Plato’s Timaeus

Characters: Critias (Crit.), Socrates (Soc.), Timaeus (Tim.)

…

[SECTION ONE]

Crit. Let me proceed to explain to you, Socrates, the order in which we have arranged our entertainment. Our intention is, that Timaeus, who is the most of an astronomer amongst us, and has made the nature of the universe his special study, should speak first, beginning with the generation of the world and going down to the creation of man; next, I am to receive the men whom he has created of whom some will have profited by the excellent education which you have given them; and then, in accordance with the tale of Solon, and equally with his law, we will bring them into court and make them citizens, as if they were those very Athenians whom the sacred Egyptian record has recovered from oblivion, and thenceforward we will speak of them as Athenians and fellow-citizens.

Soc. I see that I shall receive in my turn a perfect and splendid feast of reason. And now, Timaeus, you, I suppose, should speak next, after duly calling upon the Gods.

Tim. All men, Socrates, who have any degree of right feeling, at the beginning of every enterprise, whether small or great, always call upon God. And we, too, who are going to discourse of the nature of the universe, how created or how existing without creation, if we be not altogether out of our wits, must invoke the aid of Gods and Goddesses and pray that our words may be acceptable to them and consistent with themselves. Let this, then, be our invocation of the Gods, to which I add an exhortation of myself to speak in such manner as will be most intelligible to you, and will most accord with my own intent.

First then, in my judgment, we must make a distinction and ask, What is that which always is and has no becoming; and what is that which is always becoming and never is? That which is apprehended by intelligence and reason is always in the same state; but that which is conceived by opinion with the help of sensation and without reason, is always in a process of becoming and perishing and never really is. Now everything that becomes or is created must of necessity be created by some cause, for without a cause nothing can be created. The work of the creator, whenever he looks to the unchangeable and fashions the form and nature of his work after an unchangeable pattern, must necessarily be made fair and perfect; but when he looks to the created only, and uses a created pattern, it is not fair or perfect. Was the heaven then or the world, whether called by this or by any other more appropriate name-assuming the name, I am asking a question which has to be asked at the beginning of an enquiry about anything-was the world, I say, always in existence and without beginning? or created, and had it a beginning? Created, I reply, being visible and tangible and having a body, and therefore sensible; and all sensible things are apprehended by opinion and sense and are in a process of creation and created. Now that which is created must, as we affirm, of necessity be created by a cause. But the father and maker of all this universe is past finding out; and even if we found him, to tell of him to all men would be impossible. And there is still a question to be asked about him: Which of the patterns had the artificer in view when he made the world-the pattern of the unchangeable, or of that which is created? If the world be indeed fair and the artificer good, it is manifest that he must have looked to that which is eternal; but if what cannot be said without blasphemy is true, then to the created pattern. Every one will see that he must have looked to, the eternal; for the world is the fairest of creations and he is the best of causes. And having been created in this way, the world has been framed in the likeness of that which is apprehended by reason and mind and is unchangeable, and must therefore of necessity, if this is admitted, be a copy of something. Now it is all-important that the beginning of everything should be according to nature. And in speaking of the copy and the original we may assume that words are akin to the matter which they describe; when they relate to the lasting and permanent and intelligible, they ought to be lasting and unalterable, and, as far as their nature allows, irrefutable and immovable-nothing less. But when they express only the copy or likeness and not the eternal things themselves, they need only be likely and analogous to the real words. As being is to becoming, so is truth to belief. If then, Socrates, amid the many opinions about the gods and the generation of the universe, we are not able to give notions which are altogether and in every respect exact and consistent with one another, do not be surprised. Enough, if we adduce probabilities as likely as any others; for we must remember that I who am the speaker, and you who are the judges, are only mortal men, and we ought to accept the tale which is probable and enquire no further.

Soc. Excellent, Timaeus; and we will do precisely as you bid us. The prelude is charming, and is already accepted by us-may we beg of you to proceed to the strain?

Tim. Let me tell you then why the creator made this world of generation. He was good, and the good can never have any jealousy of anything. And being free from jealousy, he desired that all things should be as like himself as they could be. This is in the truest sense the origin of creation and of the world, as we shall do well in believing on the testimony of wise men: God desired that all things should be good and nothing bad, so far as this was attainable. Wherefore also finding the whole visible sphere not at rest, but moving in an irregular and disorderly fashion, out of disorder he brought order, considering that this was in every way better than the other. Now the deeds of the best could never be or have been other than the fairest; and the creator, reflecting on the things which are by nature visible, found that no unintelligent creature taken as a whole was fairer than the intelligent taken as a whole; and that intelligence could not be present in anything which was devoid of soul. For which reason, when he was framing the universe, he put intelligence in soul, and soul in body, that he might be the creator of a work which was by nature fairest and best. Wherefore, using the language of probability, we may say that the world became a living creature truly endowed with soul and intelligence by the providence of God.

