38

conceptually generated, not in time, while others say it is entirely ungenerated and uncaused; and the former say it is perishable, the latter imperishable. 4.17 And Thales called the stars earthy and fiery; but Anaxagoras said that stones were snatched up from the revolution of the whole, and that these, having been set on fire and fixed above, were named stars. And Democritus confirms this account; but Diogenes says they are like pumice-stone, having certain vents; and Anaximander said they are certain systems of air, compressed in the form of a wheel, full of fire, 4.18 emitting flames from certain openings. And Diogenes also said that some of these fall to the earth and, being extinguished, are proved to have the nature of stones, and he uses as a witness the one that once fell like fire at Aegospotami. But Plato says that for the most part they consist of fire, but also partake of the other elements. But Aristotle said they are akin to the fifth body. 4.19 And Xenophanes says they are composed of ignited clouds, and being extinguished during the day are rekindled again at night, 4. just like coals. But Heraclides and certain others of the Pythagoreans say that each of the stars is a world, containing earth and air; and some have said these are spherical, but Cleanthes the Stoic, conical. 4.21 And indeed concerning the sun and the moon, Xenophanes says they are ignited clouds; Anaxagoras and Democritus and Metrodorus, a red-hot mass or stone; Thales, that it is earthy; Diogenes, like pumice-stone; Aristotle, a sphere composed of the fifth body; Plato, that it has the most of it from fire, but partakes also of the other bodies; Philolaus the Pythagorean, that it is like glass, receiving the reflection of the fire in the cosmos, and filtering through to us both the light and the heat, having the function of an image; and others held yet other opinions about this, which I think it superfluous to mention, lest I should share in the same 4.22 prattling. And concerning size and shape there is much dispute among them; for some say it is spherical, others trough-shaped, and others like a chariot wheel; and Anaximander said it is twenty-seven times the size of the earth, Empedocles that it is equal to the earth, Anaxagoras that it is larger than the Peloponnese, 4.23 and Heraclitus that it is a foot wide. And concerning the moon they similarly talk nonsense; for Thales says it is earthy, while Anaximenes and Parmenides and Heraclitus say it is composed of fire alone; Anaxagoras and Democritus, a red-hot solid, having in itself plains and mountains and ravines; Pythagoras, a rocky body; Heraclides, an earth enveloped in mist; and some declare it is larger than the earth, others of equal measure, and others smaller, while others say it has a diameter of a span. 4.24 And what need is there to say all that they fable concerning shapes and eclipses and intervals? For they not only say how far they are distant from each other, but also how far they are from the earth; and they count four hundred and even more myriads of stadia, some from the earth to the moon, and others from there to the sun; and are they not ashamed, being ignorant of the depth of the sea, where they can even let down a sounding line and a rope, yet striving eagerly to know accurately the measure of the air and the aether, and not considering the unprofitableness of the matter nor heeding the counsel of Aeschylus: "Seek not in vain for things that bring no profit." 4.25 Even if each of these things were discoverable, it would be entirely useless. But since the discovery is also impossible for men, they are simply like those who write on water or draw water with a sieve. For both these and those undertake a vain labor and spend their leisure on 4.26 what is not necessary. Socrates, then, perceiving this, having bid farewell to the meteorologists and natural philosophers, embraced ethical teaching. And Xenophon has made this clear in his Memorabilia, saying thus: "And in general, concerning each of the celestial things, which the god

