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continually gathering itself together, from the wet elements formed the sea, and from the more solid elements made the earth muddy and entirely soft 1.7.5. This earth, at first, when the fire about the sun shone down, became solid; then, as its surface fermented because of the heat, some of the wet matter swelled up in many places and putrefactions formed about them, enclosed by thin membranes, a phenomenon which is seen to occur even now in marshes and stagnant places, whenever the land has been chilled and suddenly 1.7.6 the air becomes fiery hot, not undergoing the change gradually. And as living things were generated from the wet matter through the heat in the manner described, during the nights they immediately received their nourishment from the mist that fell from the surrounding air, and during the days they were solidified by the heat; and at last, when the things being gestated had attained their full growth and the membranes had been scorched 1.7.7 and burst open, all sorts of types of animals sprang up. Of these, those that had partaken of the most heat departed to the higher regions, becoming winged things, while those that clung to an earthy composition were numbered in the order of reptiles and other land animals, and those that had partaken mostly of a wet nature ran together to the kindred region, being named 1.7.8 swimming things. And the earth, being ever more solidified by the fire about the sun and by the winds, was at last no longer able to generate any of the larger animals, but each of the living things was begotten from mating with one another. 1.7.9 And it seems that concerning the nature of the universe, Euripides does not disagree either with what has been said before, being a student of Anaxagoras the natural philosopher. For in his Melanippe he puts it thus: How heaven and earth were one form; but when they were separated from one another, they give birth to all things and brought them forth into the light: trees, winged creatures, beasts which the salt-sea nurtures, and the race of mortals. 1.7.10 And concerning the first generation of all things, we have received such accounts; and they say that the first-born of men, living in a disordered and beast-like life, went out sporadically for pasture and fed on the most tender herb and the fruits that grew wild from the trees, and being warred upon by wild beasts, they helped one another, taught by expediency, and gathering together because of fear, they came to recognize, little 1.7.11 by little, one another’s forms; and since their speech was indistinct and confused, they gradually articulated their words, and by setting symbols for one another for each of the objects, they made known among themselves the 1.7.12 interpretation concerning all things. And as such groups were formed throughout the whole inhabited world, not all had the same speech, since each group arranged its words as it chanced; for this reason there came to be all sorts of types of dialects, and the first groups formed became the original ancestors 1.7.13 of all nations. The first men, therefore, since none of the useful things for life had been discovered, lived laboriously, being naked of clothing, and unacquainted with housing and fire, and completely without thought of cultivated food. For indeed, being ignorant of the gathering of wild food, they did not store up any of the fruits for times of need; for which reason also many of them perished during the winters 1.7.14 because of both the cold and the lack of food. And after this, being taught little by little by experience, they took refuge in caves in the winter and stored away those of the fruits that could be preserved. And after fire and the other useful things became known, little by little the arts were also discovered 1.7.15 and the other things that are able to benefit the common life. For in general, necessity itself became the teacher of all things to men, appropriately guiding the learning of each thing for an apt creature and one having as helpers for all things hands and reason and quickness of mind. And concerning the first generation of men and their most ancient way of life, we shall be content with what has been said, aiming at due proportion.”

