Chapter 24

Evolution of animals.

116. The fragments which deal with the evolution of animals (57-62) must be understood in the light of the statement (fr.17) that there is a double coming into being and a double passing away of mortal things. Empedokles describes two processes of evolution, which take exactly opposite courses, one of thembelonging to the period of Love and the other to that of Strife. The four stages of this double evolution are accurately distinguished in a passage of Aetios,[621]and we shall see that there is evidence for referring two of them to the second period of the world’s history and two to the fourth.

The first stage is that in which the various parts of animals arise separately. It is that of heads without necks, arms without shoulders, and eyes without foreheads (fr.57). It is clear that this must be the first stage in what we have called the fourth period of the world’s history, that in which Love is coming in and Strife passing out. Aristotle distinctly refers it to the period of Love, by which, as we have seen, he means the period when Love is increasing.[622]It is in accordance with this that he also says these scattered members were subsequently put together by Love.[623]

The second stage is that in which the scattered limbs are united. At first, they were combined in all possible ways (fr.59). There were oxen with human heads, creatures with double faces and double breasts, and all manner of monsters (fr.61). Those of them that were fitted to survive did so, while the rest perished. That is how the evolution of animals took place in the period of Love.[624]

The third stage belongs to the period when the unity of the Sphere is being destroyed by Strife. It is, therefore, the first stage in the evolution of our present world. It begins with “whole-natured forms” in which there is not as yet any distinction of sex or species.[625]They are composed of earth and water, and are produced by the upward motion of fire which is seeking to reach its like.

In the fourth stage, the sexes and species have been separated, and new animals no longer arise from the elements, but are produced by generation. We shall see presently how Empedokles conceived this to operate.

In both these processes of evolution, Empedokles was guided by the idea of the survival of the fittest. Aristotle severely criticises this. “We may suppose,” he says, “that all things have fallen out accidentally just as they would have done if they had been produced for some end. Certain things have been preserved because they had spontaneously acquired a fitting structure, while those which were not so put together have perished and are perishing, as Empedokles says of the oxen with human faces.”[626]This, according to Aristotle, leaves too much to chance. One curious instance has been preserved. Vertebration was explained by saying that an early invertebrate animal tried to turn round and broke its back in so doing. This was a favourable variation and so survived.[627]It should be noted that it clearly belongs to the period of Strife, and not, likethe oxen with human heads, to that of Love. The survival of the fittest was the law of both processes of evolution.

117. The distinction of the sexes was an important result of the gradual differentiation brought about by the entrance of Strife into the world. Empedokles differed from the theory given by Parmenides in his Second Part (§ 95) in holding that the warm element preponderated in the male sex, and that males were conceived in the warmer part of the uterus (fr.65). The fœtus was formed partly from the male and partly from the female semen (fr.63); and it was just the fact that the substance of a new being’s body was divided between the male and the female that produced desire when the two were brought together by sight (fr.64). A certain symmetry of the pores in the male and female semen is, of course, necessary for procreation, and from its absence Empedokles explained the sterility of mules. The children most resemble that parent who contributed most to their formation. The influence of statues and pictures was also noted, however, as modifying the appearance of the offspring. Twins and triplets were due to a superabundance and division of the semen.[628]

As to the growth of the fœtus in the uterus, Empedokles held that it was enveloped in a membrane, and that its formation began on the thirty-sixth day and was completed on the forty-ninth. The heart was formed first, the nails and such things last. Respiration did not begin till the time of birth, when the fluids round the fœtus were withdrawn. Birth took place in the ninth or seventh month, because the day hadbeen originally nine months long, and afterwards seven. Milk arises on the tenth day of the eighth month (fr.68).[629]

Death was the final separation by Strife of the fire and earth in the body, each of which had all along been striving to “reach its own kind.” Sleep was a temporary separation to a certain extent of the fiery element.[630]At death the animal is resolved into its elements, which perhaps enter into fresh combinations, perhaps become permanently united with “their own kind.” There can be no question here of an immortal soul.

