The Presocratic Reader

Anaxagoras

DK 59

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Original textTranslation
DK 59 B 1

Available translations: English

ὁμοῦ χρήματα πάντα ἦν ἄπειρα καὶ πλῆθος καὶ σμικρότητα· καὶ γὰρ τὸ σμικρὸν ἄπειρον ἦν. καὶ πάντων ὁμοῦ ἐόντων οὐδὲν ἔνδηλον ἦν ὑπὸ σμικρότητος· πάντα γὰρ ἀήρ τε καὶ αἰθὴρ κατεῖχεν ἀμφότερα ἄπειρα ἔοντα· ταῦτα γὰρ μέγιστα ἔνεστιν ἐν τοῖς σύμπασι καὶ πλήθει καὶ μεγέθει.

All things were together, infinite both in number and in smallness; for the small also was infinite. And when they were all together, nothing was clear and distinct because of their smallness; for air and aether comprehended all things, both being infinite; for these are present in everything, and are greatest both as to number and as to greatness.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 33 v 155, 26

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 33 v 155, 26.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-1 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 1; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    1. ὁμοῦ χρήματα πάντα ἦν ἄπειρα καὶ πλῆθος καὶ σμικρότητα· καὶ γὰρ τὸ σμικρὸν ἄπειρον ἦν. καὶ πάντων ὁμοῦ ἐόντων οὐδὲν ἔνδηλον ἦν ὑπὸ σμικρότητος· πάντα γὰρ ἀήρ τε καὶ αἰθὴρ κατεῖχεν ἀμφότερα ἄπειρα ἔοντα· ταῦτα γὰρ μέγιστα ἔνεστιν ἐν τοῖς σύμπασι καὶ πλήθει καὶ μεγέθει.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 1, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 1 corresponds to DK 59-B-1. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 2

Available translations: English

καὶ γὰρ ἀήρ τε καὶ αἰθὴρ ἀποκρίνονται ἀπὸ τοῦ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιέχοντος. καὶ τό γε περιέχον ἄπειρόν ἐστι τὸ πλῆθος.

For air and aether are separated from the surrounding mass; and the surrounding (mass) is infinite in quantity.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 33 v 155, 31

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 33 v 155, 31.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-2 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 2; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    2. καὶ γὰρ ἀήρ τε καὶ αἰθὴρ ἀποκρίνονται ἀπὸ τοῦ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιέχοντος. καὶ τό γε περιέχον ἄπειρόν ἐστι τὸ πλῆθος.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 2, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 2 corresponds to DK 59-B-2. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 3

Available translations: English

οὔτε γὰρ τοῦ σμικροῦ ἐστι τό γε ἐλάχιστον, ἀλλ’ ἔλασσον ἀεί. τὸ γὰρ ἐὸν οὐκ ἔστι τὸ μὴ οὐκ εἶναι. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου ἀεί ἐστι μεῖζον. καὶ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ σμικρῷ πλῆθος, πρὸς ἑαυτὸ δὲ ἕκαστόν ἐστι καὶ μέγα καὶ σμικρόν.

For neither is there a least of what is small, but there is always a less. For being is not non-being. But there is always a greater than what is great. And it is equal to the small in number; but with reference to itself each thing is both small and great.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 35 v 164, 17

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 35 v 164, 17.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-3 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 15; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    15. οὔτε γὰρ τοῦ σμικροῦ ἐστι τό γε ἐλάχιστον, ἀλλ’ ἔλασσον ἀεί. τὸ γὰρ ἐὸν οὐκ ἔστι τὸ μὴ οὐκ εἶναι. [244] ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου ἀεί ἐστι μεῖζον. καὶ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ σμικρῷ πλῆθος, πρὸς ἑαυτὸ δὲ ἕκαστόν ἐστι καὶ μέγα καὶ σμικρόν.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 15, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 15 corresponds to DK 59-B-3. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 4

