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HE GAVE AN ACCOUNT CONCERNING PRINCIPLES; FROM THE SEVENTH BOOK OF ARISTOCLES' ON PHILOSOPHY

«They say that fire is the element of existing things, just as Heraclitus does, and that its principles are matter and God, as Plato does. But this one says both are bodies, both the active and the passive, while that one says the first active cause is incorporeal 15.14.2. Then, at certain fated times the entire cosmos is consumed by fire, then again it is set in order once more. Indeed, the first fire is like a seed, containing the principles and the causes of what has been, what is, and what will be; and the entanglement and sequence of these is fate and knowledge and truth and the law of existing things, something inescapable and ineluctable. By this all things in the cosmos are managed excellently, as in some most well-ordered state.»

15.15.1 15. WHAT OPINION THE STOICS INTRODUCE CONCERNING GOD AND CONCERNING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSE; FROM THE EPITOME OF ARIUS DIDYMUS

«They call the whole cosmos, with its own parts, God; and they say that this is one only, and finite, and a living being, and eternal, and God. For in this are contained all bodies, and no void exists in it. For that which is qualified out of all substance is called cosmos, and 15.15.2 that which has such an arrangement and ordering. Wherefore, according to the first sense they say the cosmos is eternal, but according to its arrangement it is generated and changeable through infinite periods that have been and will be. 15.15.3 And the cosmos as the qualified entity from all substance is eternal and God; but cosmos is also said to be the system of heaven and air and earth and sea and the natures in them; and cosmos is also said to be the dwelling-place of gods and men, and that which is composed of gods and men and the things that have come to be 15.15.4 for their sake. For in the same way that a city is spoken of in two ways, both the dwelling-place and the system composed of the inhabitants with the citizens, so too the cosmos is, as it were, a city composed of gods and men, with the gods having the ruling power 15.15.5, and men being subject to them. And there exists a community between them on account of their participation in reason, which is law by nature; and all other things have come to be for their sake. Following which, one must think that the god who administers the universe has providence for men, being beneficent and good and humane and just 15.15.6 and possessing all the virtues. For which reason the cosmos is also called Zeus, since he is the cause of life for us. And inasmuch as he administers all things unswervingly from eternity by a connected chain of reasoning, he is called Fate; and Adrasteia, because there is no escaping him; and Providence, because he manages 15.15.7 each thing for a useful end. As for the ruling principle of the cosmos, it pleased Cleanthes to say it was the sun, because it is the greatest of the stars and contributes most to the administration of the whole, creating day and year and the other seasons. 15.15.8 But to some of the school it seemed that the ruling principle of the cosmos was the earth, but to Chrysippus it was the aether, the purest and most sincere, since it is the most mobile of all things and conducts the entire motion of the cosmos.» 15.15.9 Let these things from the Epitome of Arius Didymus be set forth by us; but concerning the Stoics' opinion about God, it is sufficient to quote the words of Porphyry in the things written by him against Boethus *On the Soul*, which are as follows:

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ΠΕΡΙ ΑΡΧΩΝ ΑΠΕ∆Ι∆ΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΝ· ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥ ΕΒ∆ΟΜΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΙΑΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ

«Στοιχεῖον εἶναί φασι τῶν ὄντων τὸ πῦρ, καθάπερ Ἡράκλειτος, τούτου δ' ἀρχὰς ὕλην καὶ θεόν, ὡς Πλάτων. ἀλλ' οὗτος ἄμφω σώματά φησιν εἶναι, καὶ τὸ ποιοῦν καὶ τὸ πάσχον, ἐκείνου τὸ πρῶτον ποιοῦν αἴτιον ἀσώματον 15.14.2 εἶναι λέγοντος. ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ κατά τινας εἱμαρμένους χρόνους ἐκπυροῦσθαι τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον, εἶτ' αὖθις πάλιν διακοσμεῖσθαι. τὸ μέντοι πρῶτον πῦρ εἶναι καθαπερεί τι σπέρμα, τῶν ἁπάντων ἔχον τοὺς λόγους καὶ τὰς αἰτίας τῶν γεγονότων καὶ τῶν γιγνομένων καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων· τὴν δὲ τούτων ἐπιπλοκὴν καὶ ἀκολουθίαν εἱμαρμένην καὶ ἐπιστήμην καὶ ἀλήθειαν καὶ νόμον εἶναι τῶν ὄντων ἀδιάδραστόν τινα καὶ ἄφυκτον. ταύτη δὲ πάντα διοικεῖσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὸν κόσμον ὑπέρευ, καθάπερ ἐν εὐνομωτάτῃ τινὶ πολιτείᾳ.»