Even in life, we may see the attraction of like to like operating in animals just as it did in the upward and downward growth of plants. Hair is the same thing as foliage (fr.82); and, generally speaking, the fiery part of animals tends upwards and the earthy part downwards, though there are exceptions, as may be seen in the case of certain shell-fish (fr.76), where the earthy part is above. These exceptions are only possible because there is still a great deal of Love in the world. We also see the attraction of like for like in the different habits of the various species of animals. Those that have most fire in them fly up into the air; those in which earth preponderates take to the earth, as did the dog which always sat upon a tile.[631]Aquatic animals are those in which water predominates. This does not, however, apply to fishes, which are very fiery, and take to the water to cool themselves.[632]

Empedokles paid great attention to the subject of respiration, and his very ingenious explanation of it has been preserved in a continuous form (fr.100). We breathe, he held, through all the pores of the skin, not merely through the organs of respiration. The cause of the alternate inspiration and expiration of the breath was the movement of the blood from the heart to the surface of the body and back again, which was explained by theklepsydra.

The nutrition and growth of animals is, of course, to be explained from the attraction of like to like. Each part of the body has pores into which the appropriate food will fit. Pleasure and pain were derived from the absence or presence of like elements, that is, of nourishment which would fit the pores. Tears and sweat arose from a disturbance which curdled the blood; they were, so to say, the whey of the blood.[633]

Perception.

118. For the theory of perception held by Empedokles we have the original words of Theophrastos:—

Empedokles speaks in the same way of all the senses, and says that perception is due to the “effluences” fitting into the passages of each sense. And that is why one cannot judge the objects of another; for the passages of some of them are too wide and those of others too narrow for the sensible object, so that the latter either goes through without touching or cannot enter at all. R. P. 177 b.He tries, too, to explain the nature of sight. He says that the interior of the eye consists of fire, while round about it is earth and air,[634]through which its rarity enables the fire to pass like the light in lanterns (fr.84). The passages of thefire and water are arranged alternately; through those of the fire we perceive light objects, through those of the water, dark; each class of objects fits into each class of passages, and the colours are carried to the sight by effluence. R. P.ib.But eyes are not all composed in the same way; some are composed of like elements and some of opposite; some have the fire in the centre and some on the outside. That is why some animals are keen-sighted by day and others by night. Those which have less fire are keen-sighted in the daytime, for the fire within is brought up to an equality by that without; those which have less of the opposite (i.e.water), by night, for then their deficiency is supplemented. But, in the opposite case, each will behave in the opposite manner. Those eyes in which fire predominates will be dazzled in the daytime, since the fire being still further increased will stop up and occupy the pores of the water. Those in which water predominates will, he says, suffer the same at night, for the fire will be obstructed by the water. And this goes on till the water is separated off by the air, for in each case it is the opposite which is a remedy. The best tempered and the most excellent vision is one composed of both in equal proportions. This is practically what he says about sight.Hearing, he holds, is produced by sound outside, when the air moved by the voice sounds inside the ear; for the sense of hearing is a sort of bell sounding inside the ear, which he calls a “fleshy sprout.” When the air is set in motion it strikes upon the solid parts and produces a sound.[635]Smell, he holds, arises from respiration, and that is why those smell most keenly whose breath has the most violent motion, and why most smell comes from subtle and light bodies.[636]As to touch and taste, he does not lay down how nor by means of what they arise, except that he gives us an explanation applicable to all, that sensation is produced by adaptation to the pores. Pleasure is produced by what is like in its elements and their mixture; pain, by what is opposite. R. P.ib.And he gives a precisely similar account of thought and ignorance. Thought arises from what is like and ignorance from what is unlike, thus implying that thought is the same, or nearly the same, as perception. For after enumerating how we know each thing by means of itself, he adds, “for all things are fashioned and fitted together out of these, and it is by these men think and feel pleasure and pain” (fr.107). And for this reason we think chiefly with our blood, for in it of all parts of the body all the elements are most completely mingled. R. P. 178.All, then, in whom the mixture is equal or nearly so, and in whom the elements are neither at too great intervals nor too small or too large, are the wisest and have the most exact perceptions; and those who come next to them are wise in proportion. Those who are in the opposite condition are the most foolish. Those whose elements are separated by intervals and rare are dull and laborious; those in whom they are closely packed and broken into minute particles are impulsive, they attempt many things and finish few because of the rapidity with which their blood moves. Those who have a well-proportioned mixture in some one part of their bodies will be clever in that respect. That is why some are good orators and some good artificers. The latter have a good mixture in their hands, and the former in their tongues, and so with all other special capacities. R. P.ib.