Available translations: English

τούτων δὲ οὕτως ἐχόντων χρὴ δοκεῖν ἐνεῖναι πολλά τε καὶ παντοῖα ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς συγκρινομένοις καὶ σπέρματα πάντων χρημάτων καὶ ἰδέας παντοίας ἔχοντα καὶ χροιὰς καὶ ἡδονάς. καὶ ἀνθρώπους τε συμπαγῆναι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ζῶια ὅσα ψυχὴν ἔχει. καὶ τοῖς γε ἀνθρώποισιν εἶναι καὶ πόλεις συνωικημένας καὶ ἔργα κατεσκευασμένα, ὥσπερ παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ ἠέλιόν τε αὐτοῖσιν εἶναι καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ὥσπερ παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῖσι φύειν πολλά τε καὶ παντοῖα, ὧν ἐκεῖνοι τὰ ὀνήιστα συνενεγκάμενοι εἰς τὴν οἴκησιν χρῶνται. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν μοι λέλεκται περὶ τῆς ἀποκρίσιος, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν παρ’ ἡμῖν μόνον ἀποκριθείη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλληι.
πρὶν δὲ ἀποκριθῆναι ταῦτα πάντων ὁμοῦ ἐόντων οὐδὲ χροιὴ ἔνδηλος ἦν οὐδεμία· ἀπεκώλυε γὰρ ἡ σύμμιξις πάντων χρημάτων, τοῦ τε διεροῦ καὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ καὶ τοῦ θερμοῦ καὶ τοῦ ψυχροῦ καὶ τοῦ λαμπροῦ καὶ τοῦ ζοφεροῦ, καὶ γῆς πολλῆς ἐνεούσης καὶ σπερμάτων ἀπείρων πλήθους [πλῆθος?] οὐδὲν ἐοικότων ἀλλήλοις. οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδὲν ἔοικε τὸ ἕτερον τῶι ἑτέρωι. τούτων δὲ οὕτως ἐχόντων ἐν τῶι σύμπαντι χρὴ δοκεῖν ἐνεῖναι πάντα χρήματα.

And since these things are so, we must suppose that there are contained many things and of all sorts in the things that are uniting, seeds of all things, with all sorts of shapes and colours and savours , and that men have been formed in them, and the other animals that have life, and that these men have inhabited cities and cultivated fields as with us; and that they have a sun and a moon and the rest as with us; and that their earth brings forth for them many things of all kinds of which they gather the best together into their dwellings, and use them . Thus much have I said with regard to separating off, to show that it will not be only with us that things are separated off, but elsewhere too.

But before they were separated off, when all things were together, not even was any colour distinguishable; for the mixture of all things prevented it—of the moist and the dry, and the warm and the cold, and the light and the dark, and of much earth that was in it, and of a multitude of innumerable seeds in no way like each other. For none of the other things either is like any other. And these things being so, we must hold that all things are in the whole.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 8 r 34, 29. 33 v 156, 2. 33 v 157, 9

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 8 r 34, 29. 33 v 156, 2. 33 v 157, 9.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-4 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 3; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    3. τούτων δὲ οὕτως ἐχόντων, χρὴ δοκεῖν ἐνεῖναι πολλά τε καὶ παντοῖα ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς συγκρινομένοις καὶ σπέρματα πάντων χρημάτων καὶ ἰδέας παντοίας ἔχοντα καὶ χροιὰς καὶ ἡδονάς.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 3, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 33 v 156, 4

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 33 v 156, 4.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-4 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 4; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    4. πρὶν δὲ ἀποκριθῆναι ... πάντων ὁμοῦ ἐόντων οὐδὲ χροιὴ ἔνδηλος ἦν οὐδεμία· ἀπεκώλυε γὰρ ἡ σύμμιξις πάντων χρημάτων τοῦ τε διεροῦ καὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ καὶ τοῦ θερμοῦ καὶ τοῦ ψυχροῦ καὶ τοῦ λαμπροῦ καὶ τοῦ ζοφεροῦ καὶ γῆς πολλῆς ἐνεούσης καὶ σπερμάτων ἀπείρων πλήθους οὐδὲν ἐοικότων ἀλλήλοις. οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδὲν ἔοικε τὸ ἕτερον τῷ ἑτέρῳ.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 4, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 8 r 35, 3. 33 v 157, 9

