---
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: 4 of 6
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/4/
cite: "Pseudo-Plutarch, tr. John Dowell, rev. William W. Goodwin, Opinions of the Philosophers · Περὶ τῶν ἀρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις, section 4. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/4/"
---

# 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.

## 4. Book III

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/4/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pseudo-plutarch-opinions-of-the-philosophers/4/#p-N

[¶0] 1. IT is a cloudy circle, which continually appears in the air, and by reason of the whiteness of its colors is called the galaxy, or the milky way. Some of the Pythagoreans say that, when Phaëton set the world on fire, a star falling from its own place in its circular passage through the region caused an inflammation. Others say that originally it was the first course of the sun; others, that it is an image as in a looking-glass, occasioned by the sun’s reflecting its beams towards the heavens, and this appears in the clouds and in the rainbow. Metrodorus, that it is merely the solar course, or the motion of the sun in its own circle. Parmenides, that the mixture of a thick and thin substance gives it a color which resembles milk. Anaxagoras, that the sun moving under the earth and not being able to enlighten every place, the shadow of the earth, being cast upon the part of the heavens, makes the galaxy. Democritus, that it is the splendor which ariseth from the coalition of many small bodies, which, being firmly united amongst themselves, do mutually enlighten one another. Aristotle, that it is the inflammation of dry, copious, and coherent exhalations, by which the fiery train, whose seat is beneath the ether and the planets, is produced. Posidonius, that it is a combination of fire, of rarer substance than the stars, but denser than light.

> Greek: 1. κύκλος ἐστὶ νεφελοειδὴς ἐν μὲν τῷ ἀέρι διὰ παντὸς φαινόμενος, διὰ δὲ τὴν λευκόχροιαν γαλαξίας ὀνομαζόμενος. τῶν Πυθαγορείων οἱ μὲν ἔφασαν ἀστέρος εἶναι διάκαυσιν, ἐκπεσόντος μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἕδρας, διʼ οὗ δὲ περιέδραμε χωρίου κυκλοτερῶς αὐτὸ καταφλέξαντος ἐπὶ τοῦ κατὰ Φαέθοντα ἐμπρησμοῦ οἱ δὲ τὸν ἡλιακὸν ταύτῃ φασὶ κατʼ ἀρχὰς γεγονέναι δρόμον. τινὲς δὲ κατοπτρικὴν εἶναι φαντασίαν τοῦ ἡλίου τὰς αὐγὰς πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνακλῶντος, ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἴριδος καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν νεφῶν συμβαίνει Μητρόδωρος διὰ τὴν πάροδον τοῦ ἡλίου· τοῦτον γὰρ εἶναι τὸν ἡλιακὸν κύκλον. Παρμενίδης τὸ τοῦ πυκνοῦ καὶ ἀραιοῦ μῖγμα γαλακτοειδὲς ἀποτελέσαι χρῶμα. Ἀναξαγόρας τὴν σκιὰν τῆς γῆς κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἵστασθαι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὅταν ὑπὸ τὴν γῆν ὁ ἥλιος γινόμενος μὴ πάντα φωτίζῃ. Δημόκριτος πολλῶν καὶ μικρῶν καὶ συνεχῶν ἀστέρων συμφωτιζομένων ἀλλήλοις συναυγασμὸν διὰ τὴν πύκνωσιν. Ἀριστοτέλης ἀναθυμιάσεως ξηρᾶς ἔξαψιν πολλῆς τε καὶ συνεχοῦς καὶ οὕτω κόμην πυρὸς ὑπὸ τὸν αἰθέρα κατωτέρω τῶν πλανητῶν. Ποσειδώνιος πυρὸς σύστασιν ἄστρου μὲν μανοτέραν αὐγῆς δὲ πυκνοτέραν.

[¶1] 2. SOME of the Pythagoreans say, that a comet is one of those stars which do not always appear, but after they have run through their determined course, they then rise and are visible to us. Others, that it is the reflection of our sight upon the sun, which gives the resemblance of comets much after the same manner as images are reflected in mirrors. Anaxagoras and Democritus, that two or more stars being in conjunction by their united light make a comet. Aristotle, that it is a fiery coalition of dry exhalations. Strato, that it is the light of the star darting through a thick cloud that hath invested it; this is seen in light shining through lanterns. Heraclides, native of Pontus, that it is a lofty cloud inflamed by a sublime fire. The like causes he assigns to the bearded comet, to those circles that arc seen about the sun or stars, or those meteors which resemble pillars or beams, and all others which are of this kind. This way unanimously go all the Peripatetics, believing that these meteors, being formed by the clouds, do differ according to their various configurations. Epigenes, that a comet arises from an elevation of spirit or wind, mixed with an earthy substance and set on fire. Boëthus, that it is a phantasy presented to us by inflamed air. Diogenes, that comets are stars. Anaxagoras, that those styled shooting stars fall down from the ether like sparks, and therefore are soon extinguished. Metrodorus, that it is a forcible illapse of the sun upon clouds which makes them to sparkle as fire. Xenophanes, that all such fiery meteors are nothing else but the conglomeration of the enfired clouds, and the flashing motions of them.

