Diogenes Laertius (3rd century AD) is famous for his Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, which is basically the surviving source for the history of ancient Greek philosophy. As a rather unphilosophical historiographer, Diogenes is generally considered to have reported ancient scholars’ works without significant modication. This is amazing for us and makes his work particularly valuable to scholars of antiquity who want to evaluate texts as close to the originals—which are all lost—as possible. Diogenes also inserts his own original contribution of cute little passages on the deaths of each philosopher haha.
I am translating this text into English out of desire of course but also academically under the guidance of Professor Oliver Primavesi (University of Munich), who is an awe-inspiring, phenomenal philologist/classist and world leading philosopher on Empedocles. In this page I aim to record my own preliminary translation of the part on Empedocles in the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers and to improve it with Professor Primavesi’s and friend Hugo Branley’s guidance.
[51] Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, ὥς φησιν Ἱππόβοτος, Μέτωνος ἦν υἱὸς
τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέους, Ἀκραγαντῖνος. τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καὶ Τίμαιος
ἐν τῇ πεντεκαιδεκάτῃ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν <φησι λέγων>
ἐπίσημον ἄνδρα γεγονέναι τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα τὸν πάππον
5 τοῦ ποιητοῦ. ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἕρμιππος τὰ αὐτὰ τούτῳ φησίν.
ὁμοίως Ἡρακλείδης ἐν τῷ Περὶ νόσων, ὅτι λαμπρᾶς ἦν
οἰκίας ἱπποτροφηκότος τοῦ πάππου. λέγει δὲ καὶ
Ἐρατοσθένης ἐν τοῖς Ὀλυμπιονίκαις τὴν πρώτην καὶ
ἑβδομηκοστὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα νενικηκέναι τὸν τοῦ Μέτωνος
10 πατέρα, μάρτυρι χρώμενος Ἀριστοτέλει.
51 Empedocles, as Hippobotus (200 BC Greek historian) says, was son of Meton, who was son of Empedocles of Acragas. Timaeus (350-260 BC Greek historian, Sicily) in the fifteenth book of his Histories says the same, adding that Empedocles, grandpa of the poet, had been a distinguished man. And Hermippus (of Smyrna, 3rd century BC Greek peripatetic & biographer) also says the same as this. Similarly, Heraclides (Ponticus, Plato’s student, astronomer) in his work On Diseases, says that his family was illustrious; his grandpa bred horses (a significant status symbol). Eratosthenes (276-195 BC Greek polymath) also says in his work on the Olympic victors, that in the 71st Olympics (496 BC) Meton’s father (grandpa Empedocles) had won, declaring Aristotle as a witness.
[52] Ἀπολλόδωρος δ’ ὁ γραμματικὸς ἐν τοῖς Χρονικοῖς φησιν ὡς
ἦν Μέτωνος μὲν υἱός, εἰς δὲ Θουρίους αὐτὸν νεωστὶ
παντελῶς ἐκτισμένους Γλαῦκος ἐλθεῖν φησιν. εἶθ’ ὑποβάς· οἱ
δ’ ἱστοροῦντες, ὡς οἴκοθεν πεφευγὼς εἰς τὰς Συρακούσας
15 μετ’ ἐκείνων ἐπολέμει πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους τελέως ἀγνοεῖν
μοὶ δοκοῦσιν· ἢ γὰρ οὐκέτ’ ἦν ἢ παντελῶς ὑπεργεγηρακώς,
ὅπερ οὐ φαίνεται. Ἀριστοτέλης γὰρ αὐτόν (ἔτι τε
Ἡράκλειτον) ἑξήκοντα ἐτῶν φησι τετελευτηκέναι. ὁ δὲ
<τὴν> μίαν καὶ ἑβδομηκοστὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα νενικηκὼς
κέλητι τούτου πάππος ἦν ὁμώνυμος, ὥσθ’ ἅμα καὶ 20
<τούτου> τὸν χρόνον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀπολλοδώρου
σημαίνεσθαι.
52 Apollodorus (of Athens 180-120 BC) the grammarian says in his Chronicles that he was the son of Meton, and Glaukos (of Rhegion, 5th century BC) says that he went to Thurii (Θούριοι, a city on the Tarentine gulf Pericles colonized in 444 BC), which had just then been completely set up. And further, the historians who say that he, having been exhiled from his home country to Syracuse, was fighting with them (the Syracusans) against the Athenians seem to me fully ignorant. For either he [had to have been] no longer [alive] or had grown entirely too old, which wouldn’t make sense. For Aristotle himself, besides Heraclitus (this is thought to be a mistake on Diogenes’ part for ‘Heraclides’), says he died at sixty. And the one who had won the 71st Olympiad (496 BC) in horseback-riding was homonymous to and grandpa of this man, such that it is together mentioned by Apollodocus (who wrote dates down in verse so that the meter would protect the data).
[53] Σάτυρος δὲ ἐν τοῖς Βίοις φησὶν ὅτι Ἐμπεδοκλῆς υἱὸς
μὲν ἦν Ἐξαινέτου, κατέλιπε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς υἱὸν Ἐξαίνετον·
25 ἐπί τε τῆς αὐτῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος τὸν μὲν ἵππῳ κέλητι
νενικηκέναι, τὸν δὲ υἱὸν αὐτοῦ πάλῃ ἤ, ὡς Ἡρακλείδης ἐν τῇ
Ἐπιτομῇ, δρόμῳ. ἐγὼ δὲ εὗρον ἐν τοῖς Ὑπομνήμασι
Φαβωρίνου ὅτι καὶ βοῦν ἔθυσε τοῖς θεωροῖς ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς
ἐκ μέλιτος καὶ ἀλφίτων, καὶ ἀδελφὸν ἔσχε Καλλικρατίδην.
30 Τηλαύγης δὲ ὁ Πυθαγόρου παῖς ἐν τῇ πρὸς Φιλόλαον
ἐπιστολῇ φησι τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα Ἀρχινόμου εἶναι υἱόν.
53 But Satyrus (the Peripatetic, 3rd century BC) in the Lives states that [Empedocles] was the son of Exaenetus and left a son named Exaenetus himself, and during the same Olympiad [Empedocles] had won in the horse race, and his son the same[, i.e. had won,] in wrestling or, as Heraclides (ὁ λεμβος) in the Epitome [says], in the running-race. And I found in the Memorabilia of Favorinus (of Arelate, 80-160 AD) that Empedocles sacrificed an ox for the spectators (hypotheses: 1. Olympia but add his ethical theory on animals 2. doing it while reciting the Katharmoi) [made] from honey and flour (barley corn), and that [he] had a brother, Kallicratides. Telauges (this dude seems fully made up to connect Pythagorus and Empedocles, estimated 500ish BC), the child of Pythagoras, in his letter to Philolaus (of Croton, Pythagorean, 470-385 BC) says Empedocles is the son of Archinomus (made up name).
