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Ἀ. δὲ Χάος μὲν ὑποτίθεσθαί μοι δοκεῖ τὴν πρώτην ἀρχὴν ὡς πάντηι ἄγνωστον, τὰς δὲ δύο μετὰ τὴν μίαν· Ἔρεβος μὲν τὴν ἄρρενα, τὴν δὲ θήλειαν Νύκτα … ἐκ δὲ τούτων φησὶ μιχθέντων Αἰθέρα γενέσθαι καὶ Ἔρωτα καὶ Μῆτιν … παράγει δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν καὶ ἄλλων θεῶν πολὺν ἀριθμὸν κατὰ τὴν Εὐδήμου ἱστορίαν
But Acusilaus appears to me to regard Chaos as the first principle and altogether unknown, and after this one to place the duad, Erebus as the male and Night as the female, … and from a connexion between these were generated Ether and Eros (Love), and Metis (Counsel), … And from these, according to the relation of Eudemus, he deduces the vast multitude of the other gods.
Isaac Preston Cory · Ancient Fragments of the Phoenician, Chaldaean, Egyptian, Tyrian, Carthaginian, Indian, Persian, and Other Writers, second edition (London: William Pickering, 1832), p. 316; Damascius, De principiisHow this fragment survives
A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading.
A source citation has not yet been identified for this reading in the reviewed records. The linked edition remains available below.
Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (1922), p. 207; the clause τὰς δὲ δύο μετὰ τὴν μίαν is supplied from Karl Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, vol. I (1841), Acusilaus fr. 1, via DFHG (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Notes & source
The complete Damascius excerpt is paired with Cory’s English, with the same omissions of Damascius’ philosophical commentary marked by ellipses. The separate Philodemus parallel is not reproduced with this reading. Both columns were visually checked against the printed page
Retain the existing Greek quotation boundaries and omissions, which match the published human translation. Translation text and metadata are unchanged.
Current Greek wording is retained after independent historical-source verification. Supplementary source dossier remains withheld under the separate dossier review.
Additional source context is not reproduced here because its complete text has not been checked against the cited historical edition. The paired ancient text and historical translation are retained.
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 4th edition, vol. II (1922), p. 207; the clause τὰς δὲ δύο μετὰ τὴν μίαν is supplied from Karl Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, vol. I (1841), Acusilaus fr. 1, via DFHG (CC BY-SA 4.0). View original source ↗
English: Isaac Preston Cory · Ancient Fragments of the Phoenician, Chaldaean, Egyptian, Tyrian, Carthaginian, Indian, Persian, and Other Writers, second edition (London: William Pickering, 1832), p. 316; Damascius, De principiis Published translation ↗
Source pages: 1
Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.
English translation: Public domain