This being supposed, let us proceed to the next stage: In the likeness of what animal did the Creator make the world? It would be an unworthy thing to liken it to any nature which exists as a part only; for nothing can be beautiful which is like any imperfect thing; but let us suppose the world to be the very image of that whole of which all other animals both individually and in their tribes are portions. For the original of the universe contains in itself all intelligible beings, just as this world comprehends us and all other visible creatures. For the Deity, intending to make this world like the fairest and most perfect of intelligible beings, framed one visible animal comprehending within itself all other animals of a kindred nature. Are we right in saying that there is one world, or that they are many and infinite? There must be one only, if the created copy is to accord with the original. For that which includes all other intelligible creatures cannot have a second or companion; in that case there would be need of another living being which would include both, and of which they would be parts, and the likeness would be more truly said to resemble not them, but that other which included them. In order then that the world might be solitary, like the perfect animal, the creator made not two worlds or an infinite number of them; but there is and ever will be one only-begotten and created heaven.

Now that which is created is of necessity corporeal, and also visible and tangible. And nothing is visible where there is no fire, or tangible which has no solidity, and nothing is solid without earth. Wherefore also God in the beginning of creation made the body of the universe to consist of fire and earth. But two things cannot be rightly put together without a third; there must be some bond of union between them. And the fairest bond is that which makes the most complete fusion of itself and the things which it combines; and proportion is best adapted to effect such a union. For whenever in any three numbers, whether cube or square, there is a mean, which is to the last term what the first term is to it; and again, when the mean is to the first term as the last term is to the mean-then the mean becoming first and last, and the first and last both becoming means, they will all of them of necessity come to be the same, and having become the same with one another will be all one. If the universal frame had been created a surface only and having no depth, a single mean would have sufficed to bind together itself and the other terms; but now, as the world must be solid, and solid bodies are always compacted not by one mean but by two, God placed water and air in the mean between fire and earth, and made them to have the same proportion so far as was possible (as fire is to air so is air to water, and as air is to water so is water to earth); and thus he bound and put together a visible and tangible heaven. And for these reasons, and out of such elements which are in number four, the body of the world was created, and it was harmonised by proportion, and therefore has the spirit of friendship; and having been reconciled to itself, it was indissoluble by the hand of any other than the framer.

Now the creation took up the whole of each of the four elements; for the Creator compounded the world out of all the fire and all the water and all the air and all the earth, leaving no part of any of them nor any power of them outside. His intention was, in the first place, that the animal should be as far as possible a perfect whole and of perfect parts: secondly, that it should be one, leaving no remnants out of which another such world might be created: and also that it should be free from old age and unaffected by disease. Considering that if heat and cold and other powerful forces which unite bodies surround and attack them from without when they are unprepared, they decompose them, and by bringing diseases and old age upon them, make them waste away-for this cause and on these grounds he made the world one whole, having every part entire, and being therefore perfect and not liable to old age and disease. And he gave to the world the figure which was suitable and also natural. Now to the animal which was to comprehend all animals, that figure was suitable which comprehends within itself all other figures. Wherefore he made the world in the form of a globe, round as from a lathe, having its extremes in every direction equidistant from the centre, the most perfect and the most like itself of all figures; for he considered that the like is infinitely fairer than the unlike. This he finished off, making the surface smooth all around for many reasons; in the first place, because the living being had no need of eyes when there was nothing remaining outside him to be seen; nor of ears when there was nothing to be heard; and there was no surrounding atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any use of organs by the help of which he might receive his food or get rid of what he had already digested, since there was nothing which went from him or came into him: for there was nothing beside him. Of design he was created thus, his own waste providing his own food, and all that he did or suffered taking place in and by himself. For the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence; and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot, within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the universe was created without legs and without feet.

Such was the whole plan of the eternal God about the god that was to be, to whom for this reason he gave a body, smooth and even, having a surface in every direction equidistant from the centre, a body entire and perfect, and formed out of perfect bodies. And in the centre he put the soul, which he diffused throughout the body, making it also to be the exterior environment of it; and he made the universe a circle moving in a circle, one and solitary, yet by reason of its excellence able to converse with itself, and needing no other friendship or acquaintance. Having these purposes in view he created the world a blessed god.

…

This entire compound he divided lengthways into two parts, which he joined to one another at the centre like the letter X, and bent them into a circular form, connecting them with themselves and each other at the point opposite to their original meeting-point; and, comprehending them in a uniform revolution upon the same axis, he made the one the outer and the other the inner circle. Now the motion of the outer circle he called the motion of the same, and the motion of the inner circle the motion of the other or diverse. The motion of the same he carried round by the side to the right, and the motion of the diverse diagonally to the left. And he gave dominion to the motion of the same and like, for that he left single and undivided; but the inner motion he divided in six places and made seven unequal circles having their intervals in ratios of two-and three, three of each, and bade the orbits proceed in a direction opposite to one another; and three [Sun, Mercury, Venus] he made to move with equal swiftness, and the remaining four [Moon, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter] to move with unequal swiftness to the three and to one another, but in due proportion.

Now when the Creator had framed the soul according to his will, he formed within her the corporeal universe, and brought the two together, and united them centre to centre. The soul, interfused everywhere from the centre to the circumference of heaven, of which also she is the external envelopment, herself turning in herself, began a divine beginning of never ceasing and rational life enduring throughout all time. The body of heaven is visible, but the soul is invisible, and partakes of reason and harmony, and being made by the best of intellectual and everlasting natures, is the best of things created. And because she is composed of the same and of the other and of the essence, these three, and is divided and united in due proportion, and in her revolutions returns upon herself, the soul, when touching anything which has essence, whether dispersed in parts or undivided, is stirred through all her powers, to declare the sameness or difference of that thing and some other; and to what individuals are related, and by what affected, and in what way and how and when, both in the world of generation and in the world of immutable being. And when reason, which works with equal truth, whether she be in the circle of the diverse or of the same-in voiceless silence holding her onward course in the sphere of the self-moved-when reason, I say, is hovering around the sensible world and when the circle of the diverse also moving truly imparts the intimations of sense to the whole soul, then arise opinions and beliefs sure and certain. But when reason is concerned with the rational, and the circle of the same moving smoothly declares it, then intelligence and knowledge are necessarily perfected. And if any one affirms that in which these two are found to be other than the soul, he will say the very opposite of the truth.