[54] ὅτι δ’ ἦν Ἀκραγαντῖνος ἐκ Σικελίας, αὐτὸς ἐναρχόμενος τῶν
Καθαρμῶν φησιν·
ὦ φίλοι οἳ μέγα ἄστυ κατὰ ξανθοῦ Ἀκράγαντος
35 ναίετ’ ἀν’ ἄκρα πόλεος.
καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ τάδε.
ἀκοῦσαι δ’ αὐτὸν Πυθαγόρου Τίμαιος διὰ τῆς ἐνάτης
ἱστορεῖ λέγων ὅτι καταγνωσθεὶς ἐπὶ λογοκλοπίᾳ τότε,
καθὰ καὶ Πλάτων, τῶν λόγων ἐκωλύθη μετέχειν. μεμνῆσθαι
40 δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν Πυθαγόρου λέγοντα·
ἦν δέ τις ἐν κείνοισιν ἀνὴρ περιώσια εἰδώς,
ὃς δὴ μήκιστον πραπίδων ἐκτήσατο πλοῦτον.
οἱ δὲ τοῦτο εἰς Παρμενίδην αὐτὸν λέγειν ἀναφέροντα.
54 That he was from Akragas in Sicily, he says himself in the beginning of the Katharmoi:
Friends, you who dwell in the great city above the yellow Acragas on the lofty citadel.
And so much for the matters concerning his family.
Timaeus reports in the ninth book that he [Empedocles] heard (in this context, ‘was a student of’; historigraphically, they add this to create a continuous chain) Pythagorus, saying that, having then been condemned of plagiarism, like Plato, he was hindered from taking part in the discussions; and also that he [Empedocles] himself mentions Pythagoras and says:
And there was some man among them knowing (οἶδα) immensely, who indeed obtained the greatest wealth of mind.
Others [say] that he (Empedocles) says this by way of referring to Parmenides.
[55] φησὶ δὲ Νεάνθης ὅτι μέχρι Φιλολάου καὶ
45 Ἐμπεδοκλέους ἐκοινώνουν οἱ Πυθαγορικοὶ τῶν λόγων. ἐπεὶ
δ’ αὐτὸς διὰ τῆς ποιήσεως ἐδημοσίωσεν αὐτά, νόμον ἔθεντο
μηδενὶ μεταδώσειν ἐποποιῷ. (τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καὶ Πλάτωνα
παθεῖν φησι· καὶ γὰρ τοῦτον κωλυθῆναι). τίνος μέντοι γε
αὐτῶν ἤκουσεν ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, οὐκ εἶπε· τὴν γὰρ
50 περιφερομένην ὡς Τηλαύγους ἐπιστολὴν ὅτι τε μετέσχεν
Ἱππάσου καὶ Βροτίνου, μὴ εἶναι ἀξιόπιστον.
ὁ δὲ Θεόφραστος Παρμενίδου φησὶ ζηλωτὴν αὐτὸν
γενέσθαι καὶ μιμητὴν ἐν τοῖς ποιήμασι· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνον ἐν
ἔπεσι τὸν Περὶ φύσεως ἐξενεγκεῖν λόγον.
55 Neanthes (of Cyzicus, biographer of philosophers, 350-300 BC) says that up until the time of Philolaus (of Croton, Pythagorean, 470-385 BC) and Empedocles, the Pythagoreans were having the discussions. But after he [Empedocles] published [Pythagorean doctrine] through his poem, they set up a law to share the doctrine to no epic poet. (He [Neanthes] says the same thing also happened to Plato, for he too was barred). But he didn’t say which of the Pythagoreans Empedocles was a student. For the letter going around under the name of Telauges, which says that he [Empedocles] was with other pupils Hippasus (important early Pythagorean) and Brontinus (true member of Pythagorean school), is not worthy of belief.
And Theophrastus says that he [Empedocles] was an emulator and imitator of Parmenides in his poems, for he [Empedocles] too expressed his theory On Nature in the medium of epic verse.
[56] Ἕρμιππος δὲ
55 οὐ Παρμενίδου, Ξενοφάνους δὲ γεγονέναι ζηλωτήν, ᾧ καὶ
συνδιατρῖψαι καὶ μιμήσασθαι τὴν ἐποποιΐαν· ὕστερον δὲ
τοῖς Πυθαγορικοῖς ἐντυχεῖν. Ἀλκιδάμας δ’ ἐν τῷ Φυσικῷ
φησι κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους Ζήνωνα καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλέα
ἀκοῦσαι Παρμενίδου, εἶθ’ ὕστερον ἀποχωρῆσαι, καὶ τὸν μὲν
60 Ζήνωνα κατ’ ἰδίαν φιλοσοφῆσαι, τὸν δὲ Ἀναξαγόρου
διακοῦσαι καὶ Πυθαγόρου· καὶ τοῦ μὲν τὴν σεμνότητα
ζηλῶσαι τοῦ τε βίου καὶ τοῦ σχήματος, τοῦ δὲ τὴν
φυσιολογίαν.
56 But Hermippus says that he [Empedocles] was, rather than Parmenides, an emulator of Xenophanes (pre-Socratic philosopher poet), with whom he spent time and whose writing of epic poetry he imitated, and that he met with the Pythagoreans after. Alcidamas tells us in his work on Physics that Zeno and Empedocles were pupils of Parmenides about the same time, that afterwards they left him, and that, when Zeno philosophized his own [philosophy], Empedocles became the pupil of Anaxagoras and Pythagoras, and emulated Pythagoras in both solemnity of life and of schema, and [emulated] Anaxagoras in his physical investigations.
