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things, such as the tiniest feather or the smallest piece of chaff, cannot grasp or support the air, but it cuts it, being thin and soft, and passes through, as far as the impetus of that which carries it is borne? How then should one accept such utterly false hypotheses? 1.20 And if one should wish to investigate more elaborately concerning the antipodes, he will easily uncover their old wives' tales. For if the feet of one man are joined opposite to the feet of another, and they place them both either on earth, or in water, or in air, or in fire, or on whatever body they wish, how will both be found upright? How will not one of them be naturally upright, and the other found unnaturally headlong? Such things are irrational and foreign to our nature and order. And how again, when it is raining upon both, is it possible to say that the rain falls down upon the two? And not that one falls down, while the other falls up, or falls against, or falls in and falls out? For to conceive of antipodes compels one to conceive of raining against them; and with good reason will someone laugh at these ridiculous hypotheses, which utter things unsuitable and disorderly and unnatural. 1.21 If one should consider also their other sophism, I mean that the earth is filled with wind and earthquakes happen, when the enclosed wind supposedly shakes the earth violently, he would marvel at the deception and the contradiction of their own words. For if the earth, being pushed equally by all the wind, stands unshaken and uninclined, when filled with wind it ought rather to be weighed down in that part and to incline, just as they also use the example regarding man. For man, you see, is not only shaken and trembles when filled with wind, but he also trembles when seized by fear, and with drunkenness from wine, and when oppressed by cold, and when his blood boils over, and when he is angry, and from old age, and from weakness; and when he is shaken by being filled with wind, he often falls into sickness and dies. How then does the earth also, being filled with wind according to them, not fall down and lose its own place? 1.22 And how is it that they say the land of Egypt is superior to earthquakes, as if because it is porous and breathes, making those great furrows, when earthquakes have often occurred in Egypt, so that even cities have fallen and been razed to the ground. And not only this, but also in the times of the Greeks, when they held power and ruled, in the time of Alexander and Seleucus and Antiochus and Ptolemy, and they brought in philosophers, both Aristotle and the like, and did most things by their counsel, how is it that when Antioch was being founded by Seleucus and Antiochus, they were not able to say concerning the land there that this is not superior to earthquakes, but rather even prone to them? Just as then we have also seen it fall many times from earthquakes. And not only Antioch, but also Corinth, where the people of the philosophers lived nearby. 1.23 And if one were to look at their other opinion, how they say that rain is formed from moisture drawn up by heat, and they attempt to persuade with examples that just as the bathhouse, he says, draws up moisture by heat and it drips down, and just as the lid of a cauldron draws up moisture by heat and it drips down, and just as the cupping-glass also draws up moisture by means of tow and fire, so also the sun, drawing up moisture, in time lets it drip down—whence rain is made, one might well marvel at such great wisdom of theirs which deceives the many by its plausibility. 1.24 For if the bathhouse has its heat not from above, but from below, how does it draw up, and not rather push away? Likewise also in the case of the cauldron, it does not have its heat from above, but from below, and in both cases they are pushed by the heat and by reflection, the one drips from the roof, the other from the lid. Likewise also the cupping-glass, if not through the instrument itself forcing nature and drawing, would not draw moisture, even if one put in fire and tow ten thousand upon ten thousand times. But also when someone puts wet wood in a fire,