He tries, too, to explain the nature of sight. He says that the interior of the eye consists of fire, while round about it is earth and air,[634]through which its rarity enables the fire to pass like the light in lanterns (fr.84). The passages of thefire and water are arranged alternately; through those of the fire we perceive light objects, through those of the water, dark; each class of objects fits into each class of passages, and the colours are carried to the sight by effluence. R. P.ib.

But eyes are not all composed in the same way; some are composed of like elements and some of opposite; some have the fire in the centre and some on the outside. That is why some animals are keen-sighted by day and others by night. Those which have less fire are keen-sighted in the daytime, for the fire within is brought up to an equality by that without; those which have less of the opposite (i.e.water), by night, for then their deficiency is supplemented. But, in the opposite case, each will behave in the opposite manner. Those eyes in which fire predominates will be dazzled in the daytime, since the fire being still further increased will stop up and occupy the pores of the water. Those in which water predominates will, he says, suffer the same at night, for the fire will be obstructed by the water. And this goes on till the water is separated off by the air, for in each case it is the opposite which is a remedy. The best tempered and the most excellent vision is one composed of both in equal proportions. This is practically what he says about sight.

Hearing, he holds, is produced by sound outside, when the air moved by the voice sounds inside the ear; for the sense of hearing is a sort of bell sounding inside the ear, which he calls a “fleshy sprout.” When the air is set in motion it strikes upon the solid parts and produces a sound.[635]Smell, he holds, arises from respiration, and that is why those smell most keenly whose breath has the most violent motion, and why most smell comes from subtle and light bodies.[636]As to touch and taste, he does not lay down how nor by means of what they arise, except that he gives us an explanation applicable to all, that sensation is produced by adaptation to the pores. Pleasure is produced by what is like in its elements and their mixture; pain, by what is opposite. R. P.ib.

And he gives a precisely similar account of thought and ignorance. Thought arises from what is like and ignorance from what is unlike, thus implying that thought is the same, or nearly the same, as perception. For after enumerating how we know each thing by means of itself, he adds, “for all things are fashioned and fitted together out of these, and it is by these men think and feel pleasure and pain” (fr.107). And for this reason we think chiefly with our blood, for in it of all parts of the body all the elements are most completely mingled. R. P. 178.

All, then, in whom the mixture is equal or nearly so, and in whom the elements are neither at too great intervals nor too small or too large, are the wisest and have the most exact perceptions; and those who come next to them are wise in proportion. Those who are in the opposite condition are the most foolish. Those whose elements are separated by intervals and rare are dull and laborious; those in whom they are closely packed and broken into minute particles are impulsive, they attempt many things and finish few because of the rapidity with which their blood moves. Those who have a well-proportioned mixture in some one part of their bodies will be clever in that respect. That is why some are good orators and some good artificers. The latter have a good mixture in their hands, and the former in their tongues, and so with all other special capacities. R. P.ib.

Perception, then, is due to the meeting of an element in us with the same element outside. This takes place when the pores of the organ of sense are neither too large nor too small for the “effluences” which all things are constantly giving off (fr.89). Smell was explained by respiration. The breath drew in along with it the small particles which fit into the pores. From Aetios[637]we learn that Empedokles proved this by the example of people with a cold in their head, who cannot smell, just because they have a difficultyin breathing. We also see from fr.101that the scent of dogs was referred to in support of the theory. Empedokles seems to have given no detailed account of smell, and did not refer to touch at all.[638]Hearing was explained by the motion of the air which struck upon the cartilage inside the ear and made it swing and sound like a bell.[639]

The theory of vision[640]is more complicated; and, as Plato adopted most of it, it is of great importance in the history of philosophy. The eye was conceived, as by Alkmaion (§ 96),[641]to be composed of fire and water. Just as in a lantern the flame is protected from the wind by horn (fr.84), so the fire in the iris is protected from the water which surrounds it in the pupil by membranes with very fine pores, so that, while the fire can pass out, the water cannot get in. Sight is produced by the fire inside the eye going forth to meet the object. This seems strange to us, because we are accustomed to the idea of images being impressed upon the retina. Butlookingat a thing no doubt seemed much more like an action proceeding from the eye than a mere passive state.