When the father creator saw the creature which he had made moving and living, the created image of the eternal gods, he rejoiced, and in his joy determined to make the copy still more like the original; and as this was eternal, he sought to make the universe eternal, so far as might be. Now the nature of the ideal being was everlasting, but to bestow this attribute in its fulness upon a creature was impossible. Wherefore he resolved to have a moving image of eternity, and when he set in order the heaven, he made this image eternal but moving according to number, while eternity itself rests in unity; and this image we call time. For there were no days and nights and months and years before the heaven was created, but when he constructed the heaven he created them also. They are all parts of time, and the past and future are created species of time, which we unconsciously but wrongly transfer to the eternal essence; for we say that he "was," he "is," he "will be," but the truth is that "is" alone is properly attributed to him, and that "was" and "will be" only to be spoken of becoming in time, for they are motions, but that which is immovably the same cannot become older or younger by time, nor ever did or has become, or hereafter will be, older or younger, nor is subject at all to any of those states which affect moving and sensible things and of which generation is the cause. These are the forms of time, which imitates eternity and revolves according to a law of number. Moreover, when we say that what has become is become and what becomes is becoming, and that what will become is about to become and that the non-existent is non-existent-all these are inaccurate modes of expression. But perhaps this whole subject will be more suitably discussed on some other occasion.

Time, then, and the heaven came into being at the same instant in order that, having been created together, if ever there was to be a dissolution of them, they might be dissolved together. It was framed after the pattern of the eternal nature, that it might resemble this as far as was possible; for the pattern exists from eternity, and the created heaven has been, and is, and will be, in all time. Such was the mind and thought of God in the creation of time. The sun and moon and five other stars, which are called the planets, were created by him in order to distinguish and preserve the numbers of time; and when he had made-their several bodies, he placed them in the orbits in which the circle of the other was revolving-in seven orbits seven stars. First, there was the moon in the orbit nearest the earth, and next the sun, in the second orbit above the earth; then came the morning star and the star sacred to Hermes, moving in orbits which have an equal swiftness with the sun, but in an opposite direction; and this is the reason why the sun and Hermes [Mercury] and Lucifer [Venus] overtake and are overtaken by each other. To enumerate the places which he assigned to the other stars, and to give all the reasons why he assigned them, although a secondary matter, would give more trouble than the primary. These things at some future time, when we are at leisure, may have the consideration which they deserve, but not at present.

Now, when all the stars which were necessary to the creation of time had attained a motion suitable to them,-and had become living creatures having bodies fastened by vital chains, and learnt their appointed task, moving in the motion of the diverse, which is diagonal, and passes through and is governed by the motion of the same, they revolved, some in a larger and some in a lesser orbit-those which had the lesser orbit revolving faster, and those which had the larger more slowly. Now by reason of the motion of the same, those which revolved fastest appeared to be overtaken by those which moved slower although they really overtook them; for the motion of the same made them all turn in a spiral, and, because some went one way and some another, that which receded most slowly from the sphere of the same, which was the swiftest, appeared to follow it most nearly. That there might be some visible measure of their relative swiftness and slowness as they proceeded in their eight courses, God lighted a fire, which we now call the sun, in the second from the earth of these orbits, that it might give light to the whole of heaven, and that the animals, as many as nature intended, might participate in number, learning arithmetic from the revolution of the same and the like. Thus then, and for this reason the night and the day were created, being the period of the one most intelligent revolution. And the month is accomplished when the moon has completed her orbit and overtaken the sun, and the year when the sun has completed his own orbit. Mankind, with hardly an exception, have not remarked the periods of the other stars, and they have no name for them, and do not measure them against one another by the help of number, and hence they can scarcely be said to know that their wanderings, being infinite in number and admirable for their variety, make up time. And yet there is no difficulty in seeing that the perfect number of time fulfils the perfect year when all the eight revolutions, having their relative degrees of swiftness, are accomplished together and attain their completion at the same time, measured by the rotation of the same and equally moving. After this manner, and for these reasons, came into being such of the stars as in their heavenly progress received reversals of motion, to the end that the created heaven might imitate the eternal nature, and be as like as possible to the perfect and intelligible animal.

…

First, then, the gods, imitating the spherical shape of the universe,

enclosed the two divine courses in a spherical body, that, namely,

which we now term the head, being the most divine part of us and the

lord of all that is in us: to this the gods, when they put together

the body, gave all the other members to be servants, considering that

it partook of every sort of motion. In order then that it might not

tumble about among the high and deep places of the earth, but might

be able to get over the one and out of the other, they provided the

body to be its vehicle and means of locomotion; which consequently

had length and was furnished with four limbs extended and flexible;

these God contrived to be instruments of locomotion with which it

might take hold and find support, and so be able to pass through all

places, carrying on high the dwelling-place of the most sacred and

divine part of us. Such was the origin of legs and hands, which for

this reason were attached to every man; and the gods, deeming the

front part of man to be more honourable and more fit to command than

the hinder part, made us to move mostly in a forward direction. Wherefore

man must needs have his front part unlike and distinguished from the

rest of his body.