> Greek: 2. τῶν ἀπὸ Πυθαγόρου τινὲς μὲν ἀστέρα φασὶν εἶναι τὸν κομήτην τῶν οὐκ ἀεὶ φαινομένων, διά τινος δʼ ὡρισμένου χρόνου περιοδικῶς ἀνατελλόντων· ἄλλοι δʼ ἀνάκλασιν τῆς ἡμετέρας ὄψεως πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον, παραπλησίαν ταῖς κατοπτρικαῖς ἐμφάσεσιν. Ἀναξαγόρας Δημόκριτος σύνοδον ἀστέρων δυεῖν ἢ καὶ πλειόνων κατὰ συναυγασμόν. Ἀριστοτέλης τῆς ξηρᾶς ἐκ γῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως διάπυρον σύστασιν. Στράτων ἄστρου φῶς περιληφθὲν νέφει πυκνῷ, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν λαμπτήρων γίνεται. Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς νέφος μετάρσιον ὑπὸ μεταρσίου φωτὸς καταυγαζόμενον. ὁμοίως δʼ, αἰτιολογεῖ πωγωνίαν ἅλω δοκίδα κίονα καὶ τὰ συγγενῆ τούτοις, καθάπερ ἀμέλει πάντες οἱ Περιπατητικοί, παρὰ τοὺς τοῦ νέφους ταυτὶ γίνεσθαι σχηματισμούς. Ἐπιγένης πνεύματος ἀναφορὰν γεωμιγοῦς πεπυρωμένου. Βόηθος ἀέρος ἀνημμένου φαντασίαν. Διογένης ἀστέρας εἶναι τοὺς κομήτας, Ἀναξαγόρας τοὺς καλουμένους διᾴττοντας ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰθέρος σπινθήρων δίκην καταφέρεσθαι διὸ καὶ παραυτίκα σβέννυσθαι. Μητρόδωρος τὴν εἰς τὰ νέφη τοῦ ἡλίου βιαίαν ἔμπτωσιν σπινθηρίζειν· Ξενοφάνης πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα νεφῶν πεπυρωμένων συστήματα ἢ κινήματα.

[¶2] 3. ANAXIMANDER affirms that all these are produced by the wind after this manner: the wind being enclosed by condensed clouds, by reason of its minuteness and lightness it violently endeavors to make its passage; and in breaking through the cloud it gives the noise; and the rending the cloud, because of the blackness of it, gives a resplendent flame. Metrodorus, that when the wind falls upon a cloud whose densing firmly compacts it, by breaking the cloud it causeth a great noise, and by striking and rending the cloud it gives the flame; and in the swiftness of its motion, the sun imparting heat to it, it throws out the thunderbolt. The weak declining of the thunderbolt ends in a violent tempest. Anaxagoras, that when heat and cold meet and are mixed together (that is, ethereal parts with airy), thereby a great noise of thunder is produced, and the color seen against the blackness of the cloud causes the flashing of fire; the full and great splendor is lightning, the more enlarged and embodied fire becomes a whirlwind, the cloudiness of it gives the hurricane. The Stoics, that thunder is the clashing of clouds one upon another, the flash of lightning is their fiery inflammation; their more rapid splendor is the thunderbolt, the faint and weak the whirlwind. Aristotle, that all these proceed from dry exhalations, which, if they meet with moist vapors, force their passage, and the breaking of them gives the noise of thunder; they, being very dry, take fire and make lightning; tempests and hurricanes arise from the plenitude of matter which each draw to themselves, the hotter parts attracted make the whirlwinds, the duller the tempests.

> Greek: 3. Ἀναξίμανδρος ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος ταυτὶ πάντα συμβαίνειν ὅταν περιληφθὲν νέφει παχεῖ βιασάμενον τῇ λεπτομερείᾳ καὶ κουφότητι, τότε ἡ μὲν ῥῆξις τὸν ψόφον ἡ δὲ διαστολὴ παρὰ τὴν μελανίαν τοῦ νέφους τὸν διαυγασμὸν ἀποτελεῖ. Μητρόδωρος, ὅταν εἰς νέφος πεπηγὸς ὑπὸ πυκνότητος ἐμπέσῃ πνεῦμα, τῇ μὲν θραύσει τὸν κτύπον ἀποτελεῖ τῇ πληγῇ καὶ τῷ σχισμῷ διαυγάζει, τῇ δʼ ὀξύτητι τῆς φορᾶς προσλαμβάνον τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου θερμότητα κεραυνοβολεῖ, τοῦ κεραυνοῦ τὴν ἀσθένειαν εἰς πρηστῆρα περιίστησιν. Ἀναξαγόρας, ὅταν τὸ θερμὸν εἰς τὸ ψυχρὸν ἐμπέσῃ, τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν αἰθέριον μέρος εἰς ἀερῶδες, τῷ μὲν ψόφῳ τὴν βροντὴν ἀποτελεῖ τῷ δὲ παρὰ τὴν μελανίαν τοῦ νεφώδους χρώματι τὴν ἀστραπήν, τῷ πλήθει καὶ μεγέθει τοῦ φωτὸς τὸν κεραυνόν, τῷ δὲ πολυσωματωτέρῳ πυρὶ τὸν τυφῶνα, τῷ δὲ νεφελομιγεῖ τὸν πρηστῆρα. οἱ Στωικοὶ βροντὴν μὲν συγκρουσμὸν νεφῶν, ἀστραπὴν δʼ ἔξαψιν ἐκ παρατρίψεως, κεραυνὸν δὲ σφοδροτέραν ἔκλαμψιν, πρηστῆρα δὲ· νωχελεστέραν Ἀριστοτέλης ἐξ ἀναθυμιάσεως καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα γίνεσθαι τῆς ξηρᾶς ὅταν οὖν ἐντύχῃ μὲν τῇ παραβιάζηται τὴν ἔξοδον, τῇ μὲν παρατρίψει καὶ τῇ ῥήξει τὸν ψόφον τῆς βροντῆς γίνεσθαι, τῇ δʼ ἐξάψει τῆς ξηρότητος τὴν ἀστραπὴν πρηστῆρας δὲ καὶ τυφῶνας τῷ πλεονασμῷ τῆς ὕλης, ἣν ἑκάτερος αὐτῶν συνεφέλκεται, θερμοτέραν μὲν ὁ πρηστὴρ παχυτέραν δʼ ὁ τυφών.