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πράγματα, οἷον βραχύτατον πτεροῦ ἢ σμικρότατον ἄχυρον, περικρατῆσαι ἢ βαστάσαι τὸν ἀέρα ἀδύνατον, ἀλλὰ τέμνει αὐτὸν λεπτὸν ὄντα καὶ ἁπαλὸν καὶ παρέρχεται, ὅσον ἡ ὁρμὴ τοῦ ἄγοντος φέρεται; Πῶς οὖν δεκτέον τὰς τοιαύτας ψευδεστάτας ὑποθέσεις; 1.20 Εἰ δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀντιπόδων ἐπεξεργαστικώτερον θελήσειέ τις ζητῆσαι, ῥᾳδίως τοὺς γραώδεις μύθους αὐτῶν ἀνακαλύψει. Πόδες γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἑτέροις ποσὶν ἀνθρώπου ἀντισυναπτόμενοι, ἀμφοτέρους δὲ στήσωσιν ἢ ἐν γῇ, ἢ ἐν ὕδατι, ἢ ἐν ἀέρι, ἢ ἐν πυρί, ἢ ἐν οἱῳδηποτοῦν σώματι βούλονται, πῶς εὑρεθήσονται ἀμφότεροι ὄρθιοι; Πῶς οὐχ ὁ μὲν αὐτῶν κατὰ φύσιν ὄρθιος, ὁ δ' ἕτερος παρὰ φύσιν κατακέφαλα εὑρεθήσεται; Ἀλόγιστά τε καὶ ξένα τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως καὶ τάξεώς εἰσι τὰ τοιαῦτα. Πῶς δὲ πάλιν ὑετοῦ γινομένου ἐπ' ἀμφοτέρους δυνατὸν λέγειν καταφέρεσθαι ἐπὶ τοὺς δύο τὸν ὑετόν; Καὶ οὐχὶ τὸ μὲν καταφέρεσθαι, τὸ δὲ ἀναφέρεσθαι, ἢ ἀντιφέρεσθαι, ἢ εἰσφέρεσθαι καὶ ἐκφέρεσθαι; Τὸ γὰρ ἀντίποδας νοεῖν καὶ ἀντιβρέχειν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἀναγκάζει νοεῖν· καὶ εὐλόγως ἐπεγγελάσεταί τις ταῖς καταγελάστοις ταύταις ὑποθέσεσιν, ἀνάρμοστα καὶ ἄτακτα καὶ ἀφύσικα φθεγγομέναις. 1.21 Εἰ δέ τις κατανοήσειε καὶ τὸ ἄλλο αὐτῶν σόφισμα, λέγω δὴ τὸ ἐμπνευματοῦσθαι τὴν γῆν καὶ τοὺς σεισμοὺς γίνεσθαι, ἡνίκα τὸ πνεῦμα συγκλειόμενον τὴν γῆν δῆθεν βιαίως σαλεύει, θαυμάσειε τὴν ἀπάτην καὶ τῶν ἰδίων λόγων τὴν ἐναντιότητα. Εἰ γὰρ ἐξ ἴσου τοῦ παντὸς πνεύματος ὠθουμένη ἡ γῆ ἵσταται ἀσάλευτος καὶ ἀκλινής, ἐμπνευματουμένη μᾶλλον βαρεῖσθαι ὤφειλε κατὰ τὸ μέρος ἐκεῖνο καὶ κλίνειν, ὥσπερ καὶ παραδείγματι χρῶνται τῷ κατὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ὁ γάρ τοι ἄνθρωπος οὐ μόνον ἐμπνευματούμενος σαλεύεται καὶ τρέμει, ἀλλὰ καὶ φόβῳ ληφθεὶς τρέμει καὶ μέθῃ οἴνου καὶ ψύχει πιεζόμενος καὶ αἵματι ὑπερζέων καὶ θυμούμενος καὶ ἀπὸ γήρως καὶ ἀπὸ ἀδυναμίας· ἡνίκα δὲ καὶ ἐμπνευματούμενος σαλεύεται, καὶ πίπτει πολλάκις εἰς ἀρρωστίαν καὶ τελευτᾷ. Πῶς οὖν καὶ ἡ γῆ, κατ' αὐτοὺς ἐμπνευματουμένη, οὐ καταπίπτει καὶ ἀπόλλυσι τὸν ἴδιον τόπον; 1.22 Πῶς δὲ καὶ τὴν γῆν τῆς Αἰγύπτου κρείττονα σεισμῶν λέγουσιν εἶναι, ὡς διὰ τὸ χαύνην εἶναι καὶ πνέειν, τοὺς αὔλακας ἐκείνους ποιοῦσα τοὺς μεγάλους, πολλάκις σεισμῶν γεναμένων ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ὥστε καὶ πόλεις πεσεῖν καὶ ἐδαφισθῆναι. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν καιρῶν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἡνίκα κατεκράτουν καὶ ἐβασίλευον, ἐπὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Σελεύκου καὶ Ἀντιόχου καὶ Πτολεμαίου, καὶ φιλοσόφους ἄνδρας ἐπήγοντο, Ἀριστοτέλην τε καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους, καὶ βουλῇ αὐτῶν ἐποίουν τὰ πολλά, πῶς κτιζομένης Ἀντιοχείας ὑπὸ Σελεύκου καὶ Ἀντιόχου οὐκ ἐγένοντο δυνατοὶ εἰπεῖν περὶ τῆς γῆς τῶν αὐτόθι ὅτι αὕτη οὐκ ἔστι κρείττων σεισμῶν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ φίλη; Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἑωράκαμεν πολλάκις αὐτὴν πεσοῦσαν ἀπὸ σεισμῶν. Οὐ μόνον δὲ Ἀντιόχειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Κόρινθον ἔνθα ὁ δῆμος τῶν φιλοσόφων ἐγειτνία. 1.23 Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑτέραν αὐτῶν δόξαν τις θεάσοιτο, ὥς φασι τὸν ὑετὸν ἐκ τῆς ὑγρότητος τῆς ἀνιμωμένης ὑπὸ τῆς θερμότητος ἀποτελεῖσθαι, καὶ παραδείγμασι πείθειν ἐπιχειροῦσιν ὅτι ὥσπερ τὸ βαλανεῖον, φησίν, ἐκ τῆς θερμότητος ἀνιμᾶται τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ ἀποστάζει, καὶ ὥσπερ τὸ πῶμα τοῦ χαλκείου ἐκ τῆς θερμότητος ἀνιμᾶται τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ ἀποστάζει, καὶ ὥσπερ ἡ σικύα καὶ διὰ τοῦ στυππείου καὶ πυρὸς ἀνιμᾶται τὸ ὑγρόν, οὕτω καὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν ἀνιμώμενος ὁ ἥλιος ἐν καιρῷ ἀποστάζει αὐτόὅθεν γίνεται ὁ ὑετός, θαυμάσειε δ' ἄν τις αὐτῶν τὴν τοσαύτην σοφίαν τὴν τῇ πιθανότητι ἀπατῶσαν τοὺς πολλούς. 1.24 Εἰ γὰρ τὸ βαλανεῖον τὴν θερμότητα οὐκ ἄνωθεν, ἀλλὰ κάτωθεν ἔχει, πῶς ἀνιμᾶται, οὐχὶ δὲ μᾶλλον ὠθεῖ; Ὁμοίως καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ χαλκείου, οὐκ ἄνωθεν ἔχει τὴν θερμότητα, ἀλλὰ κάτωθεν, καὶ ἀμφότερα ὑπὸ τῆς θερμότητος ὠθοῦνται καὶ τῇ ἀνακλάσει, τὸ μὲν ἐκ τῆς στέγης ἀποστάζει, τὸ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ πώματος. Ὁμοίως καὶ ἡ σικύα, εἰ μὴ δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ὀργάνου βιαζομένου τὴν φύσιν καὶ ἕλκοντος, οὐκ ἂν εἷλκεν ὑγρότητα, μυριάκις ἐπὶ μυρίοις πῦρ καὶ στυππεῖον ἐμβαλών. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ξύλον ὑγρόν τινος ἐμβαλόντος πυρί,