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 8 r 35, 3. 33 v 157, 9

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-4 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 10; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    10. καὶ ἀνθρώπους τε συμπαγῆναι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα ὅσα ψυχὴν ἔχει. καὶ τοῖς γε ἀνθρώποισιν εἶναι καὶ πόλεις συνῳκημένας καὶ ἔργα κατεσκευασμένα, ὥσπερ παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ ἠέλιόν τε αὐτοῖσιν εἶναι καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ὥσπερ παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῖσι φύειν πολλά τε καὶ παντοῖα, ὧν ἐκεῖνοι τὰ ὀνήιστα συνενεγκάμενοι εἰς τὴν οἴκησιν χρῶνται. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν μοι λέλεκται περὶ τῆς ἀποκρίσιος, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν παρ’ ἡμῖν μόνον ἀποκριθείη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλῃ.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 10, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. Burnet explicitly follows Diels’s text and arrangement (§126)

Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 5

Available translations: English

τούτων δὲ οὕτω διακεκριμένων γινώσκειν χρὴ, ὅτι πάντα οὐδὲν ἐλάσσω ἐστὶν οὐδὲ πλείω. οὐ γὰρ ἀνυστὸν πάντων πλείω εἶναι, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἴσα ἀεί.

When they are thus distinguished, it is necessary to recognise that they all become no fewer and no more. For it is impossible that more than all should exist, but all are always equal.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 33 v 156, 10

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 33 v 156, 10.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-5 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 14; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    14. τούτων δὲ οὕτω διακεκριμένων γινώσκειν χρὴ, ὅτι πάντα οὐδὲν ἐλάσσω ἐστὶν οὐδὲ πλείω. οὐ γὰρ ἀνυστὸν πάντων πλείω εἶναι, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἴσα ἀεί.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 14, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 14 corresponds to DK 59-B-5. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 6

Available translations: English

καὶ ὅτε δὲ ἴσαι μοῖραί εἰσι τοῦ τε μεγάλου καὶ τοῦ σμικροῦ πλῆθος, καὶ οὕτως ἂν εἴη ἐν παντὶ πάντα. οὐδὲ χωρὶς ἔστιν εἶναι, ἀλλὰ πάντα παντὸς μοῖραν μετέχει. ὅτε τοὐλάχιστον μὴ ἔστιν εἶναι, οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο χωρισθῆναι, οὐδ’ ἂν ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ γενέσθαι· ἀλλ’ ὅπωσπερ ἀρχὴν εἶναι καὶ νῦν, πάντα ὁμοῦ. ἐν πᾶσι δὲ πολλὰ ἔνεστι, καὶ τῶν ἀποκρινομένων ἴσα πλῆθος ἐν τοῖς μείζοσί τε καὶ ἐλάσσοσι.

And since the portions of the great and the small are equal in number, thus also all things would be in everything. Nor yet is it possible for them to exist apart, but all things include a portion of everything. Since it is not possible for the least to exist, nothing could be separated, nor yet could it come into being of itself, but as they were in the beginning so they are now, all things together. And there are many things in all things, and of those that are separated there are things equal in number in the greater and the lesser.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 35 v 164, 24

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 35 v 164, 24.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-6 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 16; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    16. καὶ ὅτε δὲ ἴσαι μοῖραί εἰσι τοῦ τε μεγάλου καὶ τοῦ σμικροῦ πλῆθος, καὶ οὕτως ἂν εἴη ἐν παντὶ πάντα. οὐδὲ χωρὶς ἔστιν εἶναι, ἀλλὰ πάντα παντὸς μοῖραν μετέχει. ὅτε τοὐλάχιστον μὴ ἔστιν εἶναι, οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο χωρισθῆναι, οὐδ’ ἂν ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ γενέσθαι· ἀλλ’ ὅπωσπερ ἀρχὴν εἶναι καὶ νῦν, πάντα ὁμοῦ. ἐν πᾶσι δὲ πολλὰ ἔνεστι, καὶ τῶν ἀποκρινομένων ἴσα πλῆθος ἐν τοῖς μείζοσί τε καὶ ἐλάσσοσι.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 16, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 16 corresponds to DK 59-B-6. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 7

Available translations: English

ὥστε τῶν ἀποκρινομένων μὴ εἰδέναι τὸ πλῆθος μήτε λόγωι μήτε ἔργωι.

