικοὶ τρέφεσθαι τοὺς ἀστέρας ἐκ τῆς ἐπιγείου ἀναθυμιάσεως. Ἀριστοτέλης μὴ δεῖσθαι τὰ οὐράνια τροφῆς· οὐ γὰρ φθαρτὰ ἀλλʼ ἀίδια. Πλάτων καὶ οἱ Στωικοί, ὡς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον, καὶ τὰ ἄστρα ἐξ αὑτῶν τρέφεσθαι.

[¶17] 18. XENOPHANES says that those which appear as stars in the tops of ships are little clouds shining by their peculiar motion. Metrodorus, that the eyes of frighted and astonished people emit those lights which are called the Twins.

> Greek: 18. Ξενοφάνης τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν πλοίων φαινομένους οἷον ἀστέρας νεφέλια εἶναι κατὰ τὴν ποιὰν κίνησιν παραλάμποντα. Μητρόδωρος τῶν ὁρώντων ὀφθαλμῶν μετὰ δέους καὶ καταπλήξεως εἶναι στιλβηδόνας.

[¶18] 19. PLATO says that the summer and winter indications proceed from the rising and setting of the stars, that is, from the rising and setting of the sun, the moon, and the fixed stars. Anaximenes, that the others in this are not at all concerned, but that it is wholly performed by the sun. Eudoxus and Aratus assign it in common to all the stars, for thus Aratus sings:
Thund’ring Jove stars in heaven hath fixed,
And them in such beauteous order mixed,
Which yearly future things predict.

> Greek: 19. Πλάτων τὰς ἐπισημασίας τάς τε θερινὰς καὶ τὰς χειμερινὰς κατὰ τὰς τῶν ἀστέρων ἐπιτολάς τε καὶ δυσμὰς γίνεσθαι, ἡλίου τε καὶ σελήνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πλανητῶν καὶ ἀπλανῶν. Ἀναξιμένης δὲ διὰ μὲν ταῦτα μηδὲν τούτων, διὰ δὲ τὸν ἥλιον μόνον. Εὔδοξος Ἄρατος κοινῶς διὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀστέρας, ἐν οἷς φησιν
αὐτὸς γὰρ τάδε σήματʼ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἐστήριξεν,
ἄστρα διακρίνας· ἐσκέψατο δʼ εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν
ἀστέρας, οἵ κε μάλιστα τετυγμένα σημαίνοιεν.

[¶19] 20. ANAXIMANDER says, that the sun is a circle eight and twenty times bigger than the earth, and has a circumference which very much resembles that of a chariot-wheel, which is hollow and full of fire; the fire of which appears to us through its mouth, as by a hole in a pipe; and this is the sun. Xenophanes, that the sun is constituted of small bodies of fire compact together and raised from a moist exhalation, which collected together make the body of the sun; or that it is a cloud enfired. The Stoics, that it is an intelligent flame proceeding from the sea. Plato, that it is composed of abundance of fire. Anaxagoras, Democritus, and Metrodorus, that it is an enfired stone, or a burning mass. Aristotle, that it is a sphere formed out of the fifth body. Philolaus the Pythagorean, that the sun shines as crystal, which receives its splendor from the fire of the world and so reflecteth its light upon us; so that first, the body of fire which is celestial belongs to the sun; and secondly, the fiery reflection that proceeds from it, in the form of a mirror; and lastly, the light which is spread upon us by way of reflection from that mirror; and this last we call the sun, which is (as it were) an image of an image. Empedocles, that there are two suns; the one the prototype, which is a fire placed in the other hemisphere, which it totally fills, and is always ordered in a direct opposition to the reflection of its own light; and the sun which is visible to us, formed by the reflection of that splendor in the other hemisphere (which is filled with air mixed with heat), the light reflected from the circular sun in the opposite hemisphere falling upon the crystalline sun; and this reflection is carried round with the motion of the fiery sun. To give briefly the full sense, the sun is nothing else but the light and brightness of that fire which encompasseth the earth. Epicurus, that it is an earthy bulk well compacted, with hollow passages like a pumice-stone or a sponge, which is kindled by fire.