[¶3] 4. ANAXIMENES thinks that by the air being very much condensed clouds are formed; this air being more compacted, rain is compressed through it; when water in its falling down freezeth, then snow is generated; when it is encompassed with a moist air, it is hail. Metrodorus, that a cloud is composed of a watery exhalation carried into a higher place. Epicurus, that they are made of vapors; and that hail and rain are formed in a round figure, being in their long descent pressed upon by the circumambient air.

> Greek: 4. Ἀναξιμένης νέφη μὲν γίνεσθαι παχυνθέντος ὅτι πλεῖστον τοῦ ἀέρος, μᾶλλον δʼ ἐπισυναχθέντος ἐκθλίβεσθαι τοὺς ὄμβρους· χιόνα δʼ ἐπειδὰν τὸ καταφερόμενον ὕδωρ παγῇ, χάλαζαν δʼ ὅταν συμπεριληφθῇ τῷ ὑγρῷ πνεῦμά τι. Μητρόδωρος ἀπὸ τῆς ὑδατώδους ἀναφορᾶς συνίστασθαι τὰ νέφη. ὁ δʼ Ἐπίκουρος ἀπὸ τῶν ἀτόμων· στρογγυλαίνεσθαι δὲ τὴν χάλαζαν καὶ τὸν ὑετὸν ἀπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς καταφορᾶς ὑποπεπλασμένον.

[¶4] 5. THOSE things which affect the air in the superior places of it are of two sorts. Some have a real subsistence, such are rain and hail; others not. Those which enjoy not a proper subsistence are only in appearance; of this sort is the rainbow. Thus the continent to us that sail seems to be in motion. Plato says, that men admiring it feigned that it took origination from one Thaumas, which word signifies admiration. Homer says:
Jove paints the rainbow with a purple dye,
Alluring man to cast his wandering eye. Others therefore fabled that the bow hath a head like a bull, by which it swallows up rivers. But what is the cause of the rainbow? It is evident that what apparent things we see come to our eyes in right or in crooked lines, or by reflection: these last are incorporeal and to sense obscure, but to reason they are obvious. Those which are seen in right lines are those which we see through the air or horn or transparent stones, for all the parts of these things are very fine and tenuious; but those which appear in crooked lines are in water, the thickness of the water presenting them bended to our sight. This is the reason that oars in themselves straight, when put into the sea, appear to us crooked. The third manner of our seeing is by reflection, and this is perspicuous by mirrors. After this third sort the rainbow is affected. We conceive it is a moist exhalation converted into a cloud, and in a short space it is dissolved into small and moist drops. The sun declining towards the west, it will necessarily follow that the whole bow is seen opposite to the sun; for the eye being directed to those drops receives a reflection, and by this means the bow is formed. The eye doth not consider the figure and form, but the color of these drops; the first of which colors is a shining red, the second a purple, the third is blue and green. Let us consider whether the reason of this shining red color be the splendor of the sun falling upon these small drops, the whole body of light being reflected, by which this bright red color is produced; the second part being troubled, and the light languishing in the drops, the color becomes purple (for the purple is the faint red); but the third part, being more and more troubled, is changed into the green color. And this is proved by other effects of Nature; if any one shall put water in his mouth and spit it out so opposite to the sun that its rays may be reflected on the drops, he shall see the resemblance of a rainbow; the same appears to men that are blear-eyed, when they fix their watery eyes upon a candle. Anaximenes thinks the bow is thus formed; the sun casting its splendor upon a thick, black, and gross cloud, and the rays not being in a capacity to penetrate beyond the superficies. Anaxagoras, that, the solar rays being reflected from a condensed cloud, the sun being placed directly opposite to it forms the bow after the mode of the repercussion of a mirror; after the same manner he assigns the natural cause of the Parhelia or mock-suns, which are often seen in Pontus. Metrodorus, that when the sun casts its splendor through a cloud, the cloud gives itself a blue, and the light a red color.