... So that we cannot know the number of the things that are separated off, either in word or deed.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How 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
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. Burnet explicitly follows Diels’s text and arrangement (§126)

Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 8

Available translations: English

οὐ κεχώρισται ἀλλήλων τὰ ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ κόσμῳ οὐδὲ ἀποκέκοπται πελέκει οὔτε τὸ θερμὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ οὔτε τὸ ψυχρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ θερμοῦ.

Things in the one universe are not divided from each other, nor yet are they cut off with an axe, neither hot from cold, nor cold from hot.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 37 r 175, 12

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 37 r 175, 12

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-8 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 13; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    13. οὐ κεχώρισται ἀλλήλων τὰ ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ κόσμῳ οὐδὲ ἀποκέκοπται πελέκει οὔτε τὸ θερμὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ οὔτε τὸ ψυχρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ θερμοῦ.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 13, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 13 corresponds to DK 59-B-8. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 9

Available translations: English

οὕτω τούτων περιχωρούντων τε καὶ ἀποκρινομένων ὑπὸ βίης τε καὶ ταχυτῆτος. βίην δὲ ἡ ταχυτὴς ποιεῖ. ἡ δὲ ταχυτὴς αὐτῶν οὐδενὶ ἔοικε χρήματι τὴν ταχυτῆτα τῶν νῦν ἐόντων χρημάτων ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ πάντως πολλαπλασίως ταχύ ἐστι.

So these things rotate and are separated by force and swiftness. And the swiftness produces force; and their swiftness is in no way like the swiftness of the things now existing among men, but it is certainly many times as swift.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 8 r 35, 14

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 8 r 35, 14.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-9 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 11; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    11. οὕτω τούτων περιχωρούντων τε καὶ ἀποκρινομένων ὑπὸ βίης τε καὶ ταχυτῆτος. βίην δὲ ἡ ταχυτὴς ποιεῖ. ἡ δὲ ταχυτὴς αὐτῶν οὐδενὶ ἔοικε χρήματι τὴν ταχυτῆτα τῶν νῦν ἐόντων χρημάτων ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ πάντως πολλαπλασίως ταχύ ἐστι.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 11, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 11 corresponds to DK 59-B-9. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 10

Available translations: English

πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐκ μὴ τριχὸς γίνοιτο θρὶξ καὶ σὰρξ ἐκ μὴ σαρκός;

For how could hair come from what is not hair? Or flesh from what is not flesh?

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Scholia on Gregory of Nazianzus (anonymous)

    Scholia on Gregory of Nazianzus · Migne 36, 911

    Citation in the source record

    Schol. in Gregor. Naz. Migne 36, 911.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-10 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 18; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    (18.) πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐκ μὴ τριχὸς γίνοιτο θρὶξ καὶ σὰρξ ἐκ μὴ σαρκός;

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 18, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 18 corresponds to DK 59-B-10. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 11

Available translations: English

ἐν παντὶ παντὸς μοῖρα ἔνεστιν πλὴν νοῦ, ἔστιν οἷσι δὲ καὶ νοῦς ἔνι.

In all things there is a portion of everything except mind; and there are things in which there is mind also.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 35 r 164, 23

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 35 r 164, 23.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-11 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 5; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    5. ἐν παντὶ παντὸς μοῖρα ἔνεστιν πλὴν νοῦ, ἔστιν οἷσι δὲ καὶ νοῦς ἔνι.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 5, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 5 corresponds to DK 59-B-11. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 12

