I was planning a more extensive post on bad translations of ancient Greek texts and particularly the recent Penguin edition of the fragments of Heraclitus but that will have to wait. For now, I’m going to focus on a rather minor translation error, which isn’t really important as far as translation errors go, but it becomes far more important if the reader is trying to decipher ancient Greek astrology.
ancient texts
The Four Elements of Empedocles: part III Random observations instead of a conclusion
- Part I: Introduction, The Four Elements, The method, Properties of the Elements, The Principles of Love and Strife, Magic
- Part II: The First State, Evolution of Living Forms, The Magnum Opus, Practical Claims, Biographical Traditions and a note on morality
- Part III: Anticipating Science, Uneducated ramblings on the Big Bang
On Nature is a treasure trove of ideas and insights. I’d recommend everyone to read through both that and Purifications, since they both take little more than half an hour and that would be the complete set of fragments we have from Empedocles. Two full translations plus the original Greek text can be found here and a more recent translation based on a new reconstruction from a different papyrus can be found here. The later is by far the most poetically translated and is a delight to read but it sometimes obfuscates the meaning so I chose Burnet’s old translation for most of my quotes.
Instead of a proper conclusion that would be solely focused on what I’ve been examining, I’ll simply use the previous two posts as a jumping point to talk about related subjects.
The Four Elements of Empedocles: part II
- Part I: Introduction, The Four Elements, The method, Properties of the Elements, The Principles of Love and Strife, Magic
- Part II: The First State, Evolution of Living Forms, The Magnum Opus, Practical Claims, Biographical Traditions and a note on morality
- Part III: Anticipating Science, Uneducated ramblings on the Big Bang
The First State
Besides explaining how the world is the way it is, Empedocles also explains the creation of the world. This is by far one of the strangest parts of On Nature.
The Four Elements of Empedocles: part I
In Love we come together in one world;
in Hatred many grew from one to be apart,
whence all that was, and is, and shall at some time be
blossomed as trees, as men, as women too,
as beasts, as birds, as fish that water rears,
as well as gods who ages live and greatest honours have.
In Her they never cease to swirl in constant flux
with frequent whirlings . .
relentlessly, and never do they cease. .
But many ages previous must elapse . .
before their motions alter . .
They never cease in any way to swirl in constant flux.
Empedocles, On Nature (fragment), 267-278.
- Part I: Introduction, The Four Elements, The method, Properties of the Elements, The Principles of Love and Strife, Magic
- Part II: The First State, Evolution of Living Forms, The Magnum Opus, Practical Claims, Biographical Traditions and a note on morality
- Part III: Anticipating Science, Uneducated ramblings on the Big Bang
Introduction
Does this not reach the heights of the sublime? Yet, it would be hard to see that in modern sources that simply discuss the ideas or the historical importance of Empedocles. The account will be dry and beyond doubt biased. Modern scholars seek to see in Empedocles nothing that goes beyond their own image. Sometimes he is a rationalist, a precursor of science, a physicist. It’s not only the implications of his words that are removed and discarded, it is his words themselves. Empedocles must not be allowed to be completely comprehended on his own terms. He must be filtered through modern concepts. Such a rational philosopher could not have been a believer in the Gods. He could not have been a magician. People as smart and perceptive as Empedocles discard all that nonsense. Or is the truth that people as intelligent and perceptive as Empedocles, when seeking wisdom and ask the Gods for it, sometimes attain it, which puts them ahead and outside of their time but ours as well? Could Empedocles, in the entirety of his philosophy instead of the mangled image that is presented to us, be beyond the mundane comprehension of modern scholars?
Praise of Imouthes-Asclepius: an ancient text
Today’s post is meant to be a tribute to our God Asclepius and an attempt to help a long-lost brother fulfil his promise. A brother who I’ve never personally met and who died thousands of years ago but his voice survived in the exact manner he predicted: through his writings. I consider it a kind of miracle that this small fragment survived and continues to inform the faithful of the power and glory of Asclepius. But a small introduction is in order first.
Starry Heaven 