…

[SECTION TWO]

Thus far in what we have been saying, with small exception, the works

of intelligence have been set forth; and now we must place by the

side of them in our discourse the things which come into being through

necessity-for the creation is mixed, being made up of necessity and

mind. Mind, the ruling power, persuaded necessity to bring the greater

part of created things to perfection, and thus and after this manner

in the beginning, when the influence of reason got the better of necessity,

the universe was created. But if a person will truly tell of the way

in which the work was accomplished, he must include the other influence

of the variable cause as well. Wherefore, we must return again and

find another suitable beginning, as about the former matters, so also

about these. To which end we must consider the nature of fire, and

water, and air, and earth, such as they were prior to the creation

of the heaven, and what was happening to them in this previous state;

for no one has as yet explained the manner of their generation, but

we speak of fire and the rest of them, whatever they mean, as though

men knew their natures, and we maintain them to be the first principles

and letters or elements of the whole, when they cannot reasonably

be compared by a man of any sense even to syllables or first compounds.

And let me say thus much: I will not now speak of the first principle

or principles of all things, or by whatever name they are to be called,

for this reason-because it is difficult to set forth my opinion according

to the method of discussion which we are at present employing. Do

not imagine, any more than I can bring myself to imagine, that I should

be right in undertaking so great and difficult a task. Remembering

what I said at first about probability, I will do my best to give

as probable an explanation as any other-or rather, more probable;

and I will first go back to the beginning and try to speak of each

thing and of all. Once more, then, at the commencement of my discourse,

I call upon God, and beg him to be our saviour out of a strange and

unwonted enquiry, and to bring us to the haven of probability. So

now let us begin again.

This new beginning of our discussion of the universe requires a fuller

division than the former; for then we made two classes, now a third

must be revealed. The two sufficed for the former discussion: one,

which we assumed, was a pattern intelligible and always the same;

and the second was only the imitation of the pattern, generated and

visible. There is also a third kind which we did not distinguish at

the time, conceiving that the two would be enough. But now the argument

seems to require that we should set forth in words another kind, which

is difficult of explanation and dimly seen. What nature are we to

attribute to this new kind of being? We reply, that it is the receptacle,

and in a manner the nurse, of all generation. I have spoken the truth;

but I must express myself in clearer language, and this will be an

arduous task for many reasons, and in particular because I must first

raise questions concerning fire and the other elements, and determine

what each of them is; for to say, with any probability or certitude,

which of them should be called water rather than fire, and which should

be called any of them rather than all or some one of them, is a difficult

matter. How, then, shall we settle this point, and what questions

about the elements may be fairly raised?

In the first place, we see that what we just now called water, by

condensation, I suppose, becomes stone and earth; and this same element,

when melted and dispersed, passes into vapour and air. Air, again,

when inflamed, becomes fire; and again fire, when condensed and extinguished,

passes once more into the form of air; and once more, air, when collected

and condensed, produces cloud and mist; and from these, when still

more compressed, comes flowing water, and from water comes earth and

stones once more; and thus generation appears to be transmitted from

one to the other in a circle. Thus, then, as the several elements

never present themselves in the same form, how can any one have the

assurance to assert positively that any of them, whatever it may be,

is one thing rather than another? No one can. But much the safest

plan is to speak of them as follows:-Anything which we see to be continually

changing, as, for example, fire, we must not call "this" or "that,"

but rather say that it is "of such a nature"; nor let us speak of

water as "this"; but always as "such"; nor must we imply that there

is any stability in any of those things which we indicate by the use

of the words "this" and "that," supposing ourselves to signify something

thereby; for they are too volatile to be detained in any such expressions

as "this," or "that," or "relative to this," or any other mode of

speaking which represents them as permanent. We ought not to apply

"this" to any of them, but rather the word "such"; which expresses

the similar principle circulating in each and all of them; for example,

that should be called "fire" which is of such a nature always, and

so of everything that has generation. That in which the elements severally

grow up, and appear, and decay, is alone to be called by the name

"this" or "that"; but that which is of a certain nature, hot or white,

or anything which admits of opposite equalities, and all things that

are compounded of them, ought not to be so denominated. Let me make

another attempt to explain my meaning more clearly. Suppose a person

to make all kinds of figures of gold and to be always transmuting

one form into all the rest-somebody points to one of them and asks

what it is. By far the safest and truest answer is, That is gold;

and not to call the triangle or any other figures which are formed

in the gold "these," as though they had existence, since they are

in process of change while he is making the assertion; but if the

questioner be willing to take the safe and indefinite expression,

"such," we should be satisfied. And the same argument applies to the

universal nature which receives all bodies-that must be always called

the same; for, while receiving all things, she never departs at all

from her own nature, and never in any way, or at any time, assumes

a form like that of any of the things which enter into her; she is

the natural recipient of all impressions, and is stirred and informed

by them, and appears different from time to time by reason of them.