[57] Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν τῷ Σοφιστῇ φησι πρῶτον
65 Ἐμπεδοκλέα ῥητορικὴν εὑρεῖν, Ζήνωνα δὲ διαλεκτικήν. ἐν
δὲ τῷ Περὶ ποιητῶν φησιν ὅτι καὶ Ὁμηρικὸς ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς
καὶ δεινὸς περὶ τὴν φράσιν γέγονεν, μεταφορητικός τε ὢν
καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς περὶ ποιητικὴν ἐπιτεύγμασι χρώμενος·
καὶ διότι γράψαντος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄλλα ποιήματα τήν τε
70 Ξέρξου διάβασιν καὶ προοίμιον εἰς Ἀπόλλωνα, ταῦθ’
ὕστερον κατέκαυσεν ἀδελφή τις αὐτοῦ (ἢ θυγάτηρ, ὥς
φησιν Ἱερώνυμος), τὸ μὲν προοίμιον ἄκουσα, τὰ δὲ Περσικὰ
βουληθεῖσα διὰ τὸ ἀτελείωτα εἶναι.
57 Aristotle in his Sophist says that Empedocles was the first to devise rhetoric (Empedocles was teacher of Gorgias), and that Zeno [was the first to devise] dialectic. In his [Aristotle’s] work On Poets he says that Empedocles was a poet of Homeric rank and awesome in his way of expressing himself (from φράζω), being metaphorical and using other poetic devices. [Explanatory force of the previous sentence from 1:] he having written other poems, i.e. the [across-the-channel] invasion of Xerxes and a hymn (more a proem) to Apollo, [and 2:] his sister burnt them (or, according to Hieronymus, his daughter [burnt them]). The hymn she destroyed unintentionally, but the poem on the Persian war on purpose, because it was unfinished.
[58] καθόλου δέ φησι
καὶ τραγῳδίας αὐτὸν γράψαι καὶ πολιτικούς· Ἡρακλείδης
75 δὲ ὁ τοῦ Σαραπίωνος ἑτέρου φησὶν εἶναι τὰς τραγῳδίας.
Ἱερώνυμος δὲ τρισὶ καὶ τετταράκοντά φησιν ἐντετυχηκέναι,
Νεάνθης δὲ νέον ὄντα γεγραφέναι τὰς τραγῳδίας καὶ
αὐτῶν ἑπτὰ ἐντετυχηκέναι.
φησὶ δὲ Σάτυρος ἐν τοῖς Βίοις ὅτι καὶ ἰατρὸς ἦν καὶ ῥήτωρ
80 ἄριστος. Γοργίαν γοῦν τὸν Λεοντῖνον αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι
μαθητήν, ἄνδρα ὑπερέχοντα ἐν ῥητορικῇ καὶ Τέχνην
ἀπολελοιπότα· ὅν φησιν Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν Χρονικοῖς ἐννέα
πρὸς τοῖς ἑκατὸν ἔτη βιῶναι.
58 And generally he says that he wrote both tragedies and political [speeches]. But Heraclides, the son of Sarapion, says the aforementioned tragedies are by another [Empedocles]. Hieronymus says that he had come across forty-three of these, and Neanthes says that Empedocles wrote these tragedies as a young man, and that he [Neanthes] was acquainted with seven of them.
Satyrus in his Lives says that he was also a physician and an excellent rhetorician. Gorgias γε of Leontini, a man who excelled in rhetoric and has left behind a work on the Art, was his pupil. Of Gorgias Apollodorus says in his Chronicles that he lived to be one hundred and nine (nine besides one hundred).
[59] τοῦτόν φησιν ὁ Σάτυρος
λέγειν ὡς αὐτὸς παρείη τῷ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ γοητεύοντι. ἀλλὰ
85 καὶ αὐτὸν διὰ τῶν ποιημάτων ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι τοῦτό τε καὶ
ἄλλα πλείω, δι’ ὧν φησι·
φάρμακα δ’ ὅσσα γεγᾶσι κακῶν καὶ γήραος ἄλκαρ
πεύσῃ, ἐπεὶ μούνῳ σοὶ ἐγὼ κρανέω τάδε πάντα.
παύσεις δ’ ἀκαμάτων ἀνέμων μένος οἵ τ’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν
90 ὀρνύμενοι πνοιαῖσι καταφθινύθουσιν ἄρουραν·
καὶ πάλιν, ἢν ἐθέλῃσθα, παλίντιτα πνεύματ’ ἐπάξεις·
θήσεις δ’ ἐξ ὄμβροιο κελαινοῦ καίριον αὐχμὸν
ἀνθρώποις, θήσεις δὲ καὶ ἐξ αὐχμοῖο θερείου
ῥεύματα δενδρεόθρεπτα τά τ’ αἰθέρι ναιήσονται,
95 ἄξεις δ’ ἐξ Ἀΐδαο καταφθιμένου μένος ἀνδρός.
59 Satyrus says that man [Gorgias] says that he himself was present when Empedocles performed magical things. But also he says that Empedocles through his poems announces this [magical powers] and to much more(!) through the word which he says:
And you will learn medicines as many as are a defence for evils and old age, since I will achieve all these things for you alone. And you will stop the power of the indefatigable/untiring winds which stirring above the earth destroy the farmlands with gusts. And again (πάλιν has a sense of tracking backwards and doing something again, Oliver), if whenever you like, you will lead the winds in recompense. You will make (put) out of dark rain an opportune dry period for men, and you will also make (put) out of a summery dry period, tree-nourishing streams which are in the sky. You will lead out of Hades the power of a dead man.
[60] φησὶ δὲ καὶ Τίμαιος ἐν τῇ ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῃ κατὰ
πολλοὺς τρόπους τεθαυμάσθαι τὸν ἄνδρα. καὶ γὰρ ἐτησίων
ποτὲ σφοδρῶς πνευσάντων ὡς τοὺς καρποὺς λυμῆναι,
κελεύσας ὄνους ἐκδαρῆναι καὶ ἀσκοὺς ποιῆσαι περὶ τοὺς
100 λόφους καὶ τὰς ἀκρωρείας διέτεινε πρὸς τὸ συλλαβεῖν τὸ
πνεῦμα· λήξαντος δὲ κωλυσανέμαν κληθῆναι. Ἡρακλείδης
τε ἐν τῷ Περὶ νόσων φησὶ καὶ Παυσανίᾳ ὑφηγήσασθαι
αὐτὸν τὰ περὶ τὴν ἄπνουν. ἦν δ’ ὁ Παυσανίας, ὥς φησιν
Ἀρίστιππος καὶ Σάτυρος, ἐρώμενος αὐτοῦ, ᾧ δὴ καὶ τὰ
105 Περὶ φύσεως προσπεφώνηκεν οὕτως·
60 Timaeus also says in the eighteenth book that the man [Empedocles] was admired in many ways. For, once the summer winds were fiercely blowing so that the fruits were being threatened; he [Empedocles] commanded donkeys to be skinned and hides made, he stretched (διέτεινε) them between the hills and the mountaintops against the gathering wind (τὸ συλλαβεῖν τὸ πωεῦμα, strange construction), and [the wind] stopping, he was known as (infinitive because reported speech) ‘the airbender’ (literally: wind-hinderer). Heraclides in his work On Diseases says that he [Empedocles] told Pausanias the story about the breathless woman. Pausanias was, according to Aristippus and Satyrus, the beloved one of his, to whom in fact he addressed On Nature in the following way:
[61] Παυσανίη, σὺ δὲ κλῦθι, δαίφρονος Ἀγχίτου υἱέ.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπίγραμμα εἰς αὐτὸν ἐποίησε·
Παυσανίην ἰητρὸν ἐπώνυμον Ἀγχίτου υἱὸν
φῶτ’ Ἀσκληπιάδην πατρὶς ἔθρεψε Γέλα,
ὃς πολλοὺς μογεροῖσι μαραινομένους καμάτοισι 110
φῶτας ἀπέστρεψεν Φερσεφόνης ἀδύτων.