He was quite aware, too, that “effluences,” as he called them, came from things to the eyes as well; for he defined colours as “effluences from forms (or ‘things’) fitting into the pores and perceived.”[642]It is not quite clear how these two accounts of vision were reconciled, or how far we are entitled to credit Empedokles with the Platonic theory. The statementswhich have been quoted seem to imply something very like it.[643]

Theophrastos tells us that Empedokles made no distinction between thought and perception, a remark already made by Aristotle.[644]The chief seat of perception was the blood, in which the four elements are most evenly mixed, and especially the blood near the heart (fr.105).[645]This does not, however, exclude the idea that other parts of the body may perceive also; indeed, Empedokles held that all things have their share of thought (fr.103). But the blood was specially sensitive because of its finer mixture.[646]From this it naturally follows that Empedokles adopted the view, already maintained in the Second Part of the poem of Parmenides (fr.16), that our knowledge varies with the varying constitution of our bodies (fr.106). This consideration became very important later on as one of the foundations of scepticism; but Empedokles himself only drew from it the conclusion that we must make the best use we can of our senses, and check one by the other (fr.4).

Theology and religion.

119. The theoretical theology of Empedokles reminds us of Xenophanes, his practical religious teaching of Pythagoras and the Orphics. We are told in the earlier part of the poem that certain “gods” are composed of the elements; and that therefore thoughthey “live long lives” they must pass away (fr.21). We have seen that the elements and the Sphere are also called gods, but that is in quite another sense of the word.

If we turn to the religious teaching of thePurifications, we find that everything turns on the doctrine of transmigration. On the general significance of this enough has been said above (§ 42); the details given by Empedokles are peculiar. According to a decree of Necessity, “daemons” who have sinned are forced to wander from their home in heaven for three times ten thousand seasons (fr.115). He himself is such an exiled divinity, and has fallen from his high estate because he put his trust in raving Strife. The four elements toss him from one to the other with loathing; and so he has not only been a human being and a plant, but even a fish. The only way to purify oneself from the taint of original sin was by the cultivation of ceremonial holiness, by purifications, and abstinence from animal flesh. For the animals are our kinsmen (fr.137), and it is parricide to lay hands on them. In all this there are, no doubt, certain points of contact with the cosmology. We have the “mighty oath” (fr.115; cf. fr.30), the four elements, Hate as the source of original sin, and Kypris as queen in the Golden Age (fr.128). But these points are neither fundamental nor of great importance. And it cannot be denied that there are really contradictions between the two poems. That, however, is just what we should expect to find. All through this period, there seems to have been a gulf between men’s religious beliefs, if they had any, and their cosmological views. The few points of contact which we have mentioned may have been sufficient to hide this from Empedokles himself.

501. Aet. i. 3, 20 (R. P. 164), Apollodorosap.Diog. viii. 52 (R. P. 162). The details of the life of Empedokles are discussed, with a careful criticism of the sources, by Bidez,La biographie d’Empédocle(Gand, 1894).

502. For this we have the authority of Apollodoros (Diog. viii. 51, 52; R. P. 162), who follows theOlympic Victorsof Eratosthenes, who in turn appealed to Aristotle. Herakleides of Pontos, in his Περὶ νόσων (see below, p. 233,n.520), spoke of the elder Empedokles as a “breeder of horses” (R. P. 162 a); and Timaios mentioned him as a distinguished man in his Fifteenth Book.

503. Glaukos wrote Περὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν καὶ μουσικῶν, and is said to have been contemporary with Demokritos (Diog. ix. 38). Apollodoros adds (R. P. 162) that, according to Aristotle and Herakleides, Empedokles died at the age of sixty. It is to be observed, however, that the words ἔτι δ’ Ἡρακλείδης are Sturz’s conjecture, the MSS. having ἔτι δ’ Ἡράκλειτον, and Diogenes certainly said (ix. 3) that Herakleitos lived sixty years. On the other hand, if the statement of Aristotle comes from the Περὶ ποιητῶν, it is not obvious why he should mention Herakleitos at all; and Herakleides was one of the chief sources for the biography of Empedokles.