But the forms which enter into and go out of her are the likenesses

of real existences modelled after their patterns in wonderful and

inexplicable manner, which we will hereafter investigate. For the

present we have only to conceive of three natures: first, that which

is in process of generation; secondly, that in which the generation

takes place; and thirdly, that of which the thing generated is a resemblance.

And we may liken the receiving principle to a mother, and the source

or spring to a father, and the intermediate nature to a child; and

may remark further, that if the model is to take every variety of

form, then the matter in which the model is fashioned will not be

duly prepared, unless it is formless, and free from the impress of

any of these shapes which it is hereafter to receive from without.

For if the matter were like any of the supervening forms, then whenever

any opposite or entirely different nature was stamped upon its surface,

it would take the impression badly, because it would intrude its own

shape. Wherefore, that which is to receive all forms should have no

form; as in making perfumes they first contrive that the liquid substance

which is to receive the scent shall be as inodorous as possible; or

as those who wish to impress figures on soft substances do not allow

any previous impression to remain, but begin by making the surface

as even and smooth as possible. In the same way that which is to receive

perpetually and through its whole extent the resemblances of all eternal

beings ought to be devoid of any particular form. Wherefore, the mother

and receptacle of all created and visible and in any way sensible

things, is not to be termed earth, or air, or fire, or water, or any

of their compounds or any of the elements from which these are derived,

but is an invisible and formless being which receives all things and

in some mysterious way partakes of the intelligible, and is most incomprehensible.

In saying this we shall not be far wrong; as far, however, as we can

attain to a knowledge of her from the previous considerations, we

may truly say that fire is that part of her nature which from time

to time is inflamed, and water that which is moistened, and that the

mother substance becomes earth and air, in so far as she receives

the impressions of them.

Let us consider this question more precisely. Is there any self-existent

fire? and do all those things which we call self-existent exist? or

are only those things which we see, or in some way perceive through

the bodily organs, truly existent, and nothing whatever besides them?

And is all that which, we call an intelligible essence nothing at

all, and only a name? Here is a question which we must not leave unexamined

or undetermined, nor must we affirm too confidently that there can

be no decision; neither must we interpolate in our present long discourse

a digression equally long, but if it is possible to set forth a great

principle in a few words, that is just what we want.

Thus I state my view:-If mind and true opinion are two distinct classes,

then I say that there certainly are these self-existent ideas unperceived

by sense, and apprehended only by the mind; if, however, as some say,

true opinion differs in no respect from mind, then everything that

we perceive through the body is to be regarded as most real and certain.

But we must affirm that to be distinct, for they have a distinct origin

and are of a different nature; the one is implanted in us by instruction,

the other by persuasion; the one is always accompanied by true reason,

the other is without reason; the one cannot be overcome by persuasion,

but the other can: and lastly, every man may be said to share in true

opinion, but mind is the attribute of the gods and of very few men.

Wherefore also we must acknowledge that there is one kind of being

which is always the same, uncreated and indestructible, never receiving

anything into itself from without, nor itself going out to any other,

but invisible and imperceptible by any sense, and of which the contemplation

is granted to intelligence only. And there is another nature of the

same name with it, and like to it, perceived by sense, created, always

in motion, becoming in place and again vanishing out of place, which

is apprehended by opinion and sense. And there is a third nature,

which is space, and is eternal, and admits not of destruction and

provides a home for all created things, and is apprehended without

the help of sense, by a kind of spurious reason, and is hardly real;

which we beholding as in a dream, say of all existence that it must

of necessity be in some place and occupy a space, but that what is

neither in heaven nor in earth has no existence. Of these and other

things of the same kind, relating to the true and waking reality of

nature, we have only this dreamlike sense, and we are unable to cast

off sleep and determine the truth about them. For an image, since

the reality, after which it is modelled, does not belong to it, and

it exists ever as the fleeting shadow of some other, must be inferred

to be in another [i.e. in space ], grasping existence in some way

or other, or it could not be at all. But true and exact reason, vindicating

the nature of true being, maintains that while two things [i.e. the

image and space] are different they cannot exist one of them in the

other and so be one and also two at the same time.

Thus have I concisely given the result of my thoughts; and my verdict

is that being and space and generation, these three, existed in their

three ways before the heaven; and that the nurse of generation, moistened

by water and inflamed by fire, and receiving the forms of earth and

air, and experiencing all the affections which accompany these, presented

a strange variety of appearances; and being full of powers which were

neither similar nor equally balanced, was never in any part in a state

of equipoise, but swaying unevenly hither and thither, was shaken

by them, and by its motion again shook them; and the elements when

moved were separated and carried continually, some one way, some another;

as, when rain is shaken and winnowed by fans and other instruments

used in the threshing of corn, the close and heavy particles are borne

away and settle in one direction, and the loose and light particles

in another. In this manner, the four kinds or elements were then shaken

by the receiving vessel, which, moving like a winnowing machine, scattered

far away from one another the elements most unlike, and forced the

most similar elements into dose contact. Wherefore also the various

elements had different places before they were arranged so as to form

the universe. At first, they were all without reason and measure.