τὴν γοῦν ἄπνουν ὁ Ἡρακλείδης φησὶ τοιοῦτόν τι εἶναι,
ὡς τριάκοντα ἡμέρας συντηρεῖν ἄπνουν καὶ ἄσφυκτον τὸ
σῶμα· ὅθεν εἶπεν αὐτὸν καὶ ἰητρὸν καὶ μάντιν, λαμβάνων
115 ἅμα καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν στίχων·
61 “Pausanias, you son of Anchitus the wise, open your ears.”
He also composed an epigram about him:
Gela (town in Sicily), as the fatherland, nourished a doctor named Pausanias, son of Anchitus, descendant of Asclepius (a god who could give immortality to mortals). [Pausanias] who turned away many suffering men from the innermost part (ἀδύτων comes from δύωμαι, to dive in, so the inaccessible part of a Greek temple) of the temple of Persephone.
Heraclides says that [the story of] ‘the breathless woman’ is something of the following kind: for thirty days her doctor [thought this should have ἀυτὸν] watched over her body breathless and without the sound of breathing. From whence, Heraclides called him not only a doctor but also a seer, taking the titles together from these lines:
[62] ὦ φίλοι, οἳ μέγα ἄστυ κατὰ ξανθοῦ Ἀκράγαντος
ναίετ’ ἀν’ ἄκρα πόλεος, ἀγαθῶν μελεδήμονες ἔργων,
χαίρετ’· ἐγὼ δ’ ὑμῖν θεὸς ἄμβροτος, οὐκέτι θνητὸς
πωλεῦμαι μετὰ πᾶσι τετιμένος, ὥσπερ ἔοικα,
120 ταινίαις τε περίστεπτος στέφεσίν τε θαλείοις·
τοῖσιν †ἅμ’† ἂν ἵκωμαι ἐς ἄστεα τηλεθάοντα,
ἀνδράσιν ἠδὲ γυναιξί, σεβίζομαι· οἱ δ’ ἅμ’ ἕπονται
μυρίοι, ἐξερέοντες ὅπῃ πρὸς κέρδος ἀταρπός·
οἱ μὲν μαντοσυνέων κεχρημένοι, οἱ δ’ ἐπὶ νούσων
125 παντοίων ἐπύθοντο κλύειν εὐηκέα βάξιν.
62 Friends, you who dwell in the great city above the yellow Acragas on the lofty citadel, who interest themselves in good works, goodbye! I, who for you am an immortal god, no longer incarnate, go around honored, as is appropriate, crowned with ribbons and flourishing wreaths. Whenever I arrive into the flourishing towns, by men and women I am worshipped–the ten-thousands follow, asking whither (in which direction) the path to prosperity, some yearning after prophecies, others inquiring after all kinds of illnesses to hear a discourse [from the healing god] of well-healing effect.
[63] μέγαν δὲ τὸν Ἀκράγαντα εἰπεῖν φησι {Τίμαιος
οὐκ ἐπεὶ μέγα ἦν προάστιον παρὰ τὸν} ποταμὸν, ἀλλ’
ἐπεὶ μυριάδες αὐτὸν κατῴκουν ὀγδοήκοντα· ὅθεν τὸν
Ἐμπεδοκλέα εἰπεῖν, τρυφώντων αὐτῶν, ‘Ἀκραγαντῖνοι
τρυφῶσι μὲν ὡς αὔριον ἀποθανούμενοι, οἰκίας δὲ
130 κατασκευάζονται ὡς πάντα τὸν χρόνον βιωσόμενοι.’
αὐτοὺς δὲ τούτους τοὺς Καθαρμοὺς {ἐν} Ὀλυμπίασι
ῥαψῳδῆσαι λέγεται Κλεομένη τὸν ῥαψῳδόν, ὡς καὶ
Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Ἀπομνημονεύμασι. φησὶ δ’ αὐτὸν καὶ
Ἀριστοτέλης ἐλεύθερον γεγονέναι καὶ πάσης ἀρχῆς
135 ἀλλότριον, εἴ γε τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῷ διδομένην
παρῃτήσατο, καθάπερ Ξάνθος ἐν τοῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγει,
τὴν λιτότητα δηλονότι πλέον ἀγαπήσας.
63 And Timaeus (Oliver thinks maybe pseudo-Aristippus) says that Akragas is called great, {not because its suburbs beside the river was great, but} because its inhabitants were 80,000. From whence, Empedocles said, at the time they lived luxuriously, “the Akragantians live luxuriously as if they are going to die tomorrow, but construct their houses as though they were to live for all of time.” It is said that Cleomenes the rhapsode rhapsodized at the Olympic games this same poem, Purifications, or so Favorinus says in his Memorabilia. And Aristotle also says that he was a defender of freedom and alien to any kind of domination, he begged of the royal crown offered to him, according to Xanthus (almost contemporary to Empedocles!) in his discourses says, clearly because he preferred the modest way of life.