> Greek: 20. Ἀναξίμανδρος κύκλον εἶναι ὀκτωκαιεικοσαπλασίονα τῆς γῆς, ἁρματείῳ τροχῷ παραπλήσιον, τὴν ἁψῖδα ἔχοντα κοίλην, πλήρη πυρός, κατά τι μέρος ἐκφαίνουσαν διὰ στομίου τὸ πῦρ ὥσπερ διὰ πρηστῆρος αὐλοῦ· καὶ τοῦτʼ εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον. Ξενοφάνης ἐκ πυριδίων τῶν συναθροιζομένων μὲν ἐκ τῆς ὑγρᾶς ἀναθυμιάσεως συναθροιζόντων δὲ τὸν ἥλιον· ἢ νέφος πεπυρωμένον. οἱ Στωικοὶ ἄναμμα νοερὸν ἐκ θαλάττης Πλάτων ἐκ πλείστου πυρός. Ἀναξαγόρας Δημόκριτος Μητρόδωρος μύδρον ἢ πέτρον διάπυρον. Ἀριστοτέλης σφαῖραν ἐκ τοῦ πέμπτου σώματος Φιλόλαος ὁ Πυθαγόρειος ὑαλοειδῆ, δεχόμενον μὲν τοῦ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ πυρὸς τὴν ἀνταύγειαν, διηθοῦντα δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὸ φῶς, ὥστε προσεοικέναι ἡλίῳ τὸ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ πυρῶδες τό τε δὴ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐσοπτροειδές· καὶ τρίτον τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐσόπτρου κατʼ ἀνάκλασιν διασπειρομένην πρὸς ἡμᾶς αὐγήν· καὶ γὰρ ταύτην προσονομάζομεν ἥλιον, οἱονεὶ εἴδωλον εἰδώλου. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δύο ἡλίους, τὸν μὲν ἀρχέτυπον, πῦρ ὂν ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ ἡμισφαιρίῳ τοῦ κόσμου πεπληρωκὸς τὸ ἡμισφαίριον, ἀεὶ καταντικρὺ τῇ ἀνταυγείᾳ ἑαυτοῦ τεταγμένον τὸν δὲ φαινόμενον ἀνταύγειαν ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ ἡμισφαιρίῳ τῷ τοῦ ἀέρος τοῦ θερμομιγοῦς πεπληρωμένῳ, ἀπὸ κυκλοτεροῦς τῆς αὐγῆς κατʼ ἀνάκλασιν γιγνομένην εἰς τὸν ἥλιον τὸν κρυσταλλοειδῆ, συμπεριελκομένην δὲ τῇ κινήσει τοῦ πυρίνου· ὡς δὲ βραχέως εἰρῆσθαι συντεμόντι, ἀνταύγειαν εἶναι τοῦ περὶ τὴν γῆν πυρὸς τὸν ἣλιον. Ἐπίκουρος γήινον πύκνωμα κισηροειδῶς καὶ σπογγοειδῶς ταῖς κατατρήσεσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἀνημμένον.

[¶20] 21. ANAXIMANDER says, that the sun itself in greatness is equal to the earth, but that the circle from whence it receives its respiration and in which it is moved is seven and twenty times larger than the earth. Anaxagoras, that it is far greater than Peloponnesus. Heraclitus, that it is no broader than a man’s foot. Epicurus, that he equally embraceth all the foresaid opinions,—that the sun may be of magnitude as it appears, or it may be somewhat greater or somewhat less.