But when the world began to get into order, fire and water and earth

and air had only certain faint traces of themselves, and were altogether

such as everything might be expected to be in the absence of God;

this, I say, was their nature at that time, and God fashioned them

by form and number. Let it be consistently maintained by us in all

that we say that God made them as far as possible the fairest and

best, out of things which were not fair and good. And now I will endeavour

to show you the disposition and generation of them by an unaccustomed

argument, which am compelled to use; but I believe that you will be

able to follow me, for your education has made you familiar with the

methods of science.

In the first place, then, as is evident to all, fire and earth and

water and air are bodies. And every sort of body possesses solidity,

and every solid must necessarily be contained in planes; and every

plane rectilinear figure is composed of triangles; and all triangles

are originally of two kinds, both of which are made up of one right

and two acute angles; one of them has at either end of the base the

half of a divided right angle, having equal sides, while in the other

the right angle is divided into unequal parts, having unequal sides.

These, then, proceeding by a combination of probability with demonstration,

we assume to be the original elements of fire and the other bodies;

but the principles which are prior to these God only knows, and he

of men who is the friend God. And next we have to determine what are

the four most beautiful bodies which are unlike one another, and of

which some are capable of resolution into one another; for having

discovered thus much, we shall know the true origin of earth and fire

and of the proportionate and intermediate elements. And then we shall

not be willing to allow that there are any distinct kinds of visible

bodies fairer than these. Wherefore we must endeavour to construct

the four forms of bodies which excel in beauty, and then we shall

be able to say that we have sufficiently apprehended their nature.

Now of the two triangles, the isosceles has one form only; the scalene

or unequal-sided has an infinite number. Of the infinite forms we

must select the most beautiful, if we are to proceed in due order,

and any one who can point out a more beautiful form than ours for

the construction of these bodies, shall carry off the palm, not as

an enemy, but as a friend. Now, the one which we maintain to be the

most beautiful of all the many triangles (and we need not speak of

the others) is that of which the double forms a third triangle which

is equilateral; the reason of this would be long to tell; he who disproves

what we are saying, and shows that we are mistaken, may claim a friendly

victory. Then let us choose two triangles, out of which fire and the

other elements have been constructed, one isosceles, the other having

the square of the longer side equal to three times the square of the

lesser side.

Now is the time to explain what was before obscurely said: there was

an error in imagining that all the four elements might be generated

by and into one another; this, I say, was an erroneous supposition,

for there are generated from the triangles which we have selected

four kinds-three from the one which has the sides unequal; the fourth

alone is framed out of the isosceles triangle. Hence they cannot all

be resolved into one another, a great number of small bodies being

combined into a few large ones, or the converse. But three of them

can be thus resolved and compounded, for they all spring from one,

and when the greater bodies are broken up, many small bodies will

spring up out of them and take their own proper figures; or, again,

when many small bodies are dissolved into their triangles, if they

become one, they will form one large mass of another kind. So much

for their passage into one another. I have now to speak of their several

kinds, and show out of what combinations of numbers each of them was

formed. The first will be the simplest and smallest construction,

and its element is that triangle which has its hypotenuse twice the

lesser side. When two such triangles are joined at the diagonal, and

this is repeated three times, and the triangles rest their diagonals

and shorter sides on the same point as a centre, a single equilateral

triangle is formed out of six triangles; and four equilateral triangles,

if put together, make out of every three plane angles one solid angle,

being that which is nearest to the most obtuse of plane angles; and

out of the combination of these four angles arises the first solid

form which distributes into equal and similar parts the whole circle

in which it is inscribed. The second species of solid is formed out

of the same triangles, which unite as eight equilateral triangles

and form one solid angle out of four plane angles, and out of six

such angles the second body is completed. And the third body is made

up of 120 triangular elements, forming twelve solid angles, each of

them included in five plane equilateral triangles, having altogether

twenty bases, each of which is an equilateral triangle. The one element

[that is, the triangle which has its hypotenuse twice the lesser side]

having generated these figures, generated no more; but the isosceles

triangle produced the fourth elementary figure, which is compounded

of four such triangles, joining their right angles in a centre, and

forming one equilateral quadrangle. Six of these united form eight

solid angles, each of which is made by the combination of three plane

right angles; the figure of the body thus composed is a cube, having

six plane quadrangular equilateral bases. There was yet a fifth combination

which God used in the delineation of the universe.

…

To earth, then, let us assign the cubical form; for earth is the most

immoveable of the four and the most plastic of all bodies, and that

which has the most stable bases must of necessity be of such a nature.

Now, of the triangles which we assumed at first, that which has two

equal sides is by nature more firmly based than that which has unequal

sides; and of the compound figures which are formed out of either,

the plane equilateral quadrangle has necessarily, a more stable basis

than the equilateral triangle, both in the whole and in the parts.

Wherefore, in assigning this figure to earth, we adhere to probability;

and to water we assign that one of the remaining forms which is the

least moveable; and the most moveable of them to fire; and to air

that which is intermediate. Also we assign the smallest body to fire,

and the greatest to water, and the intermediate in size to air; and,

again, the acutest body to fire, and the next in acuteness to, air,

and the third to water. Of all these elements, that which has the

fewest bases must necessarily be the most moveable, for it must be

the acutest and most penetrating in every way, and also the lightest

as being composed of the smallest number of similar particles: and

the second body has similar properties in a second degree, and the

third body in the third degree. Let it be agreed, then, both according

to strict reason and according to probability, that the pyramid is

the solid which is the original element and seed of fire; and let

us assign the element which was next in the order of generation to

air, and the third to water. We must imagine all these to be so small

that no single particle of any of the four kinds is seen by us on

account of their smallness: but when many of them are collected together

their aggregates are seen. And the ratios of their numbers, motions,

and other properties, everywhere God, as far as necessity allowed

or gave consent, has exactly perfected, and harmonised in due proportion.