Available translations: English

τὰ μὲν ἄλλα παντὸς μοῖραν μετέχει, νοῦς δέ ἐστιν ἄπειρον καὶ αὐτοκρατὲς καὶ μέμικται οὐδενὶ χρήματι, ἀλλὰ μόνος αὐτὸς ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ ἐστιν. εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ ἦν, ἀλλά τεῳ ἐμέμικτο ἄλλῳ, μετεῖχεν ἂν ἁπάντων χρημάτων, εἰ ἐμέμικτό τεῳ. ἐν παντὶ γὰρ παντὸς μοῖρα ἔνεστιν, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν μοι λέλεκται, καὶ ἂν ἐκώλυεν αὐτὸν τὰ συμμεμιγμένα, ὥστε μηδενὸς χρήματος κρατεῖν ὁμοίως ὡς καὶ μόνον ἔοντα ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ. ἔστι γὰρ λεπτότατόν τε πάντων χρημάτων καὶ καθαρώτατον καὶ γνώμην γε περὶ παντὸς πᾶσαν ἴσχει καὶ ἰσχύει μέγιστον, καὶ ὅσα γε ψυχὴν ἔχει καὶ μείζω καὶ ἐλάσσω, πάντων νοῦς κρατεῖ. καὶ τῆς περιχωρήσιος τῆς συμπάσης νοῦς ἐκράτησεν, ὥστε περιχωρῆσαι τὴν ἀρχήν. καὶ πρῶτον ἀπὸ τοῦ σμικροῦ ἤρξατο περιχωρεῖν, ἐπεὶ δὲ πλεῖον περιχωρεῖ, καὶ περιχωρήσει ἐπὶ πλέον. καὶ τὰ συμμισγόμενά τε καὶ ἀποκρινόμενα καὶ διακρινόμενα, πάντα ἔγνω νοῦς. καὶ ὁποῖα ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι καὶ ὁποῖα ἦν, καὶ ὅσα νῦν ἐστι καὶ ὁποῖα ἔσται, πάντα διεκόσμησε νοῦς, καὶ τὴν περιχώρησιν ταύτην ἣν νῦν περιχωρέει τά τε ἄστρα καὶ ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ἡ σελήνη καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ ὁ αἰθὴρ οἱ ἀποκρινόμενοι. ἡ δὲ περιχώρησις αὕτη ἐποίησεν ἀποκρίνεσθαι. καὶ ἀποκρίνεται ἀπό τε τοῦ ἀραιοῦ τὸ πυκνὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ τὸ θερμὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ζοφεροῦ τὸ λαμπρὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ διεροῦ τὸ ξηρόν. μοῖραι δὲ πολλαὶ πολλῶν εἰσι. παντάπασι δὲ οὐδὲν ἀποκρίνεται οὐδὲ διακρίνεται ἕτερον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου πλὴν νοῦ. νοῦς δὲ πᾶς ὅμοιός ἐστι καὶ ὁ μείζων καὶ ὁ ἐλάττων. ἕτερον δὲ οὐδέν ἐστιν ὅμοιον οὐδένι, ἀλλ’ ὅτῳ πλεῖστα ἔνι, ταῦτα ἐνδηλότητα ἓν ἕκαστόν ἐστι καὶ ἦν.

Other things include a portion of everything, but mind is infinite and self-powerful and mixed with nothing, but it exists alone itself by itself. For if it were not by itself, but were mixed with anything else, it would include parts of all things, if it were mixed with anything; for a portion of everything exists in everything, as has been said by me before, and things mingled with it would prevent it from having power over anything in the same way that it does now that it is alone by itself. For it is the most rarefied of all things and the purest, and it has all knowledge in regard to everything and the greatest power; over all that has life, both greater and less, mind rules. And mind ruled the rotation of the whole, so that it set it in rotation in the beginning. First it began the rotation from a small beginning, then more and more was included in the motion, and yet more will be included. Both the mixed and the separated and distinct, all things mind recognised. And whatever things were to be, and whatever things were, as many as are now, and whatever things shall be, all these mind arranged in order; and it arranged that rotation, according to which now rotate stars and sun and moon and air and aether, now that they are separated. Rotation itself caused the separation, and the dense is separated from the rare, the warm from the cold, the bright from the dark, the dry from the moist. And there are many portions of many things. Nothing is absolutely separated nor distinct, one thing from another, except mind. All mind is of like character, both the greater and the smaller. But nothing different is like anything else, but in whatever object there are the most, each single object is and was most distinctly these things.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 35 v 164, 24