> Greek: 21. Ἀναξίμανδρος τὸν μὲν ἣλιον ἴσον τῇ γῇ εἶναι, τὸν δὲ κύκλον, ἀφʼ οὗ τὴν ἐκπνοὴν ἔχει καὶ ὑφʼ οὗ φέρεται, ἑπτακαιεικοσαπλασίονα τῆς γῆς. Ἀναξαγόρας πολλαπλασίονα Πελοποννήσου. Ἡράκλειτος εὖρος ποδὸς ἀνθρωπείου. Ἐπίκουρος τηλικοῦτον ἡλίκος φαίνεται, ἢ μικρῷ μείζω ἢ ἐλάττω.

[¶21] 22. ANAXIMENES affirms that in its dilatation it resembles a leaf. Heraclitus, that it hath the shape of a boat, and is somewhat crooked. The Stoics, that it is spherical, and it is of the same figure with the world and the stars. Epicurus, that the recited dogmas may be defended.

> Greek: 22. Ἀναξιμένης πλατὺν ὡς πέταλον τὸν ἣλιον. Ἡράκλειτος σκαφοειδῆ, ὑπόκυρτον. οἱ Στωικοὶ σφαιροειδῆ, ὡς τὸν κόσμον καὶ τὰ ἄστρα. Ἐπίκουρος ἐνδέχεσθαι τὰ προειρημένα πάντα.

[¶22] 23. ANAXIMENES thinks that the stars are forced by a condensed and resisting air. Anaxagoras, by the repelling force of the northern air, which is violently pushed on by the sun, and thus rendered more condensed and powerful. Empedocles, that the sun is hindered from a continual direct course by its spherical vehicle and by the two circular tropics. Diogenes, that the sun, when it comes to its utmost declination, is extinguished, a rigorous cold damping the heat. The Stoics, that the sun maintains its course only through that space in which its aliment is seated, let it be the ocean or the earth; by the exhalations proceeding from these it is nourished. Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle, that the sun receives a transverse motion from the obliquity of the zodiac, which is guarded by the tropics; all these the globe clearly manifests.

> Greek: 23. Ἀναξιμένης ὑπὸ πεπυκνωμένου ἀέρος καὶ ἀντιτύπου ἐξωθεῖσθαι τὰ ἄστρα. Ἀναξαγόρας ἀνταπώσει τοῦ πρὸς ταῖς ἄρκτοις ἀέρος, ὃν αὐτὸς συνωθῶν ἐκ τῆς πυκνώσεως ἰσχυροποιεῖ. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ὑπὸ τῆς περιεχούσης αὐτὸν σφαίρας κωλυόμενον ἄχρι παντὸς εὐθυπορεῖν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν τροπικῶν κύκλων. Διογένης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀντιπίπτοντος τῇ θερμότητι ψύχους σβέννυσθαι τὸν ἥλιον. οἱ Στωικοὶ κατὰ τὸ διάστημα τῆς ὑποκειμένης τροφῆς διέρχεσθαι τὸν ἣλιον· ὠκεανὸς δʼ ἐστὶν ἢ γῆ, ἧς τὴν ἀναθυμίασιν ἐπινέμεται. Πλάτων Πυθαγόρας Ἀριστοτέλης παρὰ τὴν λόξωσιν τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ κύκλου, διʼ οὗ φέρεται λοξοπορῶν ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ κατὰ δορυφορίαν τῶν τροπικῶν κύκλων ταῦτα δὲ πάντα καὶ ἡ σφαῖρα δείκνυσιν.