504. See Diels,“Empedokles und Gorgias,” 2 (Berl. Sitzb., 1884). Theophrastos said that Empedokles was born “not long after Anaxagoras” (Dox.p. 477, 17); and Alkidamas made him the fellow-pupil of Zeno under Parmenides, and the teacher of Gorgias (see below, p. 231,n. 5). Now Gorgias was a little older than Antiphon (b.Ol. LXX.), so it is clear we must go backat leastto 490B.C.for the birth of Empedokles.

505. E. Meyer,Gesch. des Alterth.ii. p. 508.

506. He is called γραοσυλλέκτρια in Souidas,s.v.The view taken in the text as to the value of his evidence is that of Holm.

507. Timaiosap.Diog. viii. 64 (F.H.G.i. p. 214, fr. 88 a).

508. In the first edition, I suggested the analogy of accusations forincivisme. Bidez says (p. 127),“J’imagine qu’un Jacobin aurait mieux jugé l’histoire”(than Karsten and Holm);“sous la Terreur, on était suspect pour de moindres vétilles.”

509. Diog. viii. 65. The epigram runs thus:ἄκρον ἰητρὸν Ἄκρων’ Ἀκραγαντῖνον πατρὸς Ἄκρουκρύπτει κρημνὸς ἄκρος πατρίδος ἀκροτάτης.On Akron, see M. Wellmann,op. cit.p. 235, n. 1.

509. Diog. viii. 65. The epigram runs thus:

ἄκρον ἰητρὸν Ἄκρων’ Ἀκραγαντῖνον πατρὸς Ἄκρουκρύπτει κρημνὸς ἄκρος πατρίδος ἀκροτάτης.

ἄκρον ἰητρὸν Ἄκρων’ Ἀκραγαντῖνον πατρὸς Ἄκρου

κρύπτει κρημνὸς ἄκρος πατρίδος ἀκροτάτης.

On Akron, see M. Wellmann,op. cit.p. 235, n. 1.

510. Diog. viii. 66, ὕστερον δ’ ὁ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς καὶ τὸ τῶν χιλίων ἄθροισμα κατέλυσε συνεστὼς ἐπὶ ἔτη τρία. The word ἄθροισμα hardly suggests a legal council, and συνίστασθαι suggests a conspiracy.

511. Diog. viii. 63. Aristotle probably mentioned this in hisSophist.Cf. Diog. viii. 57.

512. Diog. viii. 59 (R. P. 162). Satyros probably followed Alkidamas. Diels suggests (Emp. u. Gorg.p. 358) that the φυσικός of Alkidamas was a dialogue in which Gorgias was the chief speaker. In that case, the statement would have little historical value.

513. See Bidez, p. 115, n. 1.

514. O. Kern,“Empedokles und die Orphiker”(Arch.i. pp. 489 sqq.). For theRhapsodic Theogony, see Introd. p. 9,n.10.

515. See below, notein loc.

516. Diog. viii. 54 (R. P. 162).

517. See below, notein loc.

518. The latter view is that of Bidez (pp. 161 sqq.); but Diels has shown (Berl. Sitzb., 1898, pp. 406 sqq.) that the former is psychologically more probable.

519. I follow the wilder form of the story given by Diog. viii. 60, and not the rationalised version of Plutarch (adv. Col.1126 b). The epithets ἀλεξανέμας and κωλυσανέμας were perhaps bestowed by some sillographer in mockery; cf. ἀνεμοκοίτης.

520. The Περὶ νόσων of Herakleides, from which it is derived, seems to have been a sort of medico-philosophical romance. The words are (Diog. viii. 60): Ἡρακλείδης τε ἐν τῷ Περὶ νόσων φησὶ καὶ Παυσανίᾳ ὑφηγήσασθαι αὐτὸν τὰ περὶ τὴν ἄπνουν. It was a case of hysterical suffocation.