38

μὲν κατ' ἐπίνοιαν γε νητόν, οὐ κατὰ χρόνον, οἱ δὲ ἀγένητον παντελῶς καὶ ἀναίτιον· καὶ οὗτοι μὲν φθαρτόν, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἄφθαρτον. 4.17 Καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας δὲ Θαλῆς μὲν γεώδεις καὶ ἐμπύρους ὠνό μασεν· ὁ δέ γε Ἀναξαγόρας ἐκ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς περιδινήσεως πέτρους εἶπεν ἀνασπασθῆναι, καὶ τούτους ἐκπυρωθέντας τε καὶ ἄνω παγέντας ἀστέρας ὀνομασθῆναι. Καὶ ∆ημόκριτος δὲ τοῦτον κρατύνει τὸν λόγον· ὁ δὲ ∆ιογένης κισηροειδεῖς λέγει εἶναι τού τους, διαπνοάς τινας ἔχοντας· ὁ δὲ Ἀναξίμανδρος ξυστήματα ἄττα τοῦ ἀέρος ἔφη, τροχοειδῶς πεπιλημένα, πυρὸς ἔμπλεα 4.18 εἶναι, ἀπό τινων στομίων ἀφιέντα τὰς φλόγας. ∆ιογένης δὲ καὶ ἐμπίπτειν εἰς τὴν γῆν τινας τούτων ἔφησε καὶ σβεννυμένους ἐλέγχεσθαι, ὅτι λίθων ἔχουσι φύσιν, καὶ μάρτυρι χρῆται τῷ ἐν Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς πυροειδῶς κατενεχθέντι ποτέ. Ὁ δὲ Πλάτων ὡς ἐπίπαν μὲν τούτους ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ξυνεστάναι, μετέχειν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων στοιχείων φησίν. Ὁ δέ γε Ἀριστοτέλης τοῦ πέμπτου σώματος 4.19 εἴρηκε ξυγγενεῖς. Ξενοφάνης δὲ ἐκ νεφῶν μὲν λέγει πεπυρωμένων ξυνίστασθαι, σβεννυμένους δὲ μεθ' ἡμέραν νύκτωρ 4. πάλιν ἀναζωπυρεῖσθαι, καθάπερ τοὺς ἄνθρακας. Ἡρακλείδης δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι τῶν Πυθαγορείων τινὲς ἕκαστον τῶν ἀστέρων κόσμον ὑπάρχειν φασί, γῆν περιέχοντα καὶ ἀέρα· καὶ οἱ μὲν σφαιροειδεῖς τούτους εἰρήκασι, κωνοειδεῖς δὲ Κλεάνθης ὁ Στωϊκός. 4.21 Καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην ὁ Ξενοφάνης νέφη εἶναι πεπυρωμένα φησίν· Ἀναξαγόρας δὲ καὶ ∆ημόκριτος καὶ Μητρόδωρος μύδρον ἢ πέτρον διάπυρον· Θαλῆς δὲ γεώδη, κιση ροειδῆ δὲ ∆ιογένης· ὁ δὲ Ἀριστοτέλης σφαῖραν εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ πέμπτου σώματος ξυνεστῶσαν· ὁ δὲ Πλάτων τὸ μὲν πλεῖστον ἔχειν ἐκ τοῦ πυρός, μετέχειν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σωμάτων· Φιλό λαος δὲ ὁ Πυθαγόρειος ὑαλοειδῆ, δεχόμενον μὲν τοῦ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ πυρὸς τὴν ἀνταύγειαν, διηθοῦντα δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τό τε φῶς καὶ τὴν ἀλέαν, εἰδώλου τάξιν ἐπέχοντα· καὶ ἕτεροι δὲ ἕτερα ἄττα περὶ τούτου ἐδόξασαν, ἃ περιττὸν οἶμαι λέγειν, ἵνα μὴ τῆς αὐτῆς 4.22 μεταλάχω τερθρείας. Καὶ μεγέθους δὲ πέρι καὶ σχήματος πολλὴ παρ' αὐτοῖς διαμάχη· οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν σφαιροειδῆ φασιν, οἱ δὲ σκαφοειδῆ, οἱ δὲ ἁρματιαίῳ τροχῷ παραπλήσιον· καὶ Ἀνα ξίμανδρος μὲν ἑπτακαιεικοσαπλασίω τῆς γῆς τοῦτον ἔφησεν εἶναι, Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δὲ ἶσον τῇ γῇ, ὁ δὲ Ἀναξαγόρας Πελοποννήσου4.23 μείζονα, Ἡράκλειτος δὲ ποδιαῖον. Καὶ περὶ σε λήνης δὲ ὁμοίως ὑθλοῦσιν· γεώδη μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν ὁ Θαλῆς φησιν, Ἀναξιμένης δὲ καὶ Παρμενίδης καὶ Ἡράκλειτος ἐκ μόνου ξυνεστάναι πυρός· Ἀναξαγόρας δὲ καὶ ∆ημόκριτος στε ρέωμα διάπυρον, ἔχον ἐν ἑαυτῷ πεδία καὶ ὄρη καὶ φάραγγας· ὁ δὲ Πυθαγόρας πετρῶδες σῶμα· Ἡρακλείδης δὲ γῆν ὀμίχλῃ περιεχομένην· καὶ οἱ μὲν μείζονα τῆς γῆς ἀποφαίνονται, οἱ δὲ ἰσόμετρον, οἱ δέ γε ἐλάττονα, ἄλλοι δὲ σπιθαμῆς ἔχειν διάμετρον. 4.24 Καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν, ὅσα ἐκεῖνοι σχημάτων πέρι καὶ ἐκλείψεων καὶ διαστημάτων μυθολογοῦσιν; οὐ γὰρ μόνον ὅσον ἀλλήλων δι εστήκασι, λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσον τῆς γῆς ἀφεστήκασι· καὶ τετρακοσίας ἀριθμοῦσι καὶ μέντοι καὶ πλείους σταδίων μυριάδας, τὰς μὲν ἀπὸ γῆς μέχρι σελήνης, τὰς δὲ ἐκεῖθεν μέχρις ἡλίου· καὶ οὐκ αἰσχύνονται τῆς μὲν θαλάττης ἀγνοοῦντες τὸ βάθος, ἔνθα καὶ ὁρμιὰν καθεῖναι δύνανται καὶ ἱμονιάν, τὸ δὲ τοῦ ἀέρος καὶ τοῦ αἰθέρος μέτρον σαφῶς εἰδέναι φιλοτιμούμενοι καὶ οὐδὲ τὸ ἀκερδὲς τοῦ πράγματος ἐνθυμούμενοι οὐδὲ τῆς Αἰσχύλου παραι νέσεως ἐπαΐοντες· τὰ μηδὲν ὠφελοῦντα μὴ ζήτει μάτην. 4.25 Τούτων δὲ ἕκαστον εἰ καὶ εὑρετὸν ἦν, ἀνόνητον παντάπασιν ἦν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ἀνέφικτος ἀνθρώποις ἡ εὕρεσις, ἀτεχνῶς ἐοίκασι τοῖς καθ' ὕδατος γράφουσιν ἢ κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλοῦσιν. Καὶ οὗτοι γὰρ δὴ κἀκεῖνοι μάταιον ἀναδέχονται πόνον καὶ εἰς 4.26 οὐδὲν δέον τὴν σχολὴν ἀναλίσκουσιν. Τοῦτο δὴ ξυνορῶν ὁ Σω κράτης, μετεωρολόγοις καὶ φυσιολόγοις ἐρρῶσθαι φράσας, τὴν ἠθικὴν διδασκαλίαν ἠσπάσατο. Καὶ τοῦτο δεδήλωκεν ὁ Ξενοφῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἀπομνημονεύμασι, λέγων ὡδί· "Ὅλως δὲ καὶ τῶν οὐρανίων ἕκαστα, ἃ ὁ θεὸς