[¶23] 24. THALES was the first who affirmed that the eclipse of the sun was caused by the moon’s running in a perpendicular line between it and the earth; for the moon in its own nature is terrestrial. And by mirrors it is made perspicuous that, when the sun is eclipsed, the moon is in a direct line below it. Anaximander, that the sun is eclipsed when the fiery mouth of it is stopped and hindered from expiration. Heraclitus, that it is after the manner of the turning of a boat, when the concave appears uppermost to our sight, and the convex nethermost. Xenophanes, that the sun is eclipsed when it is extinguished; and that a new sun is created to rise in the east. He gives a farther account of an eclipse-of the sun which remained for a whole month, and again of a total eclipse which changed the day into night. Some say that the cause of an eclipse is the invisible concourse of condensed clouds which cover the orb of the sun. Aristarchus placeth the sun amongst the fixed stars, and believeth that the earth [the moon?] is moved about the sun, and that by its inclination and vergency it intercepts its light and shadows its orb. Xenophanes, that there are many suns and many moons, according as the earth is distinguished by climates, circles, and zones. At some certain times the orb of the sun, falling upon some part of the world which is uninhabited, wanders in a vacuum and becomes eclipsed. The same person affirms that the sun, proceeding in its motion in the infinite space, appears to us to move orbicularly, receiving that representation from its infinite distance from us.

> Greek: 24. Θαλῆς πρῶτος ἔφη ἐκλείπειν τὸν ἥλιον, τῆς σελήνης αὐτὸν ὑποτρεχούσης κατὰ κάθετον, οὔσης φύσει γεώδους· βλέπεσθαι δὲ τοῦτο κατοπτρικῶς ὑποτιθεμένῳ τῷ δίσκῳ. Ἀναξίμανδρος τοῦ στομίου τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς διεκπνοῆς ἀποκλειομένου. Ἡράκλειτος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σκαφοειδοῦς στροφήν, ὥστε τὸ μὲν κοῖλον ἄνω γίνεσθαι τὸ δὲ κυρτὸν κάτω πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν ὄψιν. Ξενοφάνης κατὰ σβέσιν· ἕτερον δὲ πάλιν πρὸς ταῖς ἀνατολαῖς γίνεσθαι παριστόρηκε δὲ καὶ ἔκλειψιν ἡλίου ἐφʼ ὅλον μῆνα καὶ πάλιν ἔκλειψιν ἐντελῆ, ὥστε τὴν ἡμέραν νύκτα φανῆναι. ἔνιοι πύκνωμα τῶν ἀοράτως ἐπερχομένων τῷ δίσκῳ νεφῶν. Ἀρίσταρχος τὸν ἥλιον ἵστησι μετὰ τῶν ἀπλανῶν, τὴν δὲ γῆν κινεῖ περὶ τὸν ἡλιακὸν κύκλον καὶ κατὰ τὰς ταύτης ἐγκλίσεις σκιάζεσθαι τὸν δίσκον. Ξενοφάνης πολλοὺς εἶναι ἡλίους καὶ σελήνας κατὰ τὰ κλίματα τῆς γῆς καὶ ἀποτομὰς καὶ ζώνας· κατά τινα δὲ καιρὸν ἐμπίπτειν τὸν δίσκον εἴς τινα ἀποτομὴν τῆς γῆς οὐκ οἰκουμένην ὑφʼ ἡμῶν, καὶ οὕτως ὥσπερ κενεμβατοῦντα ἔκλειψιν ὑπομένειν. ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς τὸν ἥλιον εἰς ἄπειρον μὲν προϊέναι, δοκεῖν δὲ κυκλεῖσθαι διὰ τὴν ἀπόστασιν.

[¶24] 25. ANAXIMANDER affirms that the circle of the moon is nineteen times bigger than the earth, and resembles the sun, its orb being full of fire; and it suffers an eclipse when the wheel turneth,—which he describes by the divers turnings of a chariot-wheel, in the midst of it there being a hollow replenished with fire, which hath but one way of expiration. Xenophanes, that it is a condensed cloud. The Stoics, that it is mixed of fire and air. Plato, that it is a body of the greatest part earthy. Anaxagoras and Democritus, that it is a solid, condensed, and fiery body, in which there are champaign countries, mountains, and valleys. Heraclitus, that it is an earth covered with a cloud. Pythagoras, that the body of the moon was of a nature like a mirror.

> Greek: 25. Ἀναξίμανδρος κύκλον εἶναι ἐννεακαιδεκαπλασίονα τῆς γῆς, ὥσπερ τὸν τοῦ ἡλίου πλήρη πυρός ἐκλείπειν δὲ κατὰ τὰς ἐπιστροφὰς τοῦ τροχοῦ· ὅμοιον γὰρ εἶναι ἁρματείῳ τροχῷ κοίλην ἔχοντι τὴν ἁψῖδα καὶ πλήρη πυρός, ἔχοντι μίαν ἐκπνοήν. Ξενοφάνης νέφος εἶναι πεπιλημένον. οἱ Στωικοὶ μικτὴν ἐκ πυρὸς καὶ ἀέρος Πλάτων ἐκ πλείονος τοῦ πυρώδους. Ἀναξαγόρας Δημόκριτος στερέωμα διάπυρον, ἔχον ἐν ἑαυτῷ πεδία καὶ ὄρη καὶ φάραγγας. Ἡράκλειτος γῆν ὁμίχλῃ περιειλημμένην. Πυθαγόρας κατοπτροειδὲς σῶμα.

[¶25] 26. THE Stoics declare, that in magnitude it exceeds the earth, as the sun itself doth. Parmenides, that it is equal to the sun, from whom it receives its light.

> Greek: 26. οἱ Στωικοὶ μείζονα τῆς γῆς ἀποφαίνονται ὡς καὶ τὸν ἥλιον. Παρμενίδης ἴσην τῷ ἡλίῳ, καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ φωτίζεσθαι.

[¶26] 27. THE Stoics believe that it is of the same figure with the sun, spherical. Empedocles, that the figure of it resembles a quoit. Heraclitus, a boat. Others, a cylinder.

> Greek: 27. οἱ Στωικοὶ σφαιροειδῆ εἶναι ὡς τὸν ἣλιον. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δισκοειδῆ. Ἡράκλειτος σκαφοειδῆ. ἄλλοι κυλινδροειδῆ.

[¶27] 28. ANAXIMANDER thinks that she gives light to herself, but it is very slender and faint. Antiphon, that the moon shines by its own proper light; but when it absconds itself; the solar beams darting on it obscure it. Thus it naturally happens, that a more vehement light puts out a weaker; the same is seen in other stars. Thales and his followers, that the moon borrows all her light of the sun. Heraclitus, that the sun and moon are after the same manner affected; in their configurations both are shaped like boats, and are made conspicuous to us, receiving their light from moist exhalations. The sun appears to us more refulgent, by reason it is moved in a clearer and purer air; the moon appears more duskish, it being carried in an air more troubled and gross.

> Greek: 28. Ἀναξίμανδρος ἴδιον αὐτὴν ἔχειν φῶς, ἀραιότερον δέ πως. Ἀντιφῶν ἰδίῳ φέγγει λάμπειν τὴν σελήνην, τὸ δʼ ἀποκρυπτόμενον περὶ αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τῆς προσβολῆς τοῦ ἡλίου ἀμαυροῦσθαι, πεφυκότος τοῦ ἰσχυροτέρου πυρὸς τὸ ἀσθενέστερον ἀμαυροῦν· ὁ δὴ συμβαίνειν καὶ περὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἄστρα. Θαλῆς καὶ οἱ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φωτίζεσθαι τὴν σελήνην. Ἡράκλειτος τὸ αὐτὸ πεπονθέναι τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην σκαφοειδεῖς γὰρ ὄντας τοῖς σχήμασι τοὺς ἀστέρας δεχομένους τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς ὑγρᾶς ἀναθυμιάσεως αὐγὰς φωτίζεσθαι πρὸς τὴν φαντασίαν, λαμπρότερον μὲν τὸν ἥλιον, ἐν καθαρωτέρῳ γὰρ ἀέρι φέρεσθαι, τὴν δὲ σελήνην ἐν θολωτέρῳ, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀμαυροτέραν φαίνεσθαι.

[¶28] 29. ANAXIMENES believes that the mouth of the hollow wheel, about which the moon is turned, being stopped is the cause of, an eclipse. Berosus, that it proceeds from the turning of the dark side of the lunar orb towards us. Heraclitus, that it is performed just after the manner of a boat turned upside downwards. Some of the Pythagoreans say, that the splendor arises from the earth, its obstruction from the Antichthon (or counter-earth). Some of the later philosophers, that there is such a distribution of the lunar flame, that it gradually and in a just order burns until it be full moon; in like manner, that this fire decays by degrees, until its conjunction with the sun totally extinguisheth it. Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and all the mathematicians agree in this, that the obscurity with which the moon is every month affected ariseth from a conjunction with the sun, by whose more resplendent beams she is darkened; and the moon is then eclipsed when she falls upon the shadow of the earth, the earth interposing between the sun and moon, or (to speak more properly) the earth intercepting the light of the moon.

> Greek: 29. Ἀναξίμανδρος τοῦ στομίου τοῦ περὶ τὸν τροχὸν ἐπιφραττομένου. Βήρωσος κατὰ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπιστροφὴν τοῦ ἀπυρώτου μέρους Ἡράκλειτος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σκαφοειδοῦς συστροφήν. τῶν Πυθαγορείων τινὲς ἀνταυγείᾳ καὶ ἐπιφράξει τὸ μὲν τῆς γῆς τὸ δὲ τῆς ἀντίχθονος· οἱ δὲ νεώτεροι κατʼ ἐπινέμησιν φλογὸς κατὰ μικρὸν ἐξαπτομένης τεταγμένως, ἕως ἂν τὴν τελείαν πανσέληνον ἀποδῷ, καὶ πάλιν ἀναλόγως μειουμένης μέχρι τῆς συνόδου, καθʼ ἣν τελείως σβέννυται. Πλάτων Ἀριστοτέλης οἱ Στωικοὶ καὶ οἱ μαθηματικοὶ συμφώνως τὰς μὲν μηνιαίας ἀποκρύψεις συνοδεύουσαν αὐτὴν τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ περιλαμπομένην ποιεῖσθαι, τὰς δʼ ἐκλείψεις εἰς τὸ σκίασμα τῆς γῆς ἐμπίπτουσαν, μεταξὺ μὲν ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ἀστέρων γινομένης, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς σελήνης ἀντιφραττομένης οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι γεώδη φαίνεσθαι τὴν σελήνην, διὰ τὸ περιοικεῖσθαι αὐτὴν καθάπερ τὴν παρʼ ἡμῖν γῆν μείζοσι ζῴοις καὶ φυτοῖς καλλίοσιν·

[¶29] 30. THE Pythagoreans say, that the moon appears to us terraneous, by reason it is inhabited as our earth is, and in it there are animals of a larger size and plants of a rarer beauty than our globe affords; that the animals in their virtue and energy are fifteen degrees superior to ours; that they emit nothing excrementitious; and that the days are fifteen times longer. Anaxagoras, that the reason of the inequality ariseth from the commixture of things earthy and cold; and that fiery and caliginous matter is jumbled together, whereby the moon is said to be a star of a counterfeit aspect. The Stoics, that by reason of the diversity of her substance the composition of her body is subject to corruption.

> Greek: 30. εἶναι γὰρ πεντεκαιδεκαπλάσια τὰ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ζῷα τῇ δυνάμει μηδὲν περιττωματικὸν ἀποκρίνοντα, καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν τοσαύτην τῷ μήκει. Ἀναξαγόρας ἀνωμαλότητα τοῦ συγκρίματος διὰ τὸ ψυχρομιγὲς ἅμα καὶ γεῶδες· παραμεμῖχθαι γὰρ τῷ πυροειδεῖ τὸ ζοφῶδες ὅθεν ψευδοφανῆ λέγεσθαι τὸν ἀστέρα. οἱ Στωικοὶ διὰ τὸ ἑτεροειδὲς τῆς οὐσίας μὴ εἶναι αὐτῆς ἀκήρατον τὸ σύγκριμα.