> Greek: 5. τῶν μεταρσίων παθῶν τὰ μὲν καθʼ ὑπόστασιν γίνεται οἷον ὄμβρος χάλαζα, τὰ δὲ κατʼ ἔμφασιν ἰδίαν οὐκ ἔχοντα ὑπόστασιν· αὐτίκα γοῦν πλεόντων ἡμῶν ἡ ἤπειρος κινεῖσθαι δοκεῖ ἔστιν οὖν κατʼ ἔμφασιν ἡ ἶρις. Πλάτων φησὶ Θαύμαντος αὐτὴν γενεαλογῆσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διὰ τὸ θαυμάσαι ταύτην. Ὅμηρος ἠύτε πορφυρέην ἶριν θνητοῖσι τανύσσει. διὸ καὶ ἐμυθεύσαντό τινες αὐτὴν ταύρου κεφαλὴν ἔχουσαν ἀναρροφεῖν τοὺς ποταμούς. πῶς οὖν γίνεται ἶρις; ὁρῶμεν δὴ κατὰ γραμμὰς ἢ κατʼ εὐθείας ἢ κατὰ καμπύλας ἢ κατʼ ἀνακλωμένας, γραμμὰς ἀδήλους λόγῳ θεωρητὰς καὶ ἀσωμάτους. κατὰ μὲν οὖν εὐθείας ὁρῶμεν τὰ ἐν ἀέρι καὶ τὰ, διὰ τῶν λίθων τῶν διαυγῶν καὶ κεράτων· λεπτομερῆ γὰρ ταῦτα πάντα. καμπύλας δὲ γραμμὰς καθʼ ὕδατος βλέπομεν γινομένας· κάμπτεται γὰρ ἡ ὄψις βίᾳ διὰ τὴν πυκνοτέραν τοῦ.· ὕδατος· ὕλην· διὸ καὶ τὴν κώπην ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ μακρόθεν καμπτομένην ὁρῶμεν. τρίτος τρόπος τοῦ βλέπειν τὰ ἀνακλώμενα ὡς τὰ κατοπτρικά· ἔστιν οὖν τὸ τῆς ἴριδος πάθος τοιοῦτον. δεῖ γὰρ ἐπινοῆσαι τὴν ὑγρὰν ἀναθυμίασιν εἰς νέφος μεταβάλλουσαν εἶτʼ ἐκ τούτου κατὰ βραχὺ εἰς μικρὰς ῥανίδας νοτιζούσας· ὅταν οὖν ὁ ἥλιος γένηται εἰς δυσμάς, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ἶριν ἄντικρυς ἡλίου φαίνεσθαι, ὅτε ἡ ὄψις προσπεσοῦσα ταῖς ῥανίσιν ἀνακλᾶται, ὥστε γίνεσθαι τὴν ἶριν. εἰσὶ δʼ αἱ ῥανίδες οὐ σχήματος μορφαὶ ἀλλὰ χρώματος· καὶ ἔχει τὸ μὲν πρῶτον φοινικοῦν, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἁλουργὲς καὶ πορφυροῦν, τὸ δὲ τρίτον κυανοῦν καὶ πράσινον. μήποτʼ οὖν τὸ μὲν φοινικοῦν, ὅτι ἡ λαμπρότης τοῦ ἡλίου προσπεσοῦσα καὶ ἡ ἀκραιφνὴς λαμπηδὼν ἀνακλωμένη ἐρυθρὸν ποιεί καὶ φοινικοῦν τὸ χρῶμα· τὸ δὲ δεύτερον μέρος ἐπιθολούμενον καὶ ἐκλυόμενον μᾶλλον τῆς λαμπηδόνος διὰ τὰς ῥανίδας ἁλουργές· ἄνεσις γὰρ τοῦ ἐρυθροῦ τοῦτο. ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἐπιθολούμενον τὸ δροσίζον εἰς τὸ πράσινον μεταβάλλει. ἔστιν οὖν τοῦτο δοκιμάσαι διʼ ἔργων· εἰ γάρ τις ἄντικρυς τῶν ἡλίου ἀκτίνων λάβῃ ὕδωρ καὶ πυτίσῃ αἱ δὲ ῥανίδες ἀνάκλασιν πρὸς τὸν ἣλιον λάβωσιν, εὑρήσει γινομένην ἶριν· καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμιῶντες δὲ τοῦτο πάσχουσιν, ὅταν εἰς τὸν λύχνον ἀποβλέψωσιν. Ἀναξιμένης ἶριν γίνεσθαι κατʼ αὐγασμὸν ἡλίου πρὸς νέφει πυκνῷ καὶ παχεῖ καὶ μέλανι παρὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι τὰς ἀκτῖνας εἰς τὸ πέραν διακόπτειν ἐπισυνισταμένας αὐτῷ. Ἀναξαγόρας ἀνάκλασιν ἀπὸ νέφους πυκνοῦ τῆς ἡλιακῆς περιφεγγείας, καταντικρὺ δὲ τοῦ κατοπτρίζοντος αὐτὴν ἀστέρος διὰ παντὸς ἵστασθαι. παραπλησίως δʼ αἰτιολογεῖται τὰ καλούμενα παρήλια, γινόμενα δὲ κατὰ τὸν Πόντον. Μητρόδωρος, ὅταν διὰ νεφῶν ἥλιος διαλάμψῃ, τὸ μὲν νέφος κυανίζειν τὴν δʼ αὐγὴν ἐρυθραίνεσθαι.

[¶5] 6. THESE rods and the mock-suns are constituted of a double nature, a real subsistence, and a mere appearance;— of a real subsistence, because the clouds are the object of our eyes; of a mere appearance, for their proper color is not seen, but that which is adventitious. The like affections, natural and. adventitious, in all such things do happen.

> Greek: 6. τὰ κατὰ τὰς ῥάβδους καὶ ἀνθηλίους συμβαίνοντα μίξει τῆς ὑποστάσεως καὶ ἐμφάσεως ὑπάρχει, τῶν μὲν νεφῶν ὁρωμένων, οὐ κατʼ οἰκεῖον δὲ χρῶμα, ἀλλʼ ἕτερον ὅπερ κατʼ ἔμφασιν φαίνεται. ἐν δὲ τούτοις πᾶσι τά τε κατὰ φύσιν καὶ τὰ ἐπίκτητα ὅμοια συμβαίνει πάθη.

[¶6] 7. ANAXIMANDER believes that wind is a fluid air, the sun putting into motion or melting the moist subtle parts of it. The Stoics, that all winds are a flowing air, and from the diversity of the regions whence they have their origin receive their denomination; as, from darkness and the west the western wind; from the sun and its rising the eastern; from the north the northern, and from the south the southern winds. Metrodorus, that moist vapors heated by the sun are the cause of the impetuousness of violent winds. The Etesian, or those winds which annually commence about the rising of the Little Dog, the air about the northern pole being more compacted, blow vehemently following the sun when he returns from the summer solstice.