[64] τὰ δ’ αὐτὰ
καὶ Τίμαιος εἴρηκε, τὴν αἰτίαν ἅμα παρατιθέμενος τοῦ
δημοτικὸν εἶναι τὸν ἄνδρα. φησὶ γὰρ ὅτι κληθεὶς ὑπό τινος
140 τῶν ἀρχόντων ὡς προβαίνοντος τοῦ δείπνου τὸ ποτὸν οὐκ
εἰσεφέρετο, τῶν {δ’} ἄλλων ἡσυχαζόντων, μισοπονήρως
διατεθεὶς ἐκέλευσεν εἰσφέρειν· ὁ δὲ κεκληκὼς ἀναμένειν ἔφη
τὸν τῆς βουλῆς ὑπηρέτην. ὡς δὲ παρεγένετο, ἐγενήθη
συμποσίαρχος, τοῦ κεκληκότος δηλονότι καταστήσαντος,
145 ὃς ὑπεγράφετο τυραννίδος ἀρχήν· ἐκέλευσε γὰρ ἢ πίνειν ἢ
καταχεῖσθαι τῆς κεφαλῆς. τότε μὲν οὖν ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς
ἡσύχασε· τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ εἰσαγαγὼν εἰς δικαστήριον
ἀπέκτεινε καταδικάσας ἀμφοτέρους, τόν τε κλήτορα καὶ
τὸν συμποσίαρχον. ἀρχὴ μὲν οὖν αὐτῷ τῆς πολιτείας ἥδε.
64 Timaeus also said the same, at the same time adding the reason (evidential) for the fact that the man is for the δῆμος (remember Oliver’s explanation about: the laboring group). For he said that [Empedocles], having been called to dine with the rulers, when the dinner was already well-advanced, the drink was not being served, and while the others were silent, he became indignant, full of hatred for vulgar behavior, ordered that it be brought in, being treated badly. The one having called (the host) was saying he must wait for the secretary of the βουλη. When he arrived, he was made into the MC (remember Oliver’s explanation of συμποσίαρχος). Clearly by the plan of the host, who (ὅς probably referring to συμποσίαρχος, Oliver thinks) thereby gave a sketch of a tyrranical government, for he ordered either drink or have it poured down your head. Thus, for the time being, Empedocles had to stay silent; but the next day indicting and taking them to court, he arranged them to be condemned and killed, both the host and the MC. This was the beginning of political activity for him.
150 [65] πάλιν δὲ Ἄκρωνος τοῦ ἰατροῦ τόπον αἰτοῦντος παρὰ
τῆς βουλῆς εἰς κατασκευὴν πατρῴου μνήματος διὰ τὴν ἐν
τοῖς ἰατρικοῖς ἀκρότητα παρελθὼν δ’ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς
ἐκώλυσε, τά τε ἄλλα περὶ ἰσότητος διαλεχθεὶς καί τι καὶ
τοιοῦτον ἐρωτήσας· ‘τί δὲ ἐπιγράψομεν ἐλεγεῖον; ἢ τοῦτο;
155 Ἄκρον ἰατρὸν Ἄκρων’ Ἀκραγαντῖνον πατρὸς Ἄκρου
κρύπτει κρημνὸς ἄκρος πατρίδος ἀκροτάτης.’
τινὲς δὲ τὸν δεύτερον στίχον οὕτω προφέρονται·
ἀκροτάτης κορυφῆς τύμβος ἄκρος κατέχει.
τοῦτό τινες Σιμωνίδου φασὶν εἶναι.
65 Again, Acron the doctor asked the βουλῆ for a plot in order to establish a paternal monument, on account of his excellence; but Empedocles coming forward prevented it speaking about the other matters concerning quality, and in particular raised a question of the following kind: but what inscription may we put on it [the monument]? or this:
The eminent doctor, Acron, a citizen of Akragas, son of Acros, is buried beneath the steep eminence of his most eminent father (i.e. native) city.
And others places the second line as thus:
the most eminent tomb contains the eminent ????? Ask Hugo
Some say that this is by Simonides.
160 [66] ὕστερον δ’ ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς καὶ τὸ τῶν χιλίων
ἄθροισμα κατέλυσε συνεστὼς ἐπὶ ἔτη τρία, ὥστε οὐ μόνον
ἦν τῶν πλουσίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν τὰ δημοτικὰ φρονούντων.
ὅ γέ τοι Τίμαιος ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ καὶ δευτέρᾳ (πολλάκις γὰρ
αὐτοῦ μνημονεύει) φησὶν ἐναντίαν ἐσχηκέναι γνώμην αὐτὸν
165 †τῇ τε πολιτείᾳ φαίνεσθαι†· ὅπου δὲ ἀλαζόνα καὶ φίλαυτον
ἐν τῇ ποιήσει· φησὶ γοῦν·
χαίρετ’· ἐγὼ δ’ ὑμῖν θεὸς ἄμβροτος, οὐκέτι θνητὸς
πωλεῦμαι,
καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καθ’ ὃν δὲ χρόνον ἐπεδήμει Ὀλυμπίασιν,
170 ἐπιστροφῆς ἠξιοῦτο πλείονος, ὥστε μηδενὸς ἑτέρου μνείαν
γίνεσθαι ἐν ταῖς ὁμιλίαις τοσαύτην ὅσην Ἐμπεδοκλέους.
66 Later Empedocles dissolved the assembly of the Thousand it having come together for three years, so that he was not only one of the wealthy, but also one of the democratically minded, which Timaeus in the first and the second books (for he mentions him often) says that he seems to have acquired an opinion opposed to that sort of politics, where he was boastful and self-regarding in his poetry–at least he says:
Farewell! I, who for you am an immortal god, no longer mortal, strolling around…
And so on. But at the time which he was a guest in/visited Olympia, he was deemed worthy of much attention so much so that the memory of no one else was so prominent among the crowds as that of Empedocles.
[67] ὕστερον μέντοι τοῦ Ἀκράγαντος †οἰκιζομένου†,
ἀντέστησαν αὐτοῦ τῇ καθόδῳ οἱ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀπόγονοι·
διόπερ εἰς Πελοπόννησον ἀποχωρήσας ἐτελεύτησεν. οὐ
175 παρῆκε τ’ οὐδὲ τοῦτον ὁ Τίμων, ἀλλ’ ὧδε αὐτοῦ
καθάπτεται λέγων·
καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἀγοραίων
ληκητὴς ἐπέων· ὅσα δ’ ἔσθενε, τόσσα διεῖλεν
ἄρχων ὃς διέθηκ’ ἀρχὰς ἐπιδευέας ἄλλων.
180 περὶ δὲ τοῦ θανάτου διάφορός ἐστιν αὐτοῦ λόγος.
Ἡρακλείδης μὲν γὰρ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἄπνου διηγησάμενος, ὡς
ἐδοξάσθη Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἀποστείλας τὴν νεκρὰν ἄνθρωπον
ζῶσαν, φησὶν ὅτι θυσίαν συνετέλει πρὸς τῷ Πεισιάνακτος
ἀγρῷ. συνεκέκληντο δὲ τῶν φίλων τινές, ἐν οἷς καὶ
185 Παυσανίας.