[¶30] 31. EMPEDOCLES affirms, that the distance of the moon from the sun is double her remoteness from the earth. The mathematicians, that her distance from the sun is eighteen times her distance from the earth. Eratosthenes, that the sun is remote from the earth seven hundred and eighty thousand furlongs.

> Greek: 31. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς διπλάσιον ἀπέχειν τὴν σελήνην ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου ἤπερ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν μαθηματικῶν ὀκτωκαιδεκαπλάσιον. Ἐρατοσθένης τὸν ἣλιον ἀπέχειν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς σταδίων μυριάδας τετρακοσίας καὶ ὀκτακισμυρίας, τὴν δὲ σελήνην ἀπέχειν τῆς γῆς μυριάδας ἑβδομήκοντα ὀκτώ σταδίων.

[¶31] 32. THE year of Saturn is completed when he has had his circulation in the space of thirty solar years; of Jupiter in twelve; of Mars in two, of the sun in twelve months; in so many Mercury and Venus, the spaces of their circulation being equal; of the moon in thirty days, in which time her course from her prime to her conjunction is finished. As to the great year, some make it to consist of eight years solar, some of nineteen, others of fifty-nine. Heraclitus, of eighteen thousand. Diogenes, of three hundred and sixty-five such years as Heraclitus assigns. Others there are who lengthen it to seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven years. IN my two precedent treatises having in due order taken a compendious view and given an account of the celestial bodies, and of the moon which divides between them and the terrestrial, I must now convert my pen to discourse in this third book of Meteors, which are beings above the earth and below the moon, and are extended to the site and position of the earth, which is supposed to be the centre of the sphere of this world; and from thence will I take my beginning.

> Greek: 32. ἐνιαυτός ἐστι Κρόνου μὲν, ἐνιαυτῶν περίοδος λʼ, Διὸς δὲ ιβʼ. Ἄρεος δυεῖν· ἡλίου ιβʼ μῆνες· οἱ δʼ αὐτοὶ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ Ἀφροδίτης, ἰσόδρομοι γάρ σελήνης ἡμέραι λʼ· οὗτος γὰρ ὁ τέλειος μὴν ἀπὸ φάσεως εἰς σύνοδον. τὸν δὲ μέγαν ἐνιαυτὸν οἱ μὲν ἐν τῇ ὀκταετηρίδι τίθενται οἱ δʼ ἐν τῇ ἐννεακαιδεκαετηρίδι οἱ δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἑξήκοντα ἑνὸς δέουσιν· Ἡράκλειτος ἐκ μυρίων ὀκτακισχιλίων ἡλιακῶν ἡλιακῶν Διογένης ἐκ πέντε καὶ ἑξήκοντα καὶ τριακοσίων ἐνιαυτῶν τοσούτων ὅσων ὁ κατὰ Ἡράκλειτον ἐνιαυτός. ἄλλοι δὲ διʼ ἑπτακισχιλίων ψοζʼ. Περιωδευκὼς ἐν τοῖς προτέροις ἐν ἐπιτομῇ τὸν περὶ τῶν οὐρανίων λόγον, σελήνη δʼ αὐτῶν τὸ μεθόριον, τρέψομαι ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ πρὸς τὰ μετάρσια ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ κύκλου τῆς σελήνης καθήκοντα μέχρι πρὸς τὴν θέσιν τῆς γῆς, ἥντινα κέντρου τάξιν ἐπέχειν τῇ περιοχῇ τῆς σφαίρας νενομίκασιν. ἄρξομαι δʼ ἐντεῦθεν.