15.15.1 ιεʹ. ΟΠΟΙΑΝ ∆ΟΞΑΝ ΕΠΑΓΟΝΤΑΙ ΟΙ ΣΤΩΙΚΟΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΘΕΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΣΥΣΤΑΣΕΩΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΝΤΟΣ· ΑΠΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΠΙΤΟΜΗΣ ΑΡΕΙΟΥ ∆Ι∆ΥΜΟΥ

«Ὅλον δὲ τὸν κόσμον σὺν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μέρεσι προσαγορεύουσι θεόν· τοῦτον δὲ ἕνα μόνον εἶναί φασι καὶ πεπερασμένον καὶ ζῷον καὶ ἀΐδιον καὶ θεόν. ἐν γὰρ τούτῳ πάντα περιέχεσθαι τὰ σώματα, κενὸν δὲ μηδὲν ὑπάρχειν ἐν αὐτῷ. τὸ γὰρ ἐκ πάσης τῆς οὐσίας ποιὸν προσαγορεύεσθαι κόσμον καὶ 15.15.2 τὸ κατὰ τὴν διακόσμησιν τὴν τοιαύτην καὶ διάταξιν ἔχον. διὸ κατὰ μὲν τὴν προτέραν ἀπόδοσιν ἀΐδιον τὸν κόσμον εἶναί φασι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν διακόσμησιν γενητὸν καὶ μεταβλητὸν κατὰ περιόδους ἀπείρους γεγονυίας τε καὶ ἐσομένας. 15.15.3 καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐκ τῆς πάσης οὐσίας ποιὸν κόσμον ἀΐδιον εἶναι καὶ θεόν· λέγεσθαι δὲ κόσμον σύστημα ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀέρος καὶ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς φύσεων· λέγεσθαι δὲ κόσμον καὶ τὸ οἰκητήριον θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὸν ἐκ θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἕνεκα τούτων γενο 15.15.4 μένων συνεστῶτα. ὃν γὰρ τρόπον πόλις λέγεται διχῶς, τό τε οἰκητήριον καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἐνοικούντων σὺν τοῖς πολίταις σύστημα, οὕτως καὶ ὁ κόσμος οἱονεὶ πόλις ἐστὶν ἐκ θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων συνεστῶσα, τῶν μὲν θεῶν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν 15.15.5 ἐχόντων, τῶν δὲ ἀνθρώπων ὑποτεταγμένων. κοινωνίαν δ' ὑπάρχειν πρὸς ἀλλήλους διὰ τὸ λόγου μετέχειν, ὅς ἐστι φύσει νόμος· τὰ δ' ἄλλα πάντα γεγονέναι τούτων ἕνεκα. οἷς ἀκολούθως νομιστέον προνοεῖν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦντα θεόν, εὐεργετικὸν ὄντα καὶ χρηστὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον δίκαιόν τε 15.15.6 καὶ πάσας ἔχοντα τὰς ἀρετάς. διὸ δὴ καὶ Ζεὺς λέγεται ὁ κόσμος, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ ζῆν αἴτιος ἡμῖν ἐστι. καθ' ὅσον δὲ εἰρομένῳ λόγῳ πάντα διοικεῖ ἀπαραβάτως ἐξ ἀϊδίου προσονομάζεσθαι Εἱμαρμένην· Ἀδράστειαν δὲ, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἔστιν αὐτὸν ἀποδιδράσκειν· Πρόνοιαν δ' ὅτι πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον οἰκονομεῖ 15.15.7 ἕκαστα. ἡγεμονικὸν δὲ τοῦ κόσμου Κλεάνθει μὲν ἤρεσε τὸν ἥλιον εἶναι διὰ τὸ μέγιστον τῶν ἄστρων ὑπάρχειν καὶ πλεῖστα συμβάλλεσθαι πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὅλων διοίκησιν, ἡμέραν καὶ ἐνιαυτὸν ποιοῦντα καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ὥρας. 15.15.8 τισὶ δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς αἱρέσεως ἔδοξε γῆν τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου, Χρυσίππῳ δὲ τὸν αἰθέρα τὸν καθαρώτατον καὶ εἰλικρινέστατον, ἅτε πάντων εὐκινητότατον ὄντα καὶ τὴν ὅλην περιάγοντα τοῦ κόσμου φοράν.» 15.15.9 Ταῦτα μὲν ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐπιτομῆς Ἀρείου ∆ιδύμου προκείσθω· πρὸς δὲ τὴν περὶ θεοῦ τῶν Στωϊκῶν δόξαν ἀπαρκεῖ παραθέσθαι τὰς Πορφυρίου λέξεις ἐν τοῖς πρὸς Βόηθον ἀντιγραφεῖσιν αὐτῷ Περὶ ψυχῆς τοῦτον ἐχούσας τὸν τρόπον·