521. For these coins see Head,Historia Numorum, pp. 147 sqq.

522. Diog. viii. 57 (R. P. 162 g).

523. Galen, x. 5, ἤριζον δ’ αὐτοῖς (the schools of Kos and Knidos) ... καὶ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἰατροί, Φιλιστίων τε καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς καὶ Παυσανίας καὶ οἱ τούτων ἑταῖροι κ.τ.λ. Philistion was the contemporary and friend of Plato; Pausanias is the disciple to whom Empedokles addressed his poem.

524. See Diels,“Empedokles und Gorgias”(Berl. Sitzb., 1884, pp. 343 sqq.). The oldest authority for saying that Gorgias was a disciple of Empedokles is Satyrosap.Diog. viii. 58 (R. P. 162); but he seems to have derived his information from Alkidamas, who was the disciple of Gorgias himself. In Plato’sMeno(76 c 4-8) the Empedoklean theory of effluvia and pores is ascribed to Gorgias.

525. Diels (Berl. Sitzb., 1884, p. 343).

526. See M. Wellmann,Fragmentsammlung der griechischen Ärtzte, vol. i. (Berlin, 1901). According to Wellmann, both Plato (in theTimaeus) and Diokles of Karystos depend upon Philistion. It is impossible to understand the history of philosophy from this point onwards without keeping the history of medicine constantly in view.

527. For the four elements, cf. Anon. Lond. xx. 25 (Menon’sIatrika), Φιλιστίων δ’ οἴεται ἐκ δʹ ἰδεῶν συνεστάναι ἡμᾶς, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἐκ δʹ στοιχείων· πυρός, ἀέρος, ὕδατος, γῆς. εἶναι δὲ καὶ ἑκάστου δυνάμεις, τοῦ μὲν πυρὸς τὸ θερμόν, τοῦ δὲ ἀέρος τὸ ψυχρόν, τοῦ δὲ ὕδατος τὸ ὑγρόν, τῆς δὲ γῆς τὸ ξηρόν. For the theory of respiration, see Wellmann, pp. 82 sqq.; and for the heart as the seat of consciousness,ib.pp. 15 sqq.

528. Hippokr. Περὶ ἰερῆς νόσου, c 1, μάγοι τε καὶ καθάρται καὶ ἀγύρται καὶ ἀλαζόνες. The whole passage should be read. Cf. Wellmann, p. 29 n.

529. Diog. viii. 54-56 (R. P. 162).

530. Diels,Verhandl. d. 35 Philologenversamml.pp. 104 sqq., Zeller, p. 767. It would be fatal to the main thesis of the next few chapters if it could be proved that Empedokles was influenced by Leukippos. I hope to show that Leukippos was influenced by the later Pythagorean doctrine (Chap. IX.§ 171), which was in turn affected by Empedokles (Chap. VII.§ 147).

531. For πόροι in Alkmaion, cf. Arist.de Gen. An.Β, 6. 744 a 8; Theophr.de sens.26; and for the way in which his embryological and other views were transmitted through Empedokles to the Ionian physicists, cf. Fredrich,Hippokratische Untersuchungen, pp. 126 sqq.

532. R. P. 162 h. The story is always told with a hostile purpose.

533. R. P.ib.This was the story told by Herakleides of Pontos, at the end of his romance about the ἄπνους.

534. Timaios took the trouble to refute the common stories at some length (Diog. viii. 71 sqq.; R. P.ib.). He was quite positive that Empedokles never returned to Sicily. Nothing can be more likely than that, when wandering as an exile in the Peloponnese, he should have seized the opportunity of joining the colony at Thourioi, which was a harbour for many of the “sophists” of this time.

535. See Chap. IV.§ 85.

536. Lucr. i. 716 sqq.

537.Poet.1. 1447 b 18; cf. Diog. viii. 57 (R. P. 162 i).

538. Diog. viii. 77 (R. P. 162); Souidass.v.Ἐμπεδοκλῆς· καὶ ἔγραψε δι’ ἐπῶν Περὶ φύσεως τῶν ὄντων βιβλία βʹ, καὶ ἔστιν ἔπη ὡς δισχίλια. It hardly seems likely, however, that the Καθαρμοί extended to 3000 verses, so Diels proposes to read πάντα τρισχίλια for πεντακισχίλια in Diogenes. It is to be observed that there is no better authority than Tzetzes for dividing the Περὶ φύσεως into three books. See Diels,“Über die Gedichte des Empedokles” (Berl. Sitzb., 1898, pp. 396 sqq.).

539. Hieronymos of Rhodes declared (Diog. viii. 58) that he had met with forty-three of these tragedies; but see Stein, pp. 5 sqq. The poem on the Persian Wars, which Hieronymos also refers to (Diog. viii. 57), seems to have arisen from an old corruption in the text of Arist.Probl.929 b 16, where Bekker still reads ἐν τοῖς Περσικοῖς. The same passage, however, is said to occur ἐν τοῖς φυσικοῖς, inMeteor.Δ, 4. 382 a 1, though there too E reads Περσικοῖς.

540. The MSS. of Sextus have ζωῆσι βίου. Diels reads ζωῆς ἰδίου. I still prefer Scaliger’s ζωῆς ἀβίου. Cf. fr. 15, τὸ δὴ βίοτον καλέουσι.

541. The person here addressed is still Pausanias, and the speaker Empedokles. Cf. fr.111.

542. No doubt mainly Parmenides.

543. The sense of taste, not speech.

544. Zeller in his earlier editions retained the full stop after νοῆσαι, thus getting almost the opposite sense: “Withhold all confidence in thy bodily senses”; but he admits in his fifth edition (p. 804, n. 2) that the context is in favour of Stein, who put only a comma at νοῆσαι and took ἄλλων closely with γυίων. So too Diels. The paraphrase given by Sextus (R. P.ib.) is substantially right.

545. There is no difficulty in the MS. διατμηθέντος if we take λόγοιο as “discourse,” “argument” (cf. διαιρεῖν). Diels conjectures διασσηθέντος, rendering “when their words have passed through the sieve of thy mind.” Nor does it seem to me necessary to read χαρτά for κάρτα in the first line.

546. The four elements are introduced under mythological names, for which see below, p. 264,n.583. Diels is clearly right in removing the comma after τέγγει, and renderingNestis quae lacrimis suis laticem fundit mortalibus destinatum.

547. Reading μετὰ τοῖσιν. I still think, however, that Knatz’s palaeographically admirable conjuncture μετὰ θεοῖσιν (i.e.among the elements) deserves consideration.

548. Keeping ἄλλοτε with Diels.

549. Reading ἄμβροτα δ’ ὅσσ’ ἴδει with Diels. For the word ἶδος, cf. frs. 62, 5; 73, 2. The reference is to the moon, etc., which are made of solidified Air, and receive their light from the fiery hemisphere. See below,§ 113.

550. Reading with Blass (Jahrb. f. kl. Phil., 1883, p. 19):οὕτω μή σ’ ἀπάτη φρένα καινύτω κ.τ.λ.Cf. Hesychios: καινύτω· νικάτω. This is practically what the MSS. of Simplicius give, and Hesychios has many Empedoklean glosses.

550. Reading with Blass (Jahrb. f. kl. Phil., 1883, p. 19):

οὕτω μή σ’ ἀπάτη φρένα καινύτω κ.τ.λ.

Cf. Hesychios: καινύτω· νικάτω. This is practically what the MSS. of Simplicius give, and Hesychios has many Empedoklean glosses.

551. The “goddess” is, of course, the Muse. Cf. fr.5.

552. The word μονίῃ, if it is right, cannot mean “rest,” but only solitude. There is no reason for altering περιηγέι, though Simplicius has περιγηθέι.

553. The masculine καλλήσας shows that the subject cannot have been Φιλότης; and Karsten was doubtless right in believing that Empedokles introduced the simile of a baker here. It is in his manner to take illustrations from human arts.

554. The MSS. of Clement have ἥλιον ἀρχήν and the reading ἡλίου ἀρχήν is a mere makeshift. Diels reads ἥλικά τ’ ἀρχήν, “the first (elements) equal in age.”

555. The lines are referred to Xenophanes by Aristotle, who quotes themde Caelo, Β, 13. 294 a 21. See above, Chap. II. p.137.

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