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 35 v 164, 24

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-12 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 6; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    6. τὰ μὲν ἄλλα παντὸς μοῖραν μετέχει, νοῦς δέ ἐστιν ἄπειρον καὶ αὐτοκρατὲς καὶ μέμικται οὐδενὶ χρήματι, ἀλλὰ μόνος αὐτὸς ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ ἐστιν. εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ ἦν, [240] ἀλλά τεῳ ἐμέμικτο ἄλλῳ, μετεῖχεν ἂν ἁπάντων χρημάτων, εἰ ἐμέμικτό τεῳ. ἐν παντὶ γὰρ παντὸς μοῖρα ἔνεστιν, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν μοι λέλεκται, καὶ ἂν ἐκώλυεν αὐτὸν τὰ συμμεμιγμένα, ὥστε μηδενὸς χρήματος κρατεῖν ὁμοίως ὡς καὶ μόνον ἔοντα ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ. ἔστι γὰρ λεπτότατόν τε πάντων χρημάτων καὶ καθαρώτατον καὶ γνώμην γε περὶ παντὸς πᾶσαν ἴσχει καὶ ἰσχύει μέγιστον, καὶ ὅσα γε ψυχὴν ἔχει καὶ μείζω καὶ ἐλάσσω, πάντων νοῦς κρατεῖ. καὶ τῆς περιχωρήσιος τῆς συμπάσης νοῦς ἐκράτησεν, ὥστε περιχωρῆσαι τὴν ἀρχήν. καὶ πρῶτον ἀπὸ τοῦ σμικροῦ ἤρξατο περιχωρεῖν, ἐπεὶ δὲ πλεῖον περιχωρεῖ, καὶ περιχωρήσει ἐπὶ πλέον. καὶ τὰ συμμισγόμενά τε καὶ ἀποκρινόμενα καὶ διακρινόμενα, πάντα ἔγνω νοῦς. καὶ ὁποῖα ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι καὶ ὁποῖα ἦν, καὶ ὅσα νῦν ἐστι καὶ ὁποῖα ἔσται, πάντα διεκόσμησε νοῦς, καὶ τὴν περιχώρησιν ταύτην ἣν νῦν περιχωρέει τά τε ἄστρα καὶ ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ἡ σελήνη καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ ὁ αἰθὴρ οἱ ἀποκρινόμενοι. ἡ δὲ περιχώρησις αὕτη ἐποίησεν ἀποκρίνεσθαι. καὶ ἀποκρίνεται ἀπό τε τοῦ ἀραιοῦ τὸ πυκνὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ τὸ θερμὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ζοφεροῦ τὸ λαμπρὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ διεροῦ τὸ ξηρόν. μοῖραι δὲ πολλαὶ πολλῶν εἰσι. παντάπασι δὲ οὐδὲν ἀποκρίνεται οὐδὲ διακρίνεται ἕτερον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου πλὴν νοῦ. νοῦς δὲ πᾶς ὅμοιός ἐστι καὶ ὁ μείζων καὶ ὁ ἐλάττων. [242] ἕτερον δὲ οὐδέν ἐστιν ὅμοιον οὐδένι, ἀλλ’ ὅτῳ πλεῖστα ἔνι, ταῦτα ἐνδηλότητα ἓν ἕκαστόν ἐστι καὶ ἦν.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 6, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 6 corresponds to DK 59-B-12. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 13

Available translations: English

καὶ ἐπεὶ ἤρξατο ὁ νοῦς κινεῖν, ἀπὸ τοῦ κινουμένου παντὸς ἀπεκρίνετο, καὶ ὅσον ἐκίνησεν ὁ νοῦς, πᾶν τοῦτο διεκρίθη. κινουμένων δὲ καὶ διακρινομένων ἡ περιχώρησις πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐποίει διακρίνεσθαι.

And when mind began to set things in motion, there was separation from everything that was in motion, and however much mind set in motion, all this was made distinct. The rotation of the things that were moved and made distinct caused them to be yet more distinct.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 66 r; 300, 31

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 66 r; 300, 31.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-13 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 7; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    7. καὶ ἐπεὶ ἤρξατο ὁ νοῦς κινεῖν, ἀπὸ τοῦ κινουμένου παντὸς ἀπεκρίνετο, καὶ ὅσον ἐκίνησεν ὁ νοῦς, πᾶν τοῦτο διεκρίθη. κινουμένων δὲ καὶ διακρινομένων ἡ περιχώρησις πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐποίει διακρίνεσθαι.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 7, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 7 corresponds to DK 59-B-13. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 14

Available translations: English

ὁ δὲ νοῦς, ὡς ἀεί ποτε, κάρτα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, ