Preparation for the Gospel 15.15.1–15.21.3
Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 1 (Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 1–2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: E. H. Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis libri XV (Oxford, 1903), vol. 3 (English).
Preparation 15, chapter 15
15.15.1Dindorf 2:370
“Ὅλον δὲ τὸν κόσμον σὺν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μέρεσι προσαγορεύουσι θεόν· τοῦτον δὲ ἕνα μόνον εἷναί 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, τὸ κατὰ τὴν διακόσμησιν τὴν τοιαύτην διάταξιν ἔχον.
“Holon de ton kosmon syn tois heautou meresi prosagoreuousi theon; touton de hena monon heinai phasi kai peperasmenon kai zǭon kai aïdion kai theon. en gar toutǭ panta periechesthai ta sōmata, kenon de mēden hyparchein en autǭ. to gar ek pasēs tēs ousias poion prosagoreuesthai, to kata tēn diakosmēsin tēn toiautēn diataxin echon.
“They call the whole world with its own parts God; and they say it is one only, and limited, and a living being, and everlasting, and God. For in it all bodies are contained, and there is no void in it. For what is qualified from the whole substance is so called, that which has such an arrangement according to the ordering.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics call the whole world God, one and living.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome (fragment 29 Diels).
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.1 (Dindorf 2:370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.2Dindorf 2:370
διὸ κατὰ μὲν τὴν προτέραν ἀπόδοσιν ἀΐδιον τὸν κόσμον εἶναί φασι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν διακόσμησιν γεννητὸν καὶ μεταβλητὸν κατὰ περιόδους ἀπείρους γεγονυίας τε καὶ ἐσομένας.
dio kata men tēn proteran apodosin aïdion ton kosmon einai phasi, kata de tēn diakosmēsin gennēton kai metablēton kata periodous apeirous gegonuias te kai esomenas.
That is why according to the former sense they say the world is everlasting, but according to the ordering it is generated and changeable in endless periods that have been and will be.
Notes and citation
Summary: The world is eternal in substance but generated in its ordering.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.2 (Dindorf 2:370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.3Dindorf 2:370
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 τῶν ἕνεκα τούτων γενομένων.
kai to men ek tēs pasēs ousias poion kosmon aïdion einai kai theon; legesthai de kosmon systēma ex ouranou kai aeros kai gēs kai thalattēs kai tōn en autois physeōn; legesthai de kosmon kai to oikētērion theōn kai anthrōpōn kai tōn heneka toutōn genomenōn.
And the world qualified from the whole substance is everlasting and God; and the system of heaven and air and earth and sea and the natures in them is called the world; and the dwelling of gods and men and of what came to be for their sake is also called the world.
Notes and citation
Summary: Three senses of “world” in Stoic teaching.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.3 (Dindorf 2:370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.4Dindorf 2:370–371
ὃν γὰρ τρόπον πόλις λέγεται διχῶς, τό τε οἰκητήριον καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἐνοικούντων σὺν τοῖς πολίταις σύστημα, οὕτω καὶ ὁ κόσμος οἱονεὶ πόλις ἐστὶν ἐκ θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων συνεστῶσα, τῶν μὲν θεῶν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐχόντων‚ τῶν δὲ ἀνθρώπων ὑποτεταγμένων.
hon gar tropon polis legetai dichōs, to te oikētērion kai to ek tōn enoikountōn syn tois politais systēma, houtō kai ho kosmos hoionei polis estin ek theōn kai anthrōpōn synestōsa, tōn men theōn tēn hēgemonian echontōn‚ tōn de anthrōpōn hypotetagmenōn.
For as a city is spoken of in two ways, the dwelling and the system of the inhabitants with the citizens, so the world too is as it were a city made up of gods and men, the gods having the leadership and men being subject.
Notes and citation
Summary: The world is a city of gods and men.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.4 (Dindorf 2:370–371; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.5Dindorf 2:371
κοινωνίαν δʼ ὑπάρχειν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, διὰ τὸ λόγου μετέχειν, ὅς ἐστι φύσει νόμος· τὰ δʼ ἄλλα πάντα γεγονέναι τούτων ἕνεκα. οἷς ἀκολούθως νομιστέον προνοεῖν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦντα θεὸν‚ εὐεργετικὸν ὄντα καὶ χρηστὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον‚ δίκαιόν τε καὶ πάσας ἔχοντα τὰς ἀρετάς.
koinōnian dʼ hyparchein pros allēlous, dia to logou metechein, hos esti physei nomos; ta dʼ alla panta gegonenai toutōn heneka. hois akolouthōs nomisteon pronoein tōn anthrōpōn ton ta hola dioikounta theon‚ euergetikon onta kai chrēston kai philanthrōpon‚ dikaion te kai pasas echonta tas aretas.
There is fellowship between them through sharing in reason, which is law by nature; and all the other things came to be for their sake. In accordance with which one must hold that the God who governs the universe takes forethought for men, being beneficent and kind and loving to man, just and having all the virtues.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoic God, governing the world-city, cares for men.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.5 (Dindorf 2:371; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.6Dindorf 2:371
διὸ δὴ καὶ Ζεὺς λέγεται ὁ κόσμος, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ ζῆν αἴτιος ἡμῖν ἐστί. καθʼ ὅσον δὲ εἰρομένῳ λόγῳ πάντα διοικεῖ ἀπαραβάτως ἐξ ἀιδίου προσονομάζεσθαι εἱμαρμένην· Ἀδράστειαν δὲ, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἔστιν αὐτὸν ἀποδιδράσκειν· Πρόνοιαν δʼ, ὅτι πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον οἰκονομεῖ ἕκαστα.
dio dē kai Zeus legetai ho kosmos, epeidē tou zēn aitios hēmin esti. kathʼ hoson de eiromenǭ logǭ panta dioikei aparabatōs ex aidiou prosonomazesthai heimarmenēn; Adrasteian de, hoti ouden estin auton apodidraskein; Pronoian dʼ, hoti pros to chrēsimon oikonomei hekasta.
That is why the world is also called Zeus, since it is the cause of our living (zēn). And inasmuch as it governs all things inviolably from eternity by a linked reason, it is called Fate (Heimarmenē); Adrasteia, because there is no escaping it; Providence, because it manages each thing for advantage.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoic etymologies of Zeus, Fate, Adrasteia, and Providence.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): προσονομαζεσθαι → προσονομάζεσθαι.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.6 (Dindorf 2:371; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.7Dindorf 2:371
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.
hēgemonikon de tou kosmou Kleanthei men ērese ton hēlion einai, dia to megiston tōn astrōn hyparchein, kai pleista symballesthai pros tēn tōn holōn dioikēsin, hēmeran kai eniauton poiounta kai tas allas hōras.
Cleanthes held that the ruling part of the world is the sun, because it is the greatest of the stars and contributes most to the government of the universe, making day and year and the other seasons.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cleanthes made the sun the ruling part of the world.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome; Cleanthes, fragment 499 (von Arnim).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): συμ- βάλλεσθαι → συμβάλλεσθαι.
Extrabiblical texts: Cleanthes, fr. 499 (Cleanthes (fragments); quotation); Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.7 (Dindorf 2:371; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.8Dindorf 2:371
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.”
tisi de tōn apo tēs haireseōs edoxe gēn to hēgemonikon einai tou kosmou. Chrysippǭ de ton aithera ton katharōtaton kai eilikrinestaton‚ hate pantōn eukinētotaton onta, kai tēn holēn periagonta tou kosmou phoran.”
Some of the school thought the earth the ruling part of the world; but Chrysippus the purest and most unmixed ether, as being the most mobile of all and carrying round the whole motion of the world.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Others made the earth the ruling part; Chrysippus the pure ether.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome; Chrysippus, fragment 644 (von Arnim).
Extrabiblical texts: Chrysippus, fr. 644 (Chrysippus; quotation); Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.8 (Dindorf 2:371; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.15.9Dindorf 2:371
Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐπιτομῆς Ἀρείου Διδύμου 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
Tauta men oun apo tēs Epitomēs Areiou Didymou prokeisthō; pros de tēn peri theou tōn Stōïkōn doxan aparkei parathesthai tas Porphyriou lexeis en tois pros Boēthon antigrapheisin autǭ Peri psychēs touton echousas ton tropon
Let these things from the Epitome of Arius Didymus be set out; and against the Stoics’ opinion about God it suffices to set out the words of Porphyry in what he wrote in reply to Boethus On the Soul, which run thus:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Porphyry against the Stoic view of God.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): ἐχούσας ’τον τρόπον → ἐχούσας τὸν τρόπον.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.15.9 (Dindorf 2:371; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-15-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 15, chapter 16
15.16.1Dindorf 2:371–372
“Τὸν δὲ θεὸν οὐκ ὀκνοῦσι πῦρ νοερὸν εἰπόντες ἀίδιον καταλείπειν‚ καὶ φθείρειν μὲν πάντα λέγειν καὶ ἐπινέμεσθαι‚ ὡς τοιοῦτον ὂν πῦρ οἷον τὸ ἡμῖν συνεγνωσμένον‚ ἀντιλέγειν τε Ἀριστοτέλει, παραιτουμένῳ τὸν αἰθέρα ἐκ πυρὸς λέγειν τοιούτου.
“Ton de theon ouk oknousi pyr noeron eipontes aidion kataleipein‚ kai phtheirein men panta legein kai epinemesthai‚ hōs toiouton on pyr hoion to hēmin synegnōsmenon‚ antilegein te Aristotelei, paraitoumenǭ ton aithera ek pyros legein toioutou.
“They do not hesitate, calling God intelligent fire, to leave him everlasting, and to say that he destroys and consumes all things, as being such a fire as the one known to us; and to contradict Aristotle, who declines to say that the ether is made of such a fire.
Notes and citation
Summary: Porphyry: the Stoics make God a consuming fire yet call him everlasting.
- Porphyry, Against Boethus, On the Soul (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Boeth. (Porphyry, Against Boethus, On the Soul; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.16.1 (Dindorf 2:371–372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.16.2Dindorf 2:372
ἀπαιτούμενοι δὲ πῶς τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐπιδιαμένει πῦρ ἀλλοῖον μὲν πῦρ οὐ λέγουσιν εἷναι, τὸ τοιοῦτον δʼ εἰπόντες καὶ πιστεύειν αὐτοῖς εἰποῦσιν ἀξιώσαντες, τῇ ἀλόγῳ ταύτῃ πίστει ἐπισυνάπτουσιν ὅτι καὶ ἀίδιόν ἐστι πῦρ, ἐκ μέρους καὶ τὸ αἰθέριον σβέννυσθαι καὶ ἀνάπτεσθαι τιθέντες. ἀλλὰ τὴν τούτων πρὸς μὲν τὰ αὑτῶν ἀβλεψίαν, πρὸς δὲ τὰ τῶν παλαιῶν ῥᾳθυμίαν τε καὶ καταφρόνησιν, τί ἄν τις ἐπιὼν ἐπὶ πλέον μηκύνοι;”
apaitoumenoi de pōs to toiouton epidiamenei pyr alloion men pyr ou legousin heinai, to toiouton dʼ eipontes kai pisteuein autois eipousin axiōsantes, tę̄ alogǭ tautę̄ pistei episynaptousin hoti kai aidion esti pyr, ek merous kai to aitherion sbennysthai kai anaptesthai tithentes. alla tēn toutōn pros men ta hautōn ablepsian, pros de ta tōn palaiōn rhąthymian te kai kataphronēsin, ti an tis epiōn epi pleon mēkynoi?”
And when asked how such fire endures, they do not say it is a different fire, but having said it is such and having thought it right to be believed when they say so, they add to this irrational belief that it is also everlasting fire, while holding that even the ethereal fire is in part quenched and kindled. But why should one go on at length about their blindness to their own views and their carelessness and contempt for those of the ancients?”
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics’ account of eternal divine fire is irrational.
- Porphyry, Against Boethus, On the Soul.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line-end hyphen and wrong mark in the digital text): τὰ αὑτόν ἀβλεψίαν → τὰ αὑτῶν ἀβλεψίαν; μη- κύνοι;" → μηκύνοι;”.
Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Boeth. (Porphyry, Against Boethus, On the Soul; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.16.2 (Dindorf 2:372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 15, chapter 17
15.17.1Dindorf 2:372
“Ἀλλὰ τί δή ἐστι τὸ ὅν; ἆρα ταυτὶ τὰ στοιχεῖα τὰ τέτταρα, ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πῦρ καὶ αἶ ἄλλαι δύο μεταξὺ φύσεις; ἆρα οὖν δὴ τὰ ὄντα ταῦτά ἐστιν, ἤτοι ξυλλήβδην ἢ καθʼ ἕν γέ τι αὐτῶν; καὶ πῶς, ἅ γέ ἐστι καὶ γεννητὰ καὶ παλινάγρετα‚ εἴ γε ἔστιν ὁρᾶν αὐτὰ ἐξ ἀλλήλων γινόμενα, καὶ ἐπαλλασσόμενα, καὶ μήτε στοιχεῖα ὑπάρχοντα μήτε συλλαβάς;
“Alla ti dē esti to hon? ara tauti ta stoicheia ta tettara, hē gē kai to pyr kai ai allai dyo metaxy physeis? ara oun dē ta onta tauta estin, ētoi xyllēbdēn ē kathʼ hen ge ti autōn? kai pōs, ha ge esti kai gennēta kai palinagreta‚ ei ge estin horan auta ex allēlōn ginomena, kai epallassomena, kai mēte stoicheia hyparchonta mēte syllabas?
“But what then is being? Is it these four elements, earth and fire and the two other natures between? Are these, then, the things that are, either all together or at least each of them singly? And how, when they are both generated and recurrent, if indeed one can see them coming to be from one another and changing places, and being neither elements nor syllables?
Notes and citation
Summary: Numenius: true being is not the four elements, which are generated and changing.
- Numenius, On the Good, fragment 3 (des Places).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line-end hyphen left in the digital text; stray mark and lost breathing in the digital text): “’Αλλὰ τί → “Ἀλλὰ τί; στοι- χεῖα → στοιχεῖα; καθʼ ἴν γέ τι → καθʼ ἕν γέ τι.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 3 (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.1 (Dindorf 2:372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.17.2Dindorf 2:372
σῶμα μὲν ταυτὶ οὕτως οὐκ ἂν εἴη τὸ ὄν. ἀλλʼ ἄρα ταυτὶ μὲν οὒ, ἡ δʼ ὕλη δύναται εἶναι ὄν· ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴ παντὸς μᾶλλον ἀδύνατον, ἀρρωστίᾳ τοῦ μένειν. ποταμὸς γὰρ ἡ ὕλη ῥοώδης καὶ ὀξύρροπος‚ βάθος καὶ πλάτος καὶ μῆκος ἀόριστος καὶ ἀνήνυτος.”
sōma men tauti houtōs ouk an eiē to on. allʼ ara tauti men ou, hē dʼ hylē dynatai einai on; alla kai autē pantos mallon adynaton, arrōstią tou menein. potamos gar hē hylē rhoōdēs kai oxyrropos‚ bathos kai platos kai mēkos aoristos kai anēnytos.”
Body, then, in this way would not be being. But perhaps not these, but matter can be being? But this too is wholly impossible, because of its weakness in remaining. For matter is a river, flowing and swift-rushing, indefinite and endless in depth and breadth and length.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Matter, a flowing river, cannot be being either.
- Numenius, fragment 3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text; stray mark in the digital text): παν- τὸς → παντὸς; τοῦ μ· ένειν → τοῦ μένειν.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 3 (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.2 (Dindorf 2:372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.17.3Dindorf 2:372
Καὶ μετὰ βραχέα ἐπιλέγει “Ὥστε καλῶς ὁ λόγος εἴρηκε, φὰς‚ εἰ ἔστιν ἄπειρος ἡ ὕλη‚ ἀόριστον εἶναι αὐτήν· εἰ δὲ ἀόριστος, ἄλογος· εἰ δὲ ἄλογος‚ ἄγνωστος. ἄγνωστον δέ γε οὖσαν αὐτὴν ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι ἄτακτον· ὡς τεταγμένα γνωσθῆναι πάνυ δήπουθεν ἂν εἴη ῥᾴδια· τὸ δὲ ἄτακτον οὐχ ἔστηκεν· ὅ τι δὲ μὴ ἕστηκεν οὐκ ἂν εἴη ὄν.
Kai meta brachea epilegei “Hōste kalōs ho logos eirēke, phas‚ ei estin apeiros hē hylē‚ aoriston einai autēn; ei de aoristos, alogos; ei de alogos‚ agnōstos. agnōston de ge ousan autēn anankaion einai atakton; hōs tetagmena gnōsthēnai pany dēpouthen an eiē rhądia; to de atakton ouch estēken; ho ti de mē hestēken ouk an eiē on.
And a little after he adds: “So that the argument has spoken well, saying that if matter is infinite it is indefinite; if indefinite, irrational; if irrational, unknowable. And being unknowable, it must be disordered; for ordered things would surely be very easy to know; and the disordered does not stand still; and what does not stand still could not be being.
Notes and citation
Summary: Infinite matter is indefinite, unknowable, disordered, and so not being.
- Numenius, fragment 4a (des Places).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text; quotation mark and breathing lost in the digital text): ἐπιλέγει Ὡστε → ἐπιλέγει “Ὥστε; ἄπει- ρος → ἄπειρος; ἄτα- κτον → ἄτακτον.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 4a (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.3 (Dindorf 2:372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.17.4Dindorf 2:372–373
τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ὅπερ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ὡμολογησάμεθα ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν, ταυτὶ πάντα συνενεχθῆναι τῷ ὄντι ἀθέμιστον εἷναι. δοξάτω μάλιστα μὲν πᾶσιν, εἰ δὲ μὴ‚ ἀλλʼ ἐμοί. οὐκοῦν φημὶ τὴν ὕλην οὔτε αὐτὴν οὔτε τὰ σώματα εἶναι ὄν.
touto de ēn hoper hēmin autois hōmologēsametha en tois emprosthen, tauti panta synenechthēnai tǭ onti athemiston heinai. doxatō malista men pasin, ei de mē‚ allʼ emoi. oukoun phēmi tēn hylēn oute autēn oute ta sōmata einai on.
This was what we agreed among ourselves before, that it is not lawful for all these to be brought together with being. Let it seem so above all to everyone, but if not, then to me. I say, then, that neither matter itself nor bodies are being.
Notes and citation
Summary: Neither matter nor bodies are being.
- Numenius, fragment 4a.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 4a (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.4 (Dindorf 2:372–373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.17.5Dindorf 2:373
τί οὖν δή; ἢ ἔχομεν παρὰ ταῦτα ἄλλο τι ἐν τῇ φύσει τῇ τῶν ὅλων; ναί· τοῦτο οὐδὲν εἰπεῖν ποικίλον, εἰ τόδε πρῶτον μὲν ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἅμα πειραθείημεν διαλεγόμενοι.
ti oun dē? ē echomen para tauta allo ti en tę̄ physei tę̄ tōn holōn? nai; touto ouden eipein poikilon, ei tode prōton men en hēmin autois hama peiratheiēmen dialegomenoi.
What then? Do we have something else besides these in the nature of the universe? Yes; and this is nothing intricate to say, if first we try it out at the same time in ourselves by discussion.
Notes and citation
Summary: There is something else besides matter and bodies.
- Numenius, fragment 4a.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): ἠ ἔχομεν → ἢ ἔχομεν.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 4a (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.5 (Dindorf 2:373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.17.6Dindorf 2:373
ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ σώματά ἐστι φύσει τεθνηκότα καὶ νεκρὰ καὶ πεφορημένα καὶ οὐδʼ ἐν ταὐτῷ μένοντα, ἆρʼ οὐχὶ τοῦ καθέξοντος αὐτοῖς δεῖ; παντὸς μᾶλλον.
epei de ta sōmata esti physei tethnēkota kai nekra kai pephorēmena kai oudʼ en tautǭ menonta, arʼ ouchi tou kathexontos autois dei? pantos mallon.
Since bodies are by nature dead and lifeless and carried about and not remaining in the same state, do they not need something to hold them together? Above all.
Notes and citation
Summary: Bodies, lifeless and unstable, need something to hold them together.
- Numenius, fragment 4a.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 4a (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.6 (Dindorf 2:373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.17.7Dindorf 2:373
εἰ μὴ τύχοι δὲ τούτου, ἄρα μείνειεν ἄν; παντὸς ἧττον. τί οὑν ἐστι τὸ κατασχῆσον; εἰ μὲν δὴ καὶ τοῦτο εἴη σῶμα, Δῖός σωτῆρος δοκεῖ ἂν ἐμοὶ δεηθῆναι αὐτὸ παραλυόμενον καὶ σκιδνάμενον.
ei mē tychoi de toutou, ara meineien an? pantos hētton. ti houn esti to kataschēson? ei men dē kai touto eiē sōma, Dios sōtēros dokei an emoi deēthēnai auto paralyomenon kai skidnamenon.
And if they did not meet with this, would they remain? Least of all. What, then, is that which will hold them? If this too were body, it seems to me it would itself need Zeus the Savior, being loosened and scattered.
Notes and citation
Summary: What holds bodies together cannot itself be a body.
- Numenius, fragment 4a.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 4a (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.7 (Dindorf 2:373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.17.8Dindorf 2:373
εἰ μέντοι χρὴ αὐτὸ ἀπηλλάχθαι τῆς τῶν σωμάτων πάθης, ἵνα κἀκείνοις κεκυημένοις τὴν φθορὰν ἀμύνειν δύνηται καὶ κατέχῃ‚ ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ δοκεῖ ἄλλο τι εἶναι ἢ μόνον γε τὸ ἀσώματον· αὕτη γὰρ δὴ φύσεων πασῶν μόνη ἕστηκε‚ καὶ ἔστιν ἀραρυῖα καὶ οὐδὲν σωματική. οὔτε γοῦν γίνεται οὔτε αὔξεται οὔτε κίνησιν κινεῖται ἄλλην οὐδεμίαν‚ καὶ διὰ ταῦτα καλῶς δίκαιον ἐφάνη πρεσβεῦσαι τὸ ἀσώματον.”
ei mentoi chrē auto apēllachthai tēs tōn sōmatōn pathēs, hina kakeinois kekyēmenois tēn phthoran amynein dynētai kai katechę̄‚ emoi men ou dokei allo ti einai ē monon ge to asōmaton; hautē gar dē physeōn pasōn monē hestēke‚ kai estin araruia kai ouden sōmatikē. oute goun ginetai oute auxetai oute kinēsin kineitai allēn oudemian‚ kai dia tauta kalōs dikaion ephanē presbeusai to asōmaton.”
But if it must be free from the affections of bodies, so that it can ward off destruction from those that have been conceived and hold them, it seems to me that it is nothing else than the incorporeal alone. For this alone of all natures stands still, and is fixed, and is in no way bodily. It neither comes to be nor grows nor moves with any other motion; and for these reasons it rightly appeared just to honor the incorporeal first.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Numenius: only the incorporeal is stable being and holds bodies together.
- Numenius, fragment 4a.
Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 4a (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.17.8 (Dindorf 2:373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-17-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Preparation 15, chapter 18
15.18.1Dindorf 2:373
“Ἀρέσκει δὲ τοῖς πρεσβυτάτοις τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς αἱρέσεως ταύτης ἐξαιθεροῦσθαι πάντα, κατὰ περιόδους τινὰς τὰς μεγίστας εἰς πῦρ αἰθερῶδες ἀναλυομένων πάντων. Καὶ ἑξῆς ἐπάγει
“Areskei de tois presbytatois tōn apo tēs haireseōs tautēs exaitherousthai panta, kata periodous tinas tas megistas eis pyr aitherōdes analyomenōn pantōn. Kai hexēs epagei
“The oldest of this school hold that all things become ether, all things being dissolved, at certain very long periods, into ethereal fire.” And next he adds:
Notes and citation
Summary: Arius Didymus: the oldest Stoics held that all things periodically dissolve into ethereal fire.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome (fragment 36 Diels).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (page subdivision letter and wrong mark in the digital text): ‘Ἀρέσκει δὲ τοῖς πρεσβυτάτοις τῶν ἀπὸ b τῆς → “Ἀρέσκει δὲ τοῖς πρεσβυτάτοις τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.18.1 (Dindorf 2:373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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15.18.2Dindorf 2:373–374
“ Ἐκ τούτων δὲ δῆλον ὅτι Χρύσιππος ἐπὶ τῆς οὐσίας οὐ ταύτην παρείληφε τὴν σύγχυσιν· ἀδύνατον γάρ· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀντὶ τῆς μεταβολῆς λεγομένην. οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου κατὰ περιόδους τῆς μεγίστης γινομένης φθορᾶς κυρίως παραλαμβάνουσι τὴν φθορὰν οἱ τὴν εἰς πῦρ ἀνάλυσιν τῶν ὅλων δογματίζοντες‚ ἣν δὴ καλοῦσιν ἐκπύρωσιν‚ ἀλλʼ ἀντὶ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν μεταβολῆς χρῶνται τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τῆς φθορᾶς.
“ Ek toutōn de dēlon hoti Chrysippos epi tēs ousias ou tautēn pareilēphe tēn synchysin; adynaton gar; alla tēn anti tēs metabolēs legomenēn. ou gar epi tēs tou kosmou kata periodous tēs megistēs ginomenēs phthoras kyriōs paralambanousi tēn phthoran hoi tēn eis pyr analysin tōn holōn dogmatizontes‚ hēn dē kalousin ekpyrōsin‚ allʼ anti tēs kata physin metabolēs chrōntai tę̄ prosēgorią tēs phthoras.
“From this it is clear that Chrysippus did not take, in the case of substance, this confusion, for it is impossible, but the one spoken of in place of change. For those who teach the dissolution of the universe into fire, which they call conflagration, do not use “destruction” properly of the world’s destruction that happens in the greatest periods, but use the name of destruction in place of change according to nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: For the Stoics the world’s “destruction” in the conflagration is a natural change, not annihilation.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome (fragment 36 Diels).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text; line-end hyphen left in the digital text): γινομένης φθορὰς κυρίως → γινομένης φθορᾶς κυρίως; τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τῆς φθορὰς. → τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τῆς φθορᾶς.; δογματί- ζοντες → δογματίζοντες.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.18.2 (Dindorf 2:373–374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.18.3Dindorf 2:374
ἀρέσκει γὰρ τοῖς Στωϊκοῖς φιλοσόφοις τὴν ὅλην οὐσίαν εἰς πῦρ μεταβάλλειν, οἷον εἰς σπέρμα, καὶ πάλιν ἐκ τούτου αὐτὴν ἀποτελεῖσθαι τὴν διακόσμησιν‚ οἵα τὸ πρότερον ἦν. καὶ τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς αἱρέσεως οἶ πρῶτοι καὶ πρεσβύτατοι προσήκαντο‚ Ζήνων τε καὶ Κλεάνθης καὶ Χρύσιππος. τὸν μὲν γὰρ τούτου μαθητὴν καὶ διάδοχον τῆς σχολῆς Ζήνωνά φασιν ἐπισχεῖν περὶ τῆς ἐκπυρώσεως τῶν ὅλων.”
areskei gar tois Stōïkois philosophois tēn holēn ousian eis pyr metaballein, hoion eis sperma, kai palin ek toutou autēn apoteleisthai tēn diakosmēsin‚ hoia to proteron ēn. kai touto to dogma tōn apo tēs haireseōs oi prōtoi kai presbytatoi prosēkanto‚ Zēnōn te kai Kleanthēs kai Chrysippos. ton men gar toutou mathētēn kai diadochon tēs scholēs Zēnōna phasin epischein peri tēs ekpyrōseōs tōn holōn.”
For the Stoic philosophers hold that the whole substance changes into fire, as into a seed, and again from this the ordering is completed such as it was before. And this doctrine was accepted by the first and oldest of the school, Zeno and Cleanthes and Chrysippus. For Zeno, his pupil and successor in the school, they say suspended judgment about the conflagration of the universe.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Zeno, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus taught the conflagration; the later Zeno doubted it.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome. “His pupil” refers to Chrysippus; the later Zeno is Zeno of Tarsus.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text; line-end hyphen left in the digital text): οἴα τὸ πρότερον → οἵα τὸ πρότερον; σπέρ- μα → σπέρμα.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.18.3 (Dindorf 2:374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Preparation 15, chapter 19
15.19.1Dindorf 2:374
“Ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ προελθὼν ὁ κοινὸς λόγος, καὶ κοινὴ φύσις μείζων καὶ πλείων γενομένη τέλος ἀναξηράνασα πάντα καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἀναλαβοῦσα, ἐν τῇ πάσῃ οὐσίᾳ γίνεται, ἐπανελθοῦσα εἰς τὸν πρῶτον ῥηθέντα λόγον καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐκείνην τὴν ποιοῦσαν ἐνιαυτὸν τὸν μέγιστον, καθʼ ὃν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς μόνης εἰς αὐτὴν πάλιν γίνεται ἡ ἀποκατάστασις.
“Epi tosouton de proelthōn ho koinos logos, kai koinē physis meizōn kai pleiōn genomenē telos anaxēranasa panta kai eis heautēn analabousa, en tę̄ pasę̄ ousią ginetai, epanelthousa eis ton prōton rhēthenta logon kai eis tēn anastasin ekeinēn tēn poiousan eniauton ton megiston, kathʼ hon apʼ autēs monēs eis autēn palin ginetai hē apokatastasis.
“The common reason having advanced so far, and the common nature having become greater and fuller, having at last dried up all things and taken them up into itself, it comes to be in the whole substance, having returned to the first-mentioned account and to that resurrection that makes the greatest year, in which the restoration takes place from itself alone back into itself.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoic Great Year: nature absorbs all into itself and is restored.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome (fragment 37 Diels).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): λό- γος → λόγος; ἀποκατάστα- σις → ἀποκατάστασις.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.19.1 (Dindorf 2:374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.19.2Dindorf 2:374
ἐπανελθοῦσα δὲ διὰ τάξιν, ἀφʼ οἵας διακοσμεῖν ὡσαύτως ἤρξατο, κατὰ λόγον πάλιν τὴν αὐτὴν διεξαγωγὴν ποιεῖται, τῶν τοιούτων περιόδων ἐξ ἀϊδίου γινομένων ἀκαταπαύστως. οὔτε γὰρ τῆς ἀρχῆς αἰτίαν καὶ πᾶσιν οἷόν τε γίνεσθαι οὔτε τοῦ διοικοῦντος αὐτά.
epanelthousa de dia taxin, aphʼ hoias diakosmein hōsautōs ērxato, kata logon palin tēn autēn diexagōgēn poieitai, tōn toioutōn periodōn ex aïdiou ginomenōn akatapaustōs. oute gar tēs archēs aitian kai pasin hoion te ginesthai oute tou dioikountos auta.
Having returned through order, from such an arrangement as it began to order things in the same way, it again makes the same course according to reason, such periods taking place from eternity without ceasing. For it is not possible for there to be a cause of the beginning and for all things, nor of what governs them.
Notes and citation
Summary: The cycles of conflagration and renewal go on eternally.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome. The last sentence is uncertain in the text; translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): δια- κοσμεῖν → διακοσμεῖν; αὐ- τὴν → αὐτὴν.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.19.2 (Dindorf 2:374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-19-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.19.3Dindorf 2:374
οὐσίαν τε γὰρ τοῖς γινομένοις ὑφεστάναι δεῖ, πεφυκυῖαν ἀναδέχεσθαι τὰς μεταβολὰς πάσας, καὶ τὸ δημιουργῆσαν ἐξ αὐτῆς. οἵα γὰρ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν τίς ἐστι φύσις δημιουργοῦσα‚ τοιούτου τινὸς κατʼ ἀνάγκην ὄντος καὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἀγεννήτου· γενέσεως γὰρ ἀρχὴν οὐχ οἷόν τε εἶναι ἐπὶ τῆς φύσεως ταύτης. ὃν τρόπον δʼ ἀγέννητός ἐστι καὶ ἀναιρεθῆναι ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν αὐτὴν, οὔτε αὐτῆς ἐξ αὑτῆς οὔτε ἔξωθέν τινος ἀναιρήσοντος αὐτήν.”
ousian te gar tois ginomenois hyphestanai dei, pephykuian anadechesthai tas metabolas pasas, kai to dēmiourgēsan ex autēs. hoia gar ephʼ hēmōn tis esti physis dēmiourgousa‚ toioutou tinos katʼ anankēn ontos kai en tǭ kosmǭ agennētou; geneseōs gar archēn ouch hoion te einai epi tēs physeōs tautēs. hon tropon dʼ agennētos esti kai anairethēnai adynaton estin autēn, oute autēs ex hautēs oute exōthen tinos anairēsontos autēn.”
For a substance must underlie the things that come to be, of a nature to receive all the changes, and that which fashions from it. For as in us there is a certain fashioning nature, so of necessity there is something of the kind in the world too, ungenerated; for there cannot be a beginning of generation in the case of this nature. And as it is ungenerated, so it is impossible for it to be destroyed, either by itself or by anything outside destroying it.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The underlying substance and the fashioning nature are ungenerated and indestructible.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.19.3 (Dindorf 2:374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-19-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 15, chapter 20
15.20.1Dindorf 2:374–375
“ Τὸ δὲ σπέρμα φησὶν ὁ Ζήνων εἷναι ὃ μεθίησιν ἄνθρωπος πνεῦμα μεθʼ ὑγροῦ‚ ψυχῆς μέρος καὶ ἀπόσπασμα, καὶ τοῦ σπέρματος τοῦ τῶν προγόνων κέρασμα καὶ μίγμα τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς μερῶν συνεληλυθός· ἔχον γὰρ τοὺς λόγους τῷ ὅλῳ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τοῦτο, ὅταν ἀφεθῇ εἰς τὴν μήτραν, συλληφθὲν ὑπʼ ἄλλου πνεύματος, μέρος ψυχῆς τῆς τοῦ θήλεος καὶ συμφυὲς γενόμενον, κρυφθέν τε φύει κινούμενον καὶ ἀναρριπιζόμενον ὑπʼ ἐκείνου, προσλαμβάνον ἀεὶ εἰς τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ αὐξάνον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ.”
“ To de sperma phēsin ho Zēnōn heinai ho methiēsin anthrōpos pneuma methʼ hygrou‚ psychēs meros kai apospasma, kai tou spermatos tou tōn progonōn kerasma kai migma tōn tēs psychēs merōn synelēlythos; echon gar tous logous tǭ holǭ tous autous touto, hotan aphethę̄ eis tēn mētran, syllēphthen hypʼ allou pneumatos, meros psychēs tēs tou thēleos kai symphyes genomenon, kryphthen te phyei kinoumenon kai anarripizomenon hypʼ ekeinou, proslambanon aei eis to hygron kai auxanon ex heautou.”
“The seed, Zeno says, which a man emits is breath with moisture, a part and fragment of soul, and a blend and mixture of the seed of the ancestors, come together from the parts of the soul. For having the same principles as the whole, when it is released into the womb, it is caught by another breath, becoming a part of the soul of the female and grown together with it, and hidden, it grows, being moved and fanned by it, always taking in more moisture and increasing of itself.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Zeno on human seed as a fragment of soul that grows in the womb.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome (fragment 38 Diels); Zeno, fragment 128 (von Arnim).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): με- θίησιν → μεθίησιν; συνε- ληλυθός → συνεληλυθός.
Extrabiblical texts: Zeno of Citium, Zeno fr. 128 (Zeno of Citium; quotation); Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.1 (Dindorf 2:374–375; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.20.2Dindorf 2:375
Καὶ μετὰ βραχέα ἐπιλέγει “Περὶ δὲ ψυχῆς Κλεάνθης μὲν τὰ Ζήνωνος δόγματα παρατιθέμενος πρὸς σύγκρισιν τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους φυσικούς φησιν ὅτι Ζήνων τὴν ψυχὴν λέγει αἴσθησιν, ἢ ἀναθυμίασιν, καθάπερ Ἡράκλειτος. βουλόμενος γὰρ ἐμφανίσαι ὅτι αἱ ψυχαὶ ἀναθυμιώμεναι νοεραὶ ἀεὶ γίνονται εἴκασεν αὐτὰς τοῖς ποταμοῖς, λέγων οὕτως ‘ποταμοῖσι τοῖσίν αὐτοῖσιν ἐμβαίνουσιν ἕτερα καὶ ἕτερα ὕδατα ἐπιρρεῖ· καὶ ψυχαὶ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ὑγρῶν ἀναθυμιῶνται.’
Kai meta brachea epilegei “Peri de psychēs Kleanthēs men ta Zēnōnos dogmata paratithemenos pros synkrisin tēn pros tous allous physikous phēsin hoti Zēnōn tēn psychēn legei aisthēsin, ē anathymiasin, kathaper Hērakleitos. boulomenos gar emphanisai hoti hai psychai anathymiōmenai noerai aei ginontai eikasen autas tois potamois, legōn houtōs ‘potamoisi toisin autoisin embainousin hetera kai hetera hydata epirrei; kai psychai de apo tōn hygrōn anathymiōntai.’
And a little after he adds: “About the soul, Cleanthes, setting out the doctrines of Zeno for comparison with the other natural philosophers, says that Zeno calls the soul a perceptive exhalation, as Heraclitus does. For wishing to show that souls, being exhaled, always become intelligent, he likened them to rivers, saying thus: ‘On those who step into the same rivers, different and different waters flow; and souls too are exhaled from what is moist.’
Notes and citation
Summary: Zeno, like Heraclitus, called the soul an exhalation, likened to the flowing river.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome (fragment 39 Diels); Cleanthes, fragment 519 (von Arnim); Heraclitus, fragment B 12. “Perceptive exhalation” follows the sense of 15.20.3; the text reads “perception or exhalation.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; wrong mark in the digital text): ἐπιλέγει ‘Περὶ δὲ → ἐπιλέγει “Περὶ δὲ; δόγρματα → δόγματα.
Extrabiblical texts: Cleanthes, fr. 519 (Cleanthes (fragments); quotation); Heraclitus, fr. B 12 (Heraclitus (fragments); quotation); Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.2 (Dindorf 2:375; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.20.3Dindorf 2:375
ἀναθυμίασιν μὲν οὖν ὁμοίως τῷ Ἡρακλείτῳ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀποφαίνει Ζήνων, αἰσθητικὴν δὲ αὐτὴν εἶναι διὰ τοῦτο λέγει ὅτι τυποῦσθαί γε δύναται τὸ μέρος τὸ ἡγούμενον αὐτῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ὄντων καὶ ὑπαρχόντων διὰ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων καὶ παραδέχεσθαι τὰς τυπώσεις. ταῦτα γὰρ ἴδια ψυχῆς ἐστι.”
anathymiasin men oun homoiōs tǭ Hērakleitǭ tēn psychēn apophainei Zēnōn, aisthētikēn de autēn einai dia touto legei hoti typousthai ge dynatai to meros to hēgoumenon autēs apo tōn ontōn kai hyparchontōn dia tōn aisthētēriōn kai paradechesthai tas typōseis. tauta gar idia psychēs esti.”
Zeno, then, declares the soul an exhalation, as Heraclitus does, and he says it is perceptive for this reason, that its ruling part can be impressed by the things that are and exist through the organs of sense and receive the impressions. For these are properties of the soul.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul’s ruling part receives impressions through the senses.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.3 (Dindorf 2:375; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.20.4Dindorf 2:375
Καὶ μεθʼ ἕτερα “Εἶναι δὲ ψυχὴν ἐν τῷ ὅλῳ φασὶν, ὃ καλοῦσιν αἰθέρα, καὶ ἀέρα κύκλῳ περὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ θάλασσαν, καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἀναθυμιάσεις· τὰς δὲ λοιπὰς ψυχὰς προσπεφυκέναι ταύτῃ, ὅσαι τε ἐν ζῴοις εἰσὶ καὶ ὅσαι ἐν τῷ περιέχοντι· διαμένειν γὰρ τὰς τῶν ἀποθανόντων ψυχάς.
Kai methʼ hetera “Einai de psychēn en tǭ holǭ phasin, ho kalousin aithera, kai aera kyklǭ peri tēn gēn kai thalassan, kai ek toutōn anathymiaseis; tas de loipas psychas prospephykenai tautę̄, hosai te en zǭois eisi kai hosai en tǭ periechonti; diamenein gar tas tōn apothanontōn psychas.
And after other things: “They say there is a soul in the whole, which they call ether, and air round about the earth and sea, and exhalations from these; and that the other souls are joined to this, both those in living beings and those in the surrounding air; for the souls of the dead remain.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics held a world-soul to which other souls are joined, and that the souls of the dead survive.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome (fragment 39 Diels).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong mark and lost breathing in the digital text): Καὶ μεθʼ ἕτερα ῾Εἶναι → Καὶ μεθʼ ἕτερα “Εἶναι.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.4 (Dindorf 2:375; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.20.5Dindorf 2:375–376
ἔνιοι δὲ τὴν μὲν τοῦ ὅλου ἀΐδιον, τὰς δὲ λοιπὰς συμμίγνυσθαι ἐπὶ τελευτῇ ἐκείνην. ἔχειν δὲ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ἡγεμονικόν τι ἐν αὑτῇ, ὃ δὴ ζωὴ καὶ αἴσθησίς ἐστι καὶ ὁρμή.”
enioi de tēn men tou holou aïdion, tas de loipas symmignysthai epi teleutę̄ ekeinēn. echein de pasan psychēn hēgemonikon ti en hautę̄, ho dē zōē kai aisthēsis esti kai hormē.”
Some say that the soul of the whole is everlasting, while the others are mingled with it at their end. And every soul has some ruling part in itself, which is life and perception and impulse.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Some held only the world-soul eternal; each soul has a ruling part.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.5 (Dindorf 2:375–376; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.20.6Dindorf 2:376
Καὶ ἔτι μετʼ ὀλίγα “Τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν γεννητήν τε καὶ φθαρτὴν λέγουσιν· οὐκ εὐθὺς δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἀπαλλαγεῖσαν φθείρεσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐπιμένειν τινὰς χρόνους καθʼ ἑαυτήν· τὴν μὲν τῶν σπουδαίων μέχρι τῆς εἰς πῦρ ἀναλύσεως τῶν πάντων, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἀφρόνων πρὸς ποσούς τινας χρόνους.
Kai eti metʼ oliga “Tēn de psychēn gennētēn te kai phthartēn legousin; ouk euthys de tou sōmatos apallageisan phtheiresthai, allʼ epimenein tinas chronous kathʼ heautēn; tēn men tōn spoudaiōn mechri tēs eis pyr analyseōs tōn pantōn, tēn de tōn aphronōn pros posous tinas chronous.
And again a little after: “They say that the soul is generated and perishable; but it does not perish at once on being released from the body, but remains for some times by itself; that of the good until the dissolution of all things into fire, that of the foolish for certain periods.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics: souls survive for a time, the good until the conflagration.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.6 (Dindorf 2:376; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.20.7Dindorf 2:376
τὸ δὲ διαμένειν τὰς ψυχὰς οὕτω λέγουσιν, ὅτι διαμένομεν ἡμεῖς ψυχαὶ γινόμενοι τοῦ σώματος χωρισθέντος καὶ εἰς ἐλάττω μεταβαλόντος οὐσίαν τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς. τὰς δὲ τῶν ἀφρόνων καὶ ἀλόγων ζῴων ψυχὰς συναπόλλυσθαι τοῖς σώμασι.”
to de diamenein tas psychas houtō legousin, hoti diamenomen hēmeis psychai ginomenoi tou sōmatos chōristhentos kai eis elattō metabalontos ousian tēn tēs psychēs. tas de tōn aphronōn kai alogōn zǭōn psychas synapollysthai tois sōmasi.”
And they speak of souls remaining in this sense: that we remain, becoming souls, when the body is separated and we change into the lesser substance of the soul. But the souls of the foolish and of irrational animals perish with their bodies.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Souls of the foolish and of animals perish with the body.
- Arius Didymus, Epitome.
Extrabiblical texts: Arius Didymus (Arius Didymus, Epitome of Plato’s Doctrines; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.7 (Dindorf 2:376; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.20.8Dindorf 2:376
Τοιαῦτα καὶ τὰ τῆς Στωϊκῆς φιλοσοφίας δόγματα ἀπὸ τῶν Ἐπιτομῶν Ἀρείου Διδύμου συνειλεγμένα. πρὸς δὲ τὴν περὶ ψυχῆς ἄτοπον τῶν ἀνδρῶν δόξαν ἀπαρκεῖ τὰ παρὰ Λογγίνῳ τῷ καθʼ ἡμὰς συντόμως ἀντειρημένα διὰ τούτων
Toiauta kai ta tēs Stōïkēs philosophias dogmata apo tōn Epitomōn Areiou Didymou syneilegmena. pros de tēn peri psychēs atopon tōn andrōn doxan aparkei ta para Longinǭ tǭ kathʼ hēmas syntomōs anteirēmena dia toutōn
Such are the doctrines of the Stoic philosophy, collected from the Epitomes of Arius Didymus. Against the men’s absurd opinion about the soul, the brief refutations by Longinus, of our own time, suffice, in these words:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces Longinus against the Stoic view of the soul.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): συν- τόμως → συντόμως.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.20.8 (Dindorf 2:376; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-20-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
Preparation 15, chapter 21
15.21.1Dindorf 2:376–377
“Συνελόντι δʼ εἰπεῖν, πόρρω μοι δοκοῦσιν ἀφεστηκέναι τοῦ τὰ δέοντα λογίζεσθαι πάντες ἐφεξῆς ὁπόσοι τὴν ψυχὴν σῶμα ἀπεφήναντο. πῶς γὰρ ὅλως ἐγχωρεῖ παραπλήσιον εἶναί τινι τῶν στοιχείων τὸ κατʼ αὐτὴν θεῖναι; ποῦ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς κράσεις καὶ μίξεις ἀνενεγκεῖν; αἳ κατὰ πολλοὺς γιγνόμεναι τρόπους ἄλλων μὲν ἀμυθήτων ἰδέας σωμάτων ἀπογεννᾶν πεφύκασιν, ἐν οἶς εἰ καὶ μὴ συνεχῶς, ἀλλʼ οὖν πόρρωθεν ἰδεῖν ἔνι τὴν τῶν στοιχείων αἰτίαν καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ δεύτερα καὶ τρίτα τῶν πρώτων ἀφορμήν. τῶν δὲ περὶ ψυχὴν ἴχνος οὐδὲν οὐδὲ τεκμήριον ἐν τοῖς σώμασιν εὑρίσκεται, κἂν εἰ φιλοτιμοῖτό τις, ὡς Ἐπίκουρος καὶ Χρύσιππος, ἅπαντα λίθον κινεῖν καὶ πᾶσαν ἐρευνᾶν δύναμιν σώματος εἰς γένεσιν τῶν περὶ ψυχῆς πράξεων.
“Synelonti dʼ eipein, porrō moi dokousin aphestēkenai tou ta deonta logizesthai pantes ephexēs hoposoi tēn psychēn sōma apephēnanto. pōs gar holōs enchōrei paraplēsion einai tini tōn stoicheiōn to katʼ autēn theinai? pou de epi tas kraseis kai mixeis anenenkein? hai kata pollous gignomenai tropous allōn men amythētōn ideas sōmatōn apogennan pephykasin, en ois ei kai mē synechōs, allʼ oun porrōthen idein eni tēn tōn stoicheiōn aitian kai tēn pros ta deutera kai trita tōn prōtōn aphormēn. tōn de peri psychēn ichnos ouden oude tekmērion en tois sōmasin heurisketai, kan ei philotimoito tis, hōs Epikouros kai Chrysippos, hapanta lithon kinein kai pasan ereunan dynamin sōmatos eis genesin tōn peri psychēs praxeōn.
“To speak briefly, all those in succession who have declared the soul to be a body seem to me to have strayed far from reasoning as one should. For how is it at all possible to make what belongs to it similar to any of the elements? And where could one refer it to blends and mixtures? These, coming about in many ways, are of a nature to beget the forms of countless other bodies, in which, if not continuously, yet at a distance one can see the cause in the elements and the starting point of the first toward the second and third. But of the things of the soul no trace or sign is found in bodies, even if one were eager, like Epicurus and Chrysippus, to move every stone and search every power of body for the origin of the acts of the soul.
Notes and citation
Summary: Longinus: no bodily element or mixture can account for the soul.
- Longinus (fragment, known only from Eusebius).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line-end hyphen left in the digital text; wrong mark in the digital text): "Συνελόντι → “Συνελόντι; ἀπἱφήναντο → ἀπεφήναντο; μί- ξεις → μίξεις; πόρ- ρωθεν → πόρρωθεν.
Extrabiblical texts: Epicurus (Epicurus (sayings and fragments); allusion); Chrysippus (Chrysippus; allusion); Longinus (Longinus (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.21.1 (Dindorf 2:376–377; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.21.2Dindorf 2:377
τί γὰρ ἡ τοῦ πνεύματος ἡμῖν λεπτότης πρὸ ἔργου γένοιτʼ ἂν εἰς φαντασίας καὶ λογισμούς; τί δέ; τῶν ἀτόμων σχῆμα τοσαύτην παρὰ τὰ ἄλλα ἔχει δύναμιν καὶ τροπὴν, ὥστε φρόνησιν γεννᾶν, ὅταν εἰς ἑτέρου πλάσιν ἐγκαταμιχθῇ σώματος; οἶμαι μὲν ὡς οὐδʼ εἰ τῶν Ἡφαίστου τις ὢν τύχοι τριπόδων καὶ θεραπαινῶν, (ὧν φησιν Ὅμηρος τοὺς μὲν αὐτομάτους εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα διʼ αὑτῶν χωρεῖν, τὰς δὲ συνεργάζεσθαι τῷ δεσπότῃ, καὶ μηδενὸς οἴων οἶ ζῶντες ἔχουσι πλεονεκτημάτων ἀπολείπεσθαι) μή τί γε δὴ τῶν ἐκ ταὐτομάτου ψηγμάτων, καὶ αὖ τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν αἰγιαλῶν προσέοικε λίθοις, εἰς τὸ δύνασθαί τι περιττότερον ποιεῖν πρὸς αἴσθησιν.
ti gar hē tou pneumatos hēmin leptotēs pro ergou genoitʼ an eis phantasias kai logismous? ti de? tōn atomōn schēma tosautēn para ta alla echei dynamin kai tropēn, hōste phronēsin gennan, hotan eis heterou plasin enkatamichthę̄ sōmatos? oimai men hōs oudʼ ei tōn Hēphaistou tis ōn tychoi tripodōn kai therapainōn, (hōn phēsin Homēros tous men automatous eis ton agōna diʼ hautōn chōrein, tas de synergazesthai tǭ despotę̄, kai mēdenos oiōn oi zōntes echousi pleonektēmatōn apoleipesthai) mē ti ge dē tōn ek tautomatou psēgmatōn, kai au tois epi tōn aigialōn proseoike lithois, eis to dynasthai ti perittoteron poiein pros aisthēsin.
For what would the fineness of breath contribute for us to impressions and reasonings? And what? Has the shape of atoms so much power beyond the others, and such turning, as to beget wisdom when mixed into the molding of another body? I think that not even if one should happen to be one of the tripods and handmaids of Hephaestus (of whom Homer says that the former went of themselves to the assembly, and the latter worked with their master, and lacked none of the advantages the living have), still less one of the particles of chance, which are like the stones on the beaches, would it be able to do anything more extraordinary for perception.
Notes and citation
Summary: Atoms or breath could no more produce thought than Hephaestus’ automata.
- Longinus; Homer, Iliad 18.373–377, 417–420.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): (ὡν φησιν → (ὧν φησιν; τῶν ἔκ ταὐτομάτου → τῶν ἐκ ταὐτομάτου.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 18.373–377 (Homer, Iliad; allusion); Homer, Il. 18.417–420 (Homer, Iliad; allusion); Longinus (Longinus (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.21.2 (Dindorf 2:377; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-21-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.
15.21.3Dindorf 2:377–378
Ζήνωνι μὲν γὰρ καὶ Κλεάνθει νεμεσήσειέ τις ἂν δικαίως οὕτω σφόδρα ὑβριστικῶς περὶ αὐτῆς διαλεχθεῖσι καὶ ταὐτὸν ἄμφω τοῦ στερεοῦ σώματος εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναθυμίασιν φήσασι. τί γὰρ, ὠ πρὸς θεῶν, κοινὸν ὅλως ἀναθυμιάσει καὶ ψυχῇ; ποῦ δὲ ἐγχωρεῖ νομίσαντας τούτῳ προσεοικέναι τήν θʼ ἡμετέραν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων οὐσίαν, τοῦτο μὲν φαντασίας καὶ μνήμας οἵους τε εἶναι σώζειν διαρκεῖς, τοῦτο δὲ ὁρμὰς καὶ βουλήσεις τῶν λυσιτελούντων εἰς σύνεσιν πραγμάτων; ἦ τἄρα καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ τὸν διὰ πάντων παρήκοντα ὁμοίως ἐπιγείων τε καὶ οὐρανίων εἰς ἀναθυμίασιν καὶ καπνὸν καὶ τοιαύτην φλυαρίαν καταθήσομεν, καὶ οὐδὲ τοὺς ποιητὰς αἰσχυνόμεθα, οἳ καίπερ ἀκριβῆ σύνεσιν τῶν θεῶν οὐκ ἔχοντες, ὅμως τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῆς κοινῆς ἐπινοίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὰ δὲ ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας τῶν Μουσῶν, ἣ κινεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ ταῦτα πέφυκε, σεμνότερα εἰρήκασι περὶ αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἀναθυμιάσεις, οὐδʼ ἀέρας, οὐδὲ πνεύματα καὶ λήρους;” Ταῦτά σοι καὶ ὁ Λογγῖνος. ἐπάκουσον δὲ καὶ Πλωτίνου τὰ τοιάδε πρὸς τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀποτεινομένου
Zēnōni men gar kai Kleanthei nemesēseie tis an dikaiōs houtō sphodra hybristikōs peri autēs dialechtheisi kai tauton amphō tou stereou sōmatos einai tēn psychēn anathymiasin phēsasi. ti gar, ō pros theōn, koinon holōs anathymiasei kai psychę̄? pou de enchōrei nomisantas toutǭ proseoikenai tēn thʼ hēmeteran kai tēn tōn allōn zǭōn ousian, touto men phantasias kai mnēmas hoious te einai sōzein diarkeis, touto de hormas kai boulēseis tōn lysitelountōn eis synesin pragmatōn? ē tara kai tous theous kai ton dia pantōn parēkonta homoiōs epigeiōn te kai ouraniōn eis anathymiasin kai kapnon kai toiautēn phlyarian katathēsomen, kai oude tous poiētas aischynometha, hoi kaiper akribē synesin tōn theōn ouk echontes, homōs ta men ek tēs koinēs epinoias tōn anthrōpōn, ta de ex epipnoias tōn Mousōn, hē kinein autous epi tauta pephyke, semnotera eirēkasi peri autōn, kai ouk anathymiaseis, oudʼ aeras, oude pneumata kai lērous?” Tauta soi kai ho Longinos. epakouson de kai Plōtinou ta toiade pros tous autous apoteinomenou
One might justly be indignant with Zeno and Cleanthes for speaking so very insolently about it, both saying that the soul is an exhalation of the solid body. For what, by the gods, has exhalation in common with soul at all? And how is it possible, thinking that our substance and that of the other animals is like this, that it can preserve lasting impressions and memories, and impulses and wishes for things profitable to understanding? Shall we then put the gods too, and him who pervades all things alike, earthly and heavenly, down as exhalation and smoke and such nonsense, and not even be ashamed before the poets, who, though they have no exact understanding of the gods, yet, partly from the common notion of men, partly from the inspiration of the Muses, which naturally moves them to these things, have said more solemn things about them, and not exhalations or airs or breaths and nonsense?” So much for you from Longinus. Hear also these words of Plotinus, addressed to the same men:
Notes and citation
Summary: Longinus: calling the soul an exhalation is insulting; even the poets speak more worthily of the gods.
- Longinus. The text reads “of the solid body” (στερεοῦ σώματος); compare 15.20.2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin letter and OCR slip in the digital text; OCR slip; OCR slips; capital letter in the digital text; words run together in the digital text): εἰς σύνεσιν αραγμάτων; ἠ τἄρα → εἰς σύνεσιν πραγμάτων; ἦ τἄρα; ἐπὶ ταπυτα πέφυκε → ἐπὶ ταῦτα πέφυκε; εἰρήκασιπερὶ → εἰρήκασι περὶ; Tαῦτά σοι καὶ ὁ Λογγπινος → Ταῦτά σοι καὶ ὁ Λογγῖνος; Αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ → αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ.
Extrabiblical texts: Longinus (Longinus (fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 15.21.3 (Dindorf 2:377–378; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/15-15-1/#p-15-21-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.