> Greek: 7. Ἀναξίμανδρος ἄνεμον εἶναι ῥύσιν ἀέρος, τῶν λεπτοτάτων ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ὑγροτάτων ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου κινουμένων ἢ τηκομένων. οἱ Στωικοὶ πᾶν πνεῦμα ἀέρος εἶναι ῥύσιν, ταῖς τῶν τόπων δὲ παραλλαγαῖς τὰς· ἐπωνυμίας παραλλάττουσαν· οἷον τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζόφου καὶ τῆς δύσεως ζέφυρον, τὸν δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνατολῆς καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου ἀπηλιώτην, τὸν δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρκτων βορέαν, τὸν δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν νοτίων λίβα. Μητρόδωρος ὑδατώδους ἀναθυμιάσεως διὰ τὴν ἡλιακὴν ἔκκαυσιν γίνεσθαι ὁρμὴν πνευμάτων θείων τοὺς δʼ ἐτησίας πνεῖν, τοῦ πρὸς ταῖς ἄρκτοις παχυνθέντος ἀέρος, ὑποχωροῦντι τῷ ἡλίῳ κατὰ τὴν θερινὴν τροπὴν ἐπισυρρέοντος.

[¶7] 8. EMPEDOCLES and the Stoics believe that winter is caused by the thickness of the air prevailing and mounting upwards; and summer by fire, it falling downwards. This description being given by me of Meteors, or those things that are above us, I must pass to those things which are terrestrial.

> Greek: 8. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς καὶ οἱ Στωικοὶ χειμῶνα μὲν γίνεσθαι τοῦ ἀέρος ἐπικρατοῦντος τῇ πυκνώσει καὶ εἰς τὸ ἀνωτέρω βιαζομένου, θερείαν δὲ τοῦ πυρός, ὅταν εἰς τὸ κατωτέρω βιάζηται Περιγεγραμμένων δέ μοι τῶν μεταρσίων, ἐφοδευθήσεται καὶ τὰ πρόσγεια.

[¶8] 9. THALES and his followers say that there is but one earth. Hicetes the Pythagorean, that there are two earths, this and the Antichthon, or the earth opposite to it. The Stoics, that this earth is one, and that finite and limited. Xenophanes, that the earth, being compacted of fire and air, in its lowest parts hath laid a foundation in an infinite depth. Metrodorus, that the earth is mere sediment and dregs of water, as the sun is of the air.

> Greek: 9. Θαλῆς καὶ οἱ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ μίαν εἶναι τὴν γῆν. ἱκέτης ὁ Πυθαγόρειος δύο, ταύτην καὶ τὴν ἀντίχθονα. οἱ Στωικοὶ τὴν γῆν μίαν καὶ πεπερασμένην. Ξενοφάνης ἐκ τοῦ κατωτέρω μέρους εἰς ἄπειρον ἐρριζῶσθαι, ἐξ ἀέρος δὲ καὶ πυρὸς συμπαγῆναι. Μητρόδωρος τὴν μὲν γῆν ὑπόστασιν εἶναι καὶ τρύγα τοῦ ὕδατος, τὸν δʼ ἥλιον τοῦ ἀέρος.

[¶9] 10. THALES, the Stoics, and their followers say that the earth is globular. Anaximander, that it resembles a smooth stony pillar. Anaximenes, that it hath the shape of a table. Leucippus, of a drum. Democritus, that it is like a quoit in its surface, and hollow in the middle.

> Greek: 10. Θαλῆς καὶ οἱ Στωικοὶ καὶ οἱ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν σφαιροειδῆ τὴν γῆν. Ἀναξίμανδρος λίθῳ κίονι τὴν γῆν προσφερῆ τῶν ἐπιπέδων. Ἀναξιμένης τραπεζοειδῆ. Λεύκιππος τυμπανοειδῆ. Δημόκριτος δισκοειδῆ μὲν τῷ πλάτει κοίλην δὲ τῷ μέσῳ.

[¶10] 11. THE disciples of Thales say that the earth is the centre of the universe. Xenophanes, that it is first, being rooted in the infinite space. Philolaus the Pythagorean gives to fire the middle place, and this is the hearth-fire of the universe; the second place to the Antichthon; the third to that earth which we inhabit, which is seated in opposition unto and whirled about the opposite,—which is the reason that those which inhabit that earth cannot be seen by us. Parmenides was the first that confined the habitable world to the two solstitial (or temperate) zones.

> Greek: 11. οἱ ἀπὸ Θάλεω τὴν γῆν μέσην. Ξενοφάνης πρώτην, εἰς ἄπειρον γὰρ ἐρριζῶσθαι. Φιλόλαος ὁ Πυθαγόρειος τὸ μὲν πῦρ μέσον, τοῦτο γὰρ εἶναι τοῦ παντὸς ἑστίαν· δευτέραν δὲ τὴν ἀντίχθονα, τρίτην ἣν οἰκοῦμεν γῆν ἐξ ἐναντίας κειμένην τε καὶ περιφερομένην τῇ ἀντίχθονα παρʼ ὃ καὶ μὴ ὁρᾶσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν τῇδε τοὺς ἐν ἐκείνῃ. Παρμενίδης πρῶτος; ἀφώρισε τῆς γῆς τοὺς οἰκουμένους τόπους ὑπὸ ταῖς δυσὶ ζώναις ταῖς τροπικαῖς;.