67 Later, however, the when the people of Akragas turned to oppose him, the descendants of his enemies opposed his return home, and because of this he went to the Peloponnesus, and died. Timon did not pass over it (i.e. certainly not this one–did not let it pass over), but touches on him thus, saying:
Empedocles was a shouter of market place verse, as far as he could (as far as his strength went); he distinguished as much of principles, he who expounded principles, which were still in need of other principles [so that there were no principles].
About his death, there are different accounts.
For Heraclides,
Here onwards is not my own translation, but
after telling the story of the woman in a trance, how that Empedocles became famous because he had sent away the dead woman alive, goes on to say that lie was offering a sacrifice close to the field of Peisianax. Some of his friends had been invited to the sacrifice, including Pausanias.
[68] εἶτα μετὰ τὴν εὐωχίαν οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι
χωρισθέντες ἀνεπαύοντο, οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ τοῖς δένδροις ὡς
ἀγροῦ παρακειμένου, οἱ δ’ ὅπῃ βούλοιντο, αὐτὸς δ’ ἔμεινεν
ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου ἐφ’ οὗπερ κατεκέκλιτο. ὡς δὲ ἡμέρας
γενηθείσης ἐξανέστησαν, οὐχ εὑρέθη μόνος. ζητουμένου δὲ
190 καὶ τῶν οἰκετῶν ἀνακρινομένων καὶ φασκόντων μὴ εἰδέναι,
εἷς τις ἔφη μέσων νυκτῶν φωνῆς ὑπερμεγέθους ἀκοῦσαι
προσκαλουμένης Ἐμπεδοκλέα, εἶτα ἐξαναστὰς ἑωρακέναι
φῶς οὐράνιον καὶ λαμπάδων φέγγος, ἄλλο δὲ μηδέν· τῶν δὲ
ἐπὶ τῷ γενομένῳ ἐκπλαγέντων καταβὰς ὁ Παυσανίας
195 ἔπεμψέ τινας ζητήσοντας. ὕστερον δὲ ἐκώλυεν
πολυπραγμονεῖν, φάσκων εὐχῆς ἄξια συμβεβηκέναι καὶ
θύειν αὐτῷ δεῖν καθαπερεὶ γεγονότι θεῷ.
68 Then, after the feast, the remainder of the companydispersed and retired to rest, some under the trees in the adjoining field, others wherever they chose, while Empedocles himself remained on the spot where he had reclined at table. At daybreak all got up, and he was the only one missing. A search was made, and they questioned the servants, who said they did not know where he was. Thereupon someone said that in the middle of the night he heard an exceedingly loud voice calling Empedocles. Then he got up and beheld a light in the heavens and a glitter of lamps, but nothing else. His hearers
were amazed at what had occurred, and Pausanias came down and sent people to search for him. But later he bade them take no further trouble, for things beyond expectation had happened to him, and it was their duty to sacrifice to him since he was now a god.
[69] Ἕρμιππος δέ φησι Πάνθειάν τινα Ἀκραγαντίνην
ἀπηλπισμένην ὑπὸ τῶν ἰατρῶν θεραπεῦσαι αὐτὸν καὶ διὰ
200 τοῦτο τὴν θυσίαν ἐπιτελεῖν· τοὺς δὲ κληθέντας εἶναι πρὸς
τοὺς ὀγδοήκοντα. Ἱππόβοτος δέ φησιν ἐξαναστάντα αὐτὸν
ὡδευκέναι ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴτνην, εἶτα παραγενόμενον ἐπὶ τοὺς
κρατῆρας τοῦ πυρὸς ἐναλέσθαι καὶ ἀφανισθῆναι,
βουλόμενον τὴν περὶ αὑτοῦ φήμην βεβαιῶσαι ὅτι γεγόνοι
205 θεός, ὕστερον δὲ γνωσθῆναι, ἀναρριπισθείσης αὐτοῦ μιᾶς
τῶν κρηπίδων· χαλκᾶς γὰρ εἴθιστο ὑποδεῖσθαι. πρὸς
τοῦτο ὁ Παυσανίας ἀντέλεγε.
69 Hermippus tells us that Empedocles cured Panthea, a woman of Agrigentum, who had been given up by the physicians, and this was why he was offering sacrifice, and that those invited were about eighty in number. Hippobotus, again, asserts that, when he got up, he set out on his way to Etna; then, when he had reached it, he plunged into the fiery craters and disappeared, his intention being to confirm the report that he had become a god. Afterwards the truth was known, because one of his slippers was thrown up in the flames; it had been his custom to wear slippers of bronze. To this story Pausanias is made (by Heraclides) to take exception.
[70] Διόδωρος δὲ ὁ Ἐφέσιος περὶ Ἀναξιμάνδρου γράφων
φησὶν ὅτι τοῦτον ἐζηλώκει, τραγικὸν ἀσκῶν τῦφον καὶ
210 σεμνὴν ἀναλαβὼν ἐσθῆτα. τοῖς Σελινουντίοις ἐμπεσόντος
λοιμοῦ διὰ τὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ παρακειμένου ποταμοῦ δυσωδίας,
ὥστε καὶ αὐτοὺς φθείρεσθαι καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας δυστοκεῖν,
ἐπινοῆσαι τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα καὶ δύο τινὰς ποταμοὺς τῶν
σύνεγγυς ἐπαγαγεῖν ἰδίαις δαπάναις· καὶ καταμίξαντα
215 γλυκῆναι τὰ ῥεύματα. οὕτω δὴ λήξαντος τοῦ λοιμοῦ καὶ
τῶν Σελινουντίων εὐωχουμένων ποτὲ παρὰ τῷ ποταμῷ,
ἐπιφανῆναι τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα· τοὺς δ’ ἐξαναστάντας
προσκυνεῖν καὶ προσεύχεσθαι καθαπερεὶ θεῷ. ταύτην οὖν
θέλοντα βεβαιῶσαι τὴν διάληψιν εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐναλέσθαι.
70 Diodorus of Ephesus, when writing of Anaximander, declares that Empedocles emulated him, displaying theatrical arrogance and wearing stately robes. We are told that the people of Selinus suffered from pestilence owing to the noisome smells from the river hard by, so that the citizens themselves perished and their women died in childbirth, that Empedocles conceived the plan of bringing two neighbouring rivers to the place at his own expense, and that by this admixture he sweetened the waters. When in this way the pestilence had been stayed and the Selinuntines were feasting on the river bank, Empedocles appeared ; and the company rose up and worshipped and prayed to him as to a god. It was then to confirm this belief of theirs that he leapt into the fire.