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συστρεφόμενον συνεχῶς ἐκ μὲν τῶν ὑγρῶν τὴν θάλατταν, ἐκ δὲ τῶν στερεμνιωτέρων ποιῆσαι τὴν γῆν πηλώδη καὶ παντελῶς ἁπα1.7.5 λήν. ταύτην δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἥλιον πυρὸς καταλάμψαντος πῆξιν λαβεῖν, ἔπειτα διὰ τὴν θερμασίαν ἀναζυμουμένης τῆς ἐπιφανείας συνοιδῆσαί τινα τῶν ὑγρῶν κατὰ πολλοὺς τόπους καὶ γενέσθαι περὶ αὐτὰ σηπεδόνας ὑμέσι λεπτοῖς περιεχομένας, ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσιν καὶ τοῖς λιμνάζουσι τῶν τόπων ἔτι καὶ νῦν ὁρᾶσθαι γινόμενον, ἐπειδὰν τῆς χώρας κατεψυγμένης ἄφνω 1.7.6 διάπυρος ἀὴρ γένηται, μὴ λαβὼν τὴν μεταβολὴν ἐκ τοῦ κατ' ὀλίγον. ζῳογονουμένων δὲ τῶν ὑγρῶν διὰ τῆς θερμασίας τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον τὰς μὲν νύκτας λαμβάνειν αὐτίκα τὴν τροφὴν ἐκ τῆς πιπτούσης ἀπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος ὁμίχλης, τὰς δ' ἡμέρας ὑπὸ τοῦ καύματος στερεοῦσθαι· τὸ δὲ ἔσχατον τῶν κυοφορουμένων τὴν τελείαν αὔξησιν λαβόντων καὶ τῶν ὑμένων διακαυθέντων τε 1.7.7 καὶ περιρραγέντων ἀναφυῆναι παντοδαποὺς τύπους ζῴων. τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν πλείστης θερμασίας κεκοινωνηκότα πρὸς τοὺς μετεώρους τόπους ἀπελθεῖν γενόμενα πτηνά, τὰ δὲ γεώδους ἀντεχόμενα συγκρίσεως ἐν τῇ τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐπιγείων τάξει καταριθμηθῆναι, τὰ δὲ φύσεως ὑγρᾶς μάλιστα μετειληφότα πρὸς τὸν ὁμογενῆ τόπον συνδραμεῖν, ὀνομασθέντα 1.7.8 πλωτά. τὴν δὲ γῆν ἀεὶ μᾶλλον στερεουμένην ὑπό τε τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἥλιον πυρὸς καὶ τῶν πνευμάτων τὸ τελευταῖον μηκέτι δύνασθαι μηδὲν τῶν μειζόνων ζῳογονεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα μίξεως ἕκαστα γεννᾶσθαι τῶν ἐμψύχων. 1.7.9 ἔοικε δὲ περὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων φύσεως οὐδὲ Εὐριπίδης διαφωνεῖν τοῖς προειρημένοις, μαθητὴς ὢν Ἀναξαγόρου τοῦ φυσικοῦ. ἐν γὰρ τῇ Μελανίππῃ τίθησιν οὕτως· ὡς οὐρανός τε γαῖά τ' ἦν μορφὴ μία· ἐπεὶ δ' ἐχωρίσθησαν ἀλλήλων δίχα, τίκτουσι πάντα κἀνέδωκαν εἰς φάος δένδρη, πετεινά, θῆρας οὕς θ' ἅλμη τρέφει, γένος τε θνητῶν. 1.7.10 Καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς πρώτης τῶν ὅλων γενέσεως τοιαῦτα παρειλήφαμεν· τοὺς δ' ἐξ ἀρχῆς γεννηθέντας τῶν ἀνθρώπων φασὶν ἐν ἀτάκτῳ καὶ θηριώδει βίῳ καθεστῶτας σποράδην ἐπὶ τὰς νομὰς ἐξιέναι καὶ προσφέρεσθαι τῆς τε βοτάνης τὴν προσηνεστάτην καὶ τοὺς αὐτομάτους ἀπὸ τῶν δένδρων καρποὺς καὶ πολεμουμένους μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων ἀλλήλοις βοηθεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ συμφέροντος διδασκομένους, ἀθροιζομένους δὲ διὰ τὸν φόβον ἐπιγινώσκειν ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ 1.7.11 μικρὸν τοὺς ἀλλήλων τύπους· τῆς φωνῆς δ' ἀσήμου καὶ συγκεχυμένης ὑπαρχούσης, ἐκ τοῦ κατ' ὀλίγον διαρθροῦν τὰς λέξεις καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους τιθέντας σύμβολα περὶ ἑκάστου τῶν ὑποκειμένων γνώριμον σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ποιῆσαι τὴν 1.7.12 περὶ ἁπάντων ἑρμηνείαν. τοιούτων δὲ συστημάτων γινομένων καθ' ἅπασαν τὴν οἰκουμένην οὐχ ὁμόφωνον πάντας ἔχειν τὴν διάλεκτον, ἑκάστων ὡς ἔτυχεν συνταξάντων τὰς λέξεις· διὸ καὶ παντοίους τε ὑπάρξαι χαρακτῆρας διαλέκτων καὶ τὰ πρῶτα γενόμενα συστήματα τῶν ἁπάντων ἐθνῶν ἀρχέγονα 1.7.13 γενέσθαι. τοὺς οὖν πρώτους τῶν ἀνθρώπων μηδενὸς τῶν πρὸς βίον χρησίμων εὑρημένου ἐπιπόνως διάγειν, γυμνοὺς μὲν ἐσθῆτος ὄντας, οἰκήσεως δὲ καὶ πυρὸς ἀήθεις, τροφῆς δ' ἡμέρου παντελῶς ἀνεννοήτους. καὶ γὰρ τὴν συγκομιδὴν τῆς ἀγρίας τροφῆς ἀγνοοῦντας μηδεμίαν τῶν καρπῶν εἰς τὰς ἐνδείας ποιεῖσθαι παράθεσιν· διὸ καὶ πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἀπόλλυσθαι κατὰ τοὺς χειμῶνας 1.7.14 διά τε τὸ ψῦχος καὶ τὴν σπάνιν τῆς τροφῆς. ἐκ δὲ τούτου κατ' ὀλίγον ὑπὸ τῆς πείρας διδασκομένους εἴς τε τὰ σπήλαια καταφεύγειν ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι καὶ τῶν καρπῶν τοὺς φυλάττεσθαι δυναμένους ἀποτίθεσθαι. γνωσθέντος δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τοῦ χρησίμου κατὰ μικρὸν καὶ τὰς τέχνας ἐξευρε1.7.15 θῆναι καὶ τἆλλα τὰ δυνάμενα τὸν κοινὸν βίον ὠφελῆσαι. καθόλου γὰρ πάντων τὴν χρείαν αὐτὴν διδάσκαλον γενέσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑφηγουμένην οἰκείως τὴν ἑκάστου μάθησιν εὐφυεῖ ζῴῳ καὶ συνεργοὺς ἔχοντι πρὸς ἅπαντα χεῖρας καὶ λόγον καὶ ψυχῆς ἀγχίνοιαν. καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς πρώτης γενέσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τοῦ παλαιοτάτου βίου τοῖς ῥηθεῖσιν ἀρκεσθησόμεθα, στοχαζόμενοι τῆς συμμετρίας.»