[¶11] 12. LEUCIPPUS affirms that the earth vergeth towards the southern parts, by reason of the thinness and fineness that is in the south; the northern parts are more compacted, they being congealed by a rigorous cold, but those parts of the world that are opposite are enfired. Democritus, because, the southern parts of the atmosphere being the weaker, the earth as it enlarges bends towards the south; the northern parts are of an unequal, the southern of an equal temperament; and this is the reason that the earth bends towards those parts where the earth is laden with fruits and its own increase.

> Greek: 12. Λεύκιππος παρεκπεσεῖν τὴν γῆν εἰς τὰ μεσημβρινὰ μέρη διὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς μεσημβρινοῖς ἀραιότητα, ἅτε δὴ πεπηγότων τῶν βορείων διὰ τὸ κατεψῦχθαι τοῖς κρυμοῖς, τῶν δʼ ἀντιθέτων πεπυρωμένων. Δημόκριτος διὰ τὸ. ἀσθενέστερον εἶναι τὸ μεσημβρινὸν τοῦ περιέχοντος αὐξομένην τὴν γῆν κατὰ τοῦτο ἐγκλιθῆναι τὰ γὰρ βόρεια ἄκρατα τὰ δὲ μεσημβρινὰ κέκραται ὅθεν κατὰ τοῦτο βεβάρηται, ὅπου περισσή ἐστι τοῖς καρποῖς καὶ τῇ αὔξῃ.

[¶12] 13. MOST of the philosophers say that the earth remains fixed in the same place. Philolaus the Pythagorean, that it is moved about the element of fire, in an oblique circle, after the same manner of motion that the sun and moon have. Heraclides of Pontus and Ecphantus the Pythagorean assign a motion to the earth, but not progressive, but after the manner of a wheel being carried on its own axis; thus the earth (they say) turns itself upon its own centre from west to east. Democritus, that when the earth was first formed it had a motion, the parts of it being small and light; but in process of time the parts of it were condensed, so that by its own weight it was poised and fixed.

> Greek: 13. οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι μένειν τὴν γῆν. Φιλόλαος δʼ ὁ Πυθαγόρειος κύκλῳ περιφέρεσθαι περὶ τὸ πῦρ κατὰ κύκλου λοξοῦ ὁμοιοτρόπως ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ. Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς καὶ Ἔκφαντος ὁ Πυθαγόρειος κινοῦσι μὲν τὴν γῆν, οὐ μήν γε μεταβατικῶς ἀλλὰ τρεπτικῶς; τροχοῦ δίκην ἐνηξονισμένην, ἀπὸ δυσμῶν ἐπʼ ἀνατολὰς· περὶ τὸ ἴδιον αὐτῆς κέντρον. Δημόκριτος Κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν πλάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν διά τε μικρότητα καὶ κουφότητα, πυκνωθεῖσαν δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ βαρυνθεῖσαν καταστῆναι.

[¶13] 14. PYTHAGORAS says that, as the celestial sphere is distributed into five zones, into the same number is the terrestrial; which zones are the arctic and antarctic, the summer and winter tropics (or temperate zones), and the equinoctial; the middle of which zones equally divides the earth and constitutes the torrid zone; but that part which is in the middle of the summer and winter tropics is habitable, by reason the air is there temperate.

> Greek: 14. Πυθαγόρας τὴν γῆν ἀναλόγως τῇ τοῦ παντὸς σφαίρᾳ διῃρῆσθαι εἰς πέντε ζώνας, ἀρκτικὴν ἀνταρκτικὴν θερινὴν χειμερινὴν ἰσημερινήν, ὧν ἡ μέση τὸ μέσον τῆς γῆς ὁρίζει, παρʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο διακεκαυμένη καλουμένη ἡ δʼ οἰκητή ἐστιν ἡ μέση τῆς θερινῆς καὶ χειμερινῆς, εὔκρατός τις οὖσα.

[¶14] 15. THALES and Democritus assign the cause of earthquakes to water. The Stoics say that it is a moist vapor contained in the earth, making an irruption into the air, that makes the earthquake. Anaximenes, that the dryness and rarety of the earth are the cause of earthquakes, the one of which is produced by extreme drought, the other by immoderate showers. Anaxagoras, that the air endeavoring to make a passage out of the earth, meeting with a thick superficies, is not able to force its way, and so shakes the circumambient earth with a trembling. Aristotle, that a cold vapor encompassing every part of the earth prohibits the evacuation of vapors; for those which are hot, being in themselves light, endeavor to force a passage upwards, by which means the dry exhalations, being left in the earth, use their utmost endeavor to make a passage out, and being wedged in, they suffer various circumvolutions and shake the earth. Metrodorus, that whatsoever is in its own place is incapable of notion, except it be pressed upon or drawn by the operation of another body; the earth being so seated cannot naturally be removed, yet divers parts and places of the earth may move one upon another. Parmenides and Democritus, that the earth being so equally poised hath no sufficient cause why it should incline rather to one side than to the other; so that it may be shaken, but cannot be removed. Anaximenes, that the earth by reason of its latitude is borne upon the air which presseth upon it. Others opine that the earth swims upon the waters, as boards and broad planks, and by that reason is moved. Plato, that motion is by six manner of ways, upwards, downwards, on the right-hand and on the left, behind and before; therefore it is not possible that the earth should be moved in any of these modes, for it is altogether seated in the lowest place; it therefore cannot receive a motion, since there is nothing about it so peculiar as to make it incline any way; but some parts of it are so rare and thin that they are capable of motion. Epicurus, that the possibility of the earth’s motion ariseth from a thick and aqueous air beneath the earth, which may, by moving or pushing it, be capable of its quaking; or that being so compassed, and having many passages, it is shaken by the wind which is dispersed through the hollow dens of it.