From all that we have just been saying about the elements or kinds,

the most probable conclusion is as follows:-earth, when meeting with

fire and dissolved by its sharpness, whether the dissolution take

place in the fire itself or perhaps in some mass of air or water,

is borne hither and thither, until its parts, meeting together and

mutually harmonising, again become earth; for they can never take

any other form. But water, when divided by fire or by air, on reforming,

may become one part fire and two parts air; and a single volume of

air divided becomes two of fire. Again, when a small body of fire

is contained in a larger body of air or water or earth, and both are

moving, and the fire struggling is overcome and broken up, then two

volumes of fire form one volume of air; and when air is overcome and

cut up into small pieces, two and a half parts of air are condensed

into one part of water. Let us consider the matter in another way.

When one of the other elements is fastened upon by fire, and is cut

by the sharpness of its angles and sides, it coalesces with the fire,

and then ceases to be cut by them any longer. For no element which

is one and the same with itself can be changed by or change another

of the same kind and in the same state. But so long as in the process

of transition the weaker is fighting against the stronger, the dissolution

continues. Again, when a few small particles, enclosed in many larger

ones, are in process of decomposition and extinction, they only cease

from their tendency to extinction when they consent to pass into the

conquering nature, and fire becomes air and air water. But if bodies

of another kind go and attack them [i.e. the small particles], the

latter continue to be dissolved until, being completely forced back

and dispersed, they make their escape to their own kindred, or else,

being overcome and assimilated to the conquering power, they remain

where they are and dwell with their victors, and from being many become

one. And owing to these affections, all things are changing their

place, for by the motion of the receiving vessel the bulk of each

class is distributed into its proper place; but those things which

become unlike themselves and like other things, are hurried by the

shaking into the place of the things to which they grow like.

Now all unmixed and primary bodies are produced by such causes as

these. As to the subordinate species which are included in the greater

kinds, they are to be attributed to the varieties in the structure

of the two original triangles. For either structure did not originally

produce the triangle of one size only, but some larger and some smaller,

and there are as many sizes as there are species of the four elements.

Hence when they are mingled with themselves and with one another there

is an endless variety of them, which those who would arrive at the

probable truth of nature ought duly to consider.

…

In considering the third kind of sense, hearing, we must speak of the

causes in which it originates. We may in general assume sound to be a blow

which passes through the ears, and is transmitted by means of the air, the

brain, and the blood, to the soul, and that hearing is the vibration of

this blow, which begins in the head and ends in the region of the liver.

The sound which moves swiftly is acute, and the sound which moves slowly is

grave, and that which is regular is equable and smooth, and the reverse is

harsh. A great body of sound is loud, and a small body of sound the

reverse. Respecting the harmonies of sound I must hereafter speak.

…

The authors of our race were aware that we should be intemperate in eating

and drinking, and take a good deal more than was necessary or proper, by

reason of gluttony. In order then that disease might not quickly destroy

us, and lest our mortal race should perish without fulfilling its end--

intending to provide against this, the gods made what is called the lower

belly, to be a receptacle for the superfluous meat and drink, and formed

the convolution of the bowels, so that the food might be prevented from

passing quickly through and compelling the body to require more food, thus

producing insatiable gluttony, and making the whole race an enemy to

philosophy and music, and rebellious against the divinest element within

us.

…

Such is the nature and such are the causes of respiration,

--the subject in which this discussion originated. For the fire cuts the

food and following the breath surges up within, fire and breath rising

together and filling the veins by drawing up out of the belly and pouring

into them the cut portions of the food; and so the streams of food are kept

flowing through the whole body in all animals. And fresh cuttings from

kindred substances, whether the fruits of the earth or herb of the field,

which God planted to be our daily food, acquire all sorts of colours by

their inter-mixture; but red is the most pervading of them, being created

by the cutting action of fire and by the impression which it makes on a

moist substance; and hence the liquid which circulates in the body has a

colour such as we have described. The liquid itself we call blood, which

nourishes the flesh and the whole body, whence all parts are watered and

empty places filled.

Now the process of repletion and evacuation is effected after the manner of

the universal motion by which all kindred substances are drawn towards one

another. For the external elements which surround us are always causing us

to consume away, and distributing and sending off like to like; the

particles of blood, too, which are divided and contained within the frame

of the animal as in a sort of heaven, are compelled to imitate the motion

of the universe. Each, therefore, of the divided parts within us, being

carried to its kindred nature, replenishes the void. When more is taken

away than flows in, then we decay, and when less, we grow and increase.