220 [71] τούτοις δ’ ἐναντιοῦται Τίμαιος, ῥητῶς λέγων ὡς
ἐξεχώρησεν εἰς Πελοπόννησον καὶ τὸ σύνολον οὐκ
ἐπανῆλθεν· ὅθεν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ἄδηλον εἶναι. πρὸς
δὲ τὸν Ἡρακλείδην καὶ ἐξ ὀνόματος ποιεῖται τὴν ἀντίρρησιν
ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ· Συρακόσιόν τε γὰρ εἶναι τὸν Πεισιάνακτα
καὶ ἀγρὸν οὐκ ἔχειν ἐν Ἀκράγαντι· Παυσανίαν τε μνημεῖον 225
<ἂν> πεποιηκέναι τοῦ φίλου, τοιούτου διαδοθέντος λόγου,
ἢ ἀγαλμάτιόν τι ἢ σηκὸν οἷα θεοῦ· καὶ γὰρ πλούσιον εἶναι.
‘πῶς οὖν,’ φησίν, ‘εἰς τοὺς κρατῆρας ἥλατο ὧν σύνεγγυς
ὄντων οὐδὲ μνείαν ποτὲ ἐπεποίητο; τετελεύτηκεν οὖν ἐν
Πελοποννήσῳ.
71 These stories are contradicted by Timaeus, who expressly says that he left Sicily for Peloponnesus and never returned at all; and this is the reason Timaeus gives for the fact that the manner of his death is unknown. He replies to Heraclides, whom he mentions by name, in his fourteenth book. Pisianax, he says, was a citizen of Syracuse and possessed no land at Agrigentum. Further, if such a story had been in circulation, Pausanias would have set up a monument to his friend, as to a god, in the form of a statue or shrine, for he was a wealthy man. “How came he,” adds Timaeus, ” to leap into the craters, which he had never once mentioned though they were not far off? He must then have died in Peloponnesus.
230 [72] οὐδὲν δὲ παράδοξον τάφον αὐτοῦ μὴ
φαίνεσθαι· μηδὲ γὰρ ἄλλων πολλῶν.’ τοιαῦτά τινα εἰπὼν ὁ
Τίμαιος ἐπιφέρει· ‘ἀλλὰ διὰ παντός ἐστιν Ἡρακλείδης
τοιοῦτος παραδοξολόγος, καὶ ἐκ τῆς σελήνης πεπτωκέναι
ἄνθρωπον λέγων.’
235 Ἱππόβοτος δέ φησιν ὅτι ἀνδριὰς ἐγκεκαλυμμένος
Ἐμπεδοκλέους ἔκειτο πρότερον μὲν ἐν Ἀκράγαντι, ὕστερον
δὲ πρὸ τοῦ Ῥωμαίων βουλευτηρίου ἀκάλυφος δηλονότι
μεταθέντων αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ Ῥωμαίων· γραπταὶ μὲν γὰρ εἰκόνες
καὶ νῦν περιφέρονται. Νεάνθης δ’ ὁ Κυζικηνὸς ὁ καὶ περὶ
240 τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν εἰπών φησι Μέτωνος τελευτήσαντος
τυραννίδος ἀρχὴν ὑποφύεσθαι· εἶτα τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέα
πεῖσαι τοὺς Ἀκραγαντίνους παύσασθαι μὲν τῶν στάσεων,
ἰσότητα δὲ πολιτικὴν ἀσκεῖν.
72 It is not at all surprising that his tomb is not found; the same is true of many other men.” After urging some such arguments Timaeus goes on to say, “But Heraclides is everywhere just such a collector of absurdities, telling us, for instance, that a man dropped down to earth from the moon.”
Hippobotus assures us that formerly there was in Agrigentum a statue of Empedocles with his head covered, and afterwards another with the head uncovered in front of the Senate House at Rome, which plainly the Romans had removed to that site. For portrait-statues with inscriptions are extant even now. Neanthes of Cyzicus, who tells about the Pythagoreans, relates that, after the death of Meton, the germs of a tyranny began to show themselves, that then it was Empedocles who persuaded the Agrigentines to put an end to their factions and cultivate equality in politics.
[73] ἔτι τε πολλὰς τῶν πολιτίδων ἀπροίκους
245 ὑπαρχούσας αὐτὸν προικίσαι διὰ τὸν παρόντα πλοῦτον·
διὸ δὴ πορφύραν τε ἀνα λαβεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ στρόφιον
ἐπιθέσθαι χρυσοῦν, ὡς Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Ἀπομνημονεύμασιν·
ἔτι τε ἐμβάδας χαλκᾶς καὶ στέμμα Δελφικόν. κόμη τε ἦν
αὐτῷ βαθεῖα· καὶ παῖδες ἀκόλουθοι· καὶ αὐτὸς ἀεὶ
250 σκυθρωπὸς ἐφ’ ἑνὸς σχήματος ἦν. τοιοῦτος δὴ προῄει, τῶν
πολιτῶν ἐντυχόντων καὶ τοῦτο ἀξιωσάντων οἱονεὶ
βασιλείας τινὸς παράσημον. ὕστερον δὲ διά τινα πανήγυριν
πορευόμενον ἐπ’ ἀμάξης ὡς εἰς Μεσσήνην πεσεῖν καὶ τὸν
μηρὸν κλάσαι· νοσήσαντα δ’ ἐκ τούτου τελευτῆσαι ἐτῶν
255 ἑπτὰ καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα. εἶναι δ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ τάφον ἐν
Μεγάροις.
73 Moreover, from his abundant means he bestowed dowries upon many of the maidens of the city who had no dowry. No doubt it was the same means that enabled him to don a purple robe and over it a golden girdle, as Favorinus relates in his Memorabilia, and again slippers of bronze and a Delphic laurel-wreath. He had thick hair, and a train of boy attendants. He himself was always grave, and kept this gravity of demeanour unshaken. In such sort would he appear in public; when the citizens met him, they recognized in this demeanour the stamp, as it were, of royalty. But afterwards, as he was going in a carriage to Messene to attend some festival, he fell and broke his thigh; this brought an illness which caused his death at the age of seventy-seven. Moreover, his tomb is in Megara.