> Greek: 15. Θαλῆς μὲν καὶ Δημόκριτος ὕδατι τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν σεισμῶν προσάπτουσιν. οἱ δὲ Στωικοί φασι σεισμός ἐστι τὸ ἐν τῇ γῇ ὑγρὸν εἰς ἀέρα διακρινόμενον καὶ ἐκπῖπτον Ἀναξιμένης ξηρότητα καὶ ὑγρότητα τῆς γῆς αἰτίαν τῶν σεισμῶν, ὧν τὴν μὲν αὐχμοὶ γεννῶσι τὴν δʼ ἐπομβρίαι. Ἀναξαγόρας; ἀέρος ὑποδύσει τῇ μὲν πυκνότητι τῆς ἐπιφανείας προσπίπτοντος τῷ δʼ ἔκκρισιν λαβεῖν μὴ δύνασθαι τρόμῳ τὸ περιέχον κραδαίνοντος. Ἀριστοτέλης διὰ τὴν τοῦ ψυχροῦ πανταχόθεν ἀντιπερίστασιν, κάτωθεν καὶ ἄνωθεν αὐτῇ περιστάντος· τὸ γὰρ θερμὸν ἀνωτέρω γενέσθαι σπεύδει ἅτε δὴ κοῦφον ὄν· διὰ τοῦτο, ἐν ἀπολήψει γινομένης τῆς ξηρᾶς ἀναθυμιάσεως, τῇ σφηνώσει καὶ τοῖς ἀντελιγμοῖς διαταράττεσθαι. Μητρόδωρος μηδὲν ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ τόπῳ σῶμα κινεῖσθαι, εἰ μή τις προώσειεν ἢ καθελκύσειε κατʼ ἐνέργειαν διὸ μηδὲ τὴν γῆν, ἅτε δὴ κειμένην φυσικῶς, κινεῖσθαι, τόπους δέ τινας αὐτῆς νοστεῖν τοῖς σάλοις. Παρμενίδης Δημόκριτος διὰ τὸ πανταχόθεν ἴσον ἀφεστῶσαν μένειν ἐπὶ τῆς ἰσορροπίας, οὐκ ἔχουσαν αἰτίαν διʼ ἣν δεῦρο μᾶλλον ἢ ἐκεῖσε ῥέψειεν ἄν· διὰ τοῦτο μόνον μὲν κραδαίνεσθαι μὴ κινεῖσθαι δέ. Ἀναξιμένης διὰ τὸ πλάτος ἐποχεῖσθαι τῷ ἀέρι. οἱ δέ φασιν ἐφʼ ὕδατος, καθάπερ τὰ πλαταμώδη καὶ σανιδώδη ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων· διὰ τοῦτο κινεῖσθαι. Πλάτων πάσης μὲν κινήσεως ἓξ εἶναι περιστάσεις, ἄνω καὶ κάτω, ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ θάτερα, ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν· κατʼ οὐδεμίαν δὲ τούτων ἐνδέχεσθαι τὴν γῆν κινεῖσθαι, ἐν τῷ πανταχόθεν κατωτάτην κειμένην· μένειν μὲν οὖν ἀκίνητον, μηδὲν ἔχουσαν ἐξαίρετον εἰς τὸ ῥέψαι μᾶλλον, τόπους δʼ αὐτῆς κατʼ ἀραιότητα σαλεύεσθαι. Ἐπίκουρος ἐνδέχεσθαι μὲν ὑπὸ πάχους ἀέρος τοῦ ὑποκειμένου ὑδατώδους ὄντος ἀνακρουομένην αὐτὴν καὶ οἷον ὑποτυπτομένην κινεῖσθαι, ἐνδέχεσθαι δὲ καὶ σηραγγώδη τοῖς κατωτέρω μέρεσι καθεστῶσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ διασπειρομένου πνεύματος εἰς τὰς ἀντροειδεῖς κοιλότητας ἐμπίπτοντος σαλεύεσθαι.

[¶15] 16. ANAXIMANDER affirms that the sea is the remainder of the primogenial humidity, the greatest part of which being dried up by the fire, the influence of the great heat altered its quality. Anaxagoras, that in the beginning water did not flow, but was as a standing pool; and that it was burnt by the motion of the sun about it, by which the oily part of the water being exhaled, the residue became salt and bitter. Empedocles, that the sea is the sweat of the earth burnt by the sun. Antiphon, that the sweat of that which was hot was separated from the other parts which were moist; these by seething and boiling became bitter, as happens in all sweats. Metrodorus, that the sea was strained through the earth, and retained some part of the density thereof; the same is observed in all those things which are strained through ashes. The schools of Plato, that the element of water being compacted by the rigor of the air became sweet, but that part which was exhaled from the earth, being enfired, became of a brackish taste.