The frame of the entire creature when young has the triangles of each kind

new, and may be compared to the keel of a vessel which is just off the

stocks; they are locked firmly together and yet the whole mass is soft and

delicate, being freshly formed of marrow and nurtured on milk. Now when

the triangles out of which meats and drinks are composed come in from

without, and are comprehended in the body, being older and weaker than the

triangles already there, the frame of the body gets the better of them and

its newer triangles cut them up, and so the animal grows great, being

nourished by a multitude of similar particles. But when the roots of the

triangles are loosened by having undergone many conflicts with many things

in the course of time, they are no longer able to cut or assimilate the

food which enters, but are themselves easily divided by the bodies which

come in from without. In this way every animal is overcome and decays, and

this affection is called old age. And at last, when the bonds by which the

triangles of the marrow are united no longer hold, and are parted by the

strain of existence, they in turn loosen the bonds of the soul, and she,

obtaining a natural release, flies away with joy. For that which takes

place according to nature is pleasant, but that which is contrary to nature

is painful. And thus death, if caused by disease or produced by wounds, is

painful and violent; but that sort of death which comes with old age and

fulfils the debt of nature is the easiest of deaths, and is accompanied

with pleasure rather than with pain.

Now every one can see whence diseases arise. There are four natures out of

which the body is compacted, earth and fire and water and air, and the

unnatural excess or defect of these, or the change of any of them from its

own natural place into another, or--since there are more kinds than one of

fire and of the other elements--the assumption by any of these of a wrong

kind, or any similar irregularity, produces disorders and diseases; for

when any of them is produced or changed in a manner contrary to nature, the

parts which were previously cool grow warm, and those which were dry become

moist, and the light become heavy, and the heavy light; all sorts of

changes occur. For, as we affirm, a thing can only remain the same with

itself, whole and sound, when the same is added to it, or subtracted from

it, in the same respect and in the same manner and in due proportion; and

whatever comes or goes away in violation of these laws causes all manner of

changes and infinite diseases and corruptions.

…

Such is the manner in which diseases of the body arise; the disorders of

the soul, which depend upon the body, originate as follows. We must

acknowledge disease of the mind to be a want of intelligence; and of this

there are two kinds; to wit, madness and ignorance. In whatever state a

man experiences either of them, that state may be called disease; and

excessive pains and pleasures are justly to be regarded as the greatest

diseases to which the soul is liable. For a man who is in great joy or in

great pain, in his unreasonable eagerness to attain the one and to avoid

the other, is not able to see or to hear anything rightly; but he is mad,

and is at the time utterly incapable of any participation in reason. He

who has the seed about the spinal marrow too plentiful and overflowing,

like a tree overladen with fruit, has many throes, and also obtains many

pleasures in his desires and their offspring, and is for the most part of

his life deranged, because his pleasures and pains are so very great; his

soul is rendered foolish and disordered by his body; yet he is regarded not

as one diseased, but as one who is voluntarily bad, which is a mistake.

The truth is that the intemperance of love is a disease of the soul due

chiefly to the moisture and fluidity which is produced in one of the

elements by the loose consistency of the bones. And in general, all that

which is termed the incontinence of pleasure and is deemed a reproach under

the idea that the wicked voluntarily do wrong is not justly a matter for

reproach. For no man is voluntarily bad; but the bad become bad by reason

of an ill disposition of the body and bad education, things which are

hateful to every man and happen to him against his will. And in the case

of pain too in like manner the soul suffers much evil from the body. For

where the acid and briny phlegm and other bitter and bilious humours wander

about in the body, and find no exit or escape, but are pent up within and

mingle their own vapours with the motions of the soul, and are blended with

them, they produce all sorts of diseases, more or fewer, and in every

degree of intensity; and being carried to the three places of the soul,

whichever they may severally assail, they create infinite varieties of

ill-temper and melancholy, of rashness and cowardice, and also of

forgetfulness and stupidity. Further, when to this evil constitution of

body evil forms of government are added and evil discourses are uttered in

private as well as in public, and no sort of instruction is given in youth

to cure these evils, then all of us who are bad become bad from two causes

which are entirely beyond our control. In such cases the planters are to

blame rather than the plants, the educators rather than the educated. But

however that may be, we should endeavour as far as we can by education, and

studies, and learning, to avoid vice and attain virtue; this, however, is

part of another subject.

…

And we should consider that God gave the sovereign part of the human soul

to be the divinity of each one, being that part which, as we say, dwells at

the top of the body, and inasmuch as we are a plant not of an earthly but

of a heavenly growth, raises us from earth to our kindred who are in

heaven. And in this we say truly; for the divine power suspended the head

and root of us from that place where the generation of the soul first

began, and thus made the whole body upright. When a man is always occupied

with the cravings of desire and ambition, and is eagerly striving to

satisfy them, all his thoughts must be mortal, and, as far as it is

possible altogether to become such, he must be mortal every whit, because

he has cherished his mortal part. But he who has been earnest in the love

of knowledge and of true wisdom, and has exercised his intellect more than

any other part of him, must have thoughts immortal and divine, if he attain

truth, and in so far as human nature is capable of sharing in immortality,

he must altogether be immortal; and since he is ever cherishing the divine

power, and has the divinity within him in perfect order, he will be

perfectly happy. Now there is only one way of taking care of things, and

this is to give to each the food and motion which are natural to it. And

the motions which are naturally akin to the divine principle within us are

the thoughts and revolutions of the universe. These each man should

follow, and correct the courses of the head which were corrupted at our

birth, and by learning the harmonies and revolutions of the universe,

should assimilate the thinking being to the thought, renewing his original

nature, and having assimilated them should attain to that perfect life

which the gods have set before mankind, both for the present and the

future.