[74] περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐτῶν Ἀριστοτέλης διαφέρεται· φησὶ γὰρ
ἐκεῖνος ἑξήκοντα ἐτῶν αὐτὸν τελευτῆσαι· οἱ δὲ ἐννέα καὶ
ἑκατόν. ἤκμαζε δὲ κατὰ τὴν τετάρτην καὶ ὀγδοηκοστὴν
260 Ὀλυμπιάδα. Δημήτριος δ’ ὁ Τροιζήνιος ἐν τῷ Κατὰ
σοφιστῶν βιβλίῳ φησὶν αὐτὸν καθ’ Ὅμηρον
ἁψάμενον βρόχον αἰπὺν ἀφ’ ὑψηλοῖο κρανείης
αὐχέν’ ἀποκρεμάσαι, ψυχὴν <δ’> Ἀι¨δόσδε κατελθεῖν.
ἐν δὲ τῷ προειρημένῳ Τηλαύγους ἐπιστολίῳ λέγεται
265 αὐτὸν εἰς θάλατταν ὑπὸ γήρως ὀλισθόντα τελευτῆσαι. καὶ
ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοσαῦτα.
φέρεται δὲ καὶ ἡμῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ Παμμέτρῳ
σκωπτικὸν μέν, τοῦτον δ’ ἔχον τὸν τρόπον·
74 As to his age, Aristotle’s account is different, for he makes him to have been sixty when he died; while others make him one hundred and nine. He flourished in the 84th Olympiad.a Demetrius of Troezen in his pamphlet Against the Sophists said of him, adapting the words of Homer:
He tied a noose that hung aloft from a tall cornel-tree and thrust his neck into it, and his soul went down to Hades.
In the short letter of Telauges which was mentioned above c it is stated that by reason of his age he slipped into the sea and was drowned. Thus and thus much of his death. There is an epigram of my own on him in my
Pammetros in a satirical vein, as follows:
[75] καὶ σύ ποτ’, Ἐμπεδόκλεις, διερῇ φλογὶ σῶμα καθήρας
270 πῦρ ἀπὸ κρατήρων ἔκπιες ἀθανάτων·
οὐκ ἐρέω δ’ ὅτι σαυτὸν ἑκὼν βάλες ἐς ῥόον Αἴτνης,
ἀλλὰ λαθεῖν ἐθέλων ἔμπεσες οὐκ ἐθέλων.
καὶ ἄλλο·
ναὶ μὴν Ἐμπεδοκλῆα θανεῖν λόγος ὥς ποτ’ ἀμάξης
ἔκπεσε καὶ μηρὸν κλάσσατο δεξιτερόν· 275
εἰ δὲ πυρὸς κρατῆρας ἐσήλατο καὶ πίε τὸ ζῆν,
πῶς ἂν ἔτ’ ἐν Μεγάροις δείκνυτο τοῦδε τάφος;
75 Thou, Empedocles, didst cleanse thy body with nimble flame, fire didst thou drink from everlasting- bowls. I will not say that of thine own will thou didst hurl thyself into the stream of Etna : thou didst fall in against thy will when thou wouldst fain not have been found out.
And another:
Verily there is a tale about the death of Empedocles, how that once he fell from a carriage and broke his right thigh. But if he leapt into the bowls of fire and so took a draught of life, how was it that his tomb was shown still in Megara ?
[76] ἐδόκει δὲ αὐτῷ τάδε· στοιχεῖα μὲν εἶναι τέτταρα,
πῦρ, ὕδωρ, γῆν, ἀέρα· Φιλίαν τε ᾗ συγκρίνεται καὶ Νεῖκος ᾧ
280 διακρίνεται. φησὶ δ’ οὕτω·
Ζεὺς ἀργὴς Ἥρη τε φερέσβιος ἠδ’ Ἀι¨δωνεὺς
Νῆστίς θ’, ἣ δακρύοις τέγγει κρούνωμα βρότειον·
Δία μὲν τὸ πῦρ λέγων, Ἥρην δὲ τὴν γῆν, Ἀι¨δωνέα δὲ τὸν
ἀέρα, Νῆστιν δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ.
285 ‘καὶ ταῦτα,’ φησίν, ‘ἀλλαττόμενα διαμπερὲς οὐδαμοῦ
λήγει,’ ὡς ἂν ἀι¨δίου τῆς τοιαύτης διακοσμήσεως οὔσης·
ἐπιφέρει γοῦν·
ἄλλοτε μὲν Φιλότητι συνερχόμεν’ εἰς ἓν ἅπαντα,
ἄλλοτε δ’ αὖ δίχ’ ἕκαστα φορεύμενα Νείκεος ἔχθει.
76 His doctrines were as follows, that there are four elements, fire, water, earth and air, besides friendship by which these are united, and strife by which they are separated. These are his words:
Shining Zeus and life-bringing Hera, Aidoneus and Nestis, who lets flow from her tears the source of mortal life,
where by Zeus he means fire, by Hera earth, by Aidoneus air, and by Nestis water.
“And their continuous change,” he says, “never ceases,” as if this ordering of things were eternal. At all events he goes on:
At one time all things uniting in one through Love, at another each carried in a different direction through the hatred born of strife.
290 [77] καὶ τὸν μὲν ἥλιόν φησι πυρὸς ἄθροισμα μέγα καὶ τῆς
σελήνης μείζω· τὴν δὲ σελήνην δισκοειδῆ, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν
οὐρανὸν κρυσταλλοειδῆ. καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν παντοῖα εἴδη ζῴων
καὶ φυτῶν ἐνδύεσθαι· φησὶ γοῦν·
ἤδη γάρ ποτ’ ἐγὼ γενόμην κοῦρός τε κόρη τε
295 θάμνος τ’ οἰωνός τε καὶ ἔξαλος ἔμπυρος ἰχθύς.
τὰ μὲν οὖν Περὶ φύσεως αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ Καθαρμοὶ εἰς ἔπη
τείνουσι πεντακισχίλια, ὁ δὲ Ἰατρικὸς λόγος εἰς ἔπη
ἑξακόσια. περὶ δὲ τῶν τραγῳδιῶν προειρήκαμεν.
77 The sun he calls a vast collection of fire and larger than the moon; the moon, he says, is of the shape of a quoit, and the heaven itself crystalline. The soul, again, assumes all the various forms of animals and plants. At any rate he says:
Before now I was born a boy and a maid, a bush and a bird, and a dumb fish leaping out of the sea.
His poems On Nature and Purifications run to 5000 lines, his Discourse on Medicine to 600. Of his tragedies we have spoken above.