> Greek: 16. Ἀναξίμανδρος τὴν θάλασσάν φησιν εἶναι τῆς πρώτης ὑγρασίας λείψανον, ἧς τὸ μὲν πλεῖον μέρος ἀνεξήρανε τὸ πῦρ τὸ δʼ ὑπολειφθὲν διὰ τὴν ἔκκαυσιν μετέβαλεν. Ἀναξαγόρας, τοῦ κατʼ ἀρχὴν λιμνάζοντος ὑγροῦ περικαέντος ὑπὸ τῆς ἡλιακῆς περιφορᾶς καὶ τοῦ λιπαροῦ ἐξατμισθέντος, εἰς ἁλυκίδα καὶ πικρίαν τὸ λοιπὸν ὑποστῆναι. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἱδρῶτα τῆς γῆς ἐκκαιομένης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον πίλησιν. Ἀντιφῶν ἱδρῶτα θερμοῦ, ἐξ οὗ τὸ περιληφθὲν ὑγρὸν ἀπεκρίθη, τῷ καθεψηθῆναι παραλυκίσαν, ὅπερ ἐπὶ παντὸς ἱδρῶτος συμβαίνει. Μητρόδωρος διὰ τὸ διηθεῖσθαι διὰ τῆς γῆς μετειληφέναι τοῦ περὶ αὐτὴν πάχους, καθάπερ τὰ διὰ τῆς τέφρας ὑλιζόμενα. οἱ ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος τοῦ στοιχειώδους ὕδατος τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀέρος κατὰ περίψυξιν συνιστάμενον γλυκὺ γίνεσθαι, τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ γῆς κατὰ περίκαυσιν καὶ ἐκπύρωσιν ἀναθυμιώμενον ἁλμυρόν.

[¶16] 17. ARISTOTLE and Heraclides say, they proceed from the sun, which moves and whirls about the winds; and these falling with a violence upon the Atlantic, it is pressed and swells by them, by which means the sea flows; and their impression ceasing, the sea retracts, hence they ebb. Pytheas the Massilian, that the fulness of the moon gives the flow, the wane the ebb. Plato attributes it all to a certain oscillation of the sea, which by means of a mouth or orifice causes the alternate ebb and flow; and by this means the seas do rise and flow contrarily. Timaeus believes that those rivers which fall from the mountains of the Celtic Gaul into the Atlantic produce a tide. For upon their entering upon that sea, they violently press upon it, and so cause the flow; but they disemboguing themselves, there is a cessation of the impetuousness, by which means the ebb is produced. Seleucus the mathematician attributes a motion to the earth; and thus he pronounceth that the moon in its circumlation meets and repels the earth in its motion; between these two, the earth and the moon, there is a vehement wind raised and intercepted, which rushes upon the Atlantic Ocean, and gives us a probable argument that it is the cause the sea is troubled and moved.

> Greek: 17. Ἀριστοτέλης Ἡρακλείδης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν πνευμάτων κινοῦντος καὶ συμπεριφέροντος· ὑφʼ ὧν ἐμβαλλόντων μὲν προωθουμένην ἀνοιδεῖν τὴν Ἀτλαντικὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ πατασκευάζειν τὴν πλήμμυραν, καταληγόντων δʼ ἀντιπερισπωμένην ὑποβαίνειν, ὅπερ εἶναι τὴν ἄμπωτιν. Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης τῇ πληρώσει τῆς σελήνης τὰς πλημμύρας γίνεσθαι τῇ δὲ μειώσει τὰς ἀμπώτιδας. Πλάτων ἐπὶ τὴν αἰώραν φέρεται τῶν ὑδάτων εἶναι γάρ τινα αἰώραν διά τινος στομίου τρήματος περιφέρουσαν τὴν παλίρροιαν, ὑφʼ ἧς ἀντικυμαίνεσθαι τὰ πελάγη. Τίμαιος τοὺς ἐμβάλλοντας ποταμοὺς εἰς τὴν Ἀτλαντικὴν διὰ τῆς Κελτικῆς ὀρεινῆς αἰτιᾶται, προωθοῦντας μὲν ταῖς ἐφόδοις καὶ πλήμμυραν ποιοῦντας ὑφέλκοντας δὲ ταῖς ἀναπαύλαις καὶ ἀμπώτιδας κατασκευάζοντας. Σέλευκος ὁ μαθηματικὸς κινῶν καὶ οὗτος τὴν γῆν ἀντικόπτειν αὐτῆς τῇ δίνῃ φησὶ καὶ τῇ κινήσει τὴν περιστροφὴν τῆς σελήνης· τοῦ δὲ μεταξὺ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν σωμάτων ἀντιπερισπωμένου πνεύματος καὶ ἐμπίπτοντος εἰς τὸ Ἀτλαντικὸν πέλαγος, κατὰ λόγον αὐτῷ, συγκυκᾶσθαι τὴν θάλασσαν.

[¶17] 18. THE halo or circle is thus formed. A thick and dark air intervening between the moon or any other star and our eye, by which means our sight is dilated and reflected. when now our sight is incident upon the outward circumference of the orb of that star, there presently seems a circle to appear. This circle thus appearing is called the ἅλως or halo; and there is constantly such a circle seen by us, when such a density of sight happens. HAVING taken a survey of the general parts of the world, I will take a view of the particular members of it.

> Greek: 18. ἡ δʼ ἅλως οὑτωσὶν ἀποτελεῖται· μεταξὺ τῆς σελήνης ἤ τινος ἄλλου ἄστρου καὶ τῆς ὄψεως ἀὴρ παχὺς καὶ ὁμιχλώδης ἵσταται εἶτʼ ἐν τούτῳ τῆς ὄψεως κατακλωμένης καὶ εὐρυνομένης κᾆθʼ οὕτω τῷ κύκλῳ τοῦ ἄστρου προσπιπτούσης κατὰ, τὴν ἔξω περιφέρειαν, κύκλος δοκεῖ περὶ τὸ ἄστρον φαίνεσθαι ὃς κύκλος φαινόμενος ἅλως καλεῖται, ὅτι ἐστὶν ἅλῳ προσεοικώς, ἐκεῖ δοκοῦντος τοῦ φάσματος γίνεσθαι, ἔνθα συνέπεσε τὸ πάθος τῆς ὄψεως. περιωδευμένων δὲ τῶν τοῦ, κόσμου μερῶν, διαβήσομαι πρὸς τὰ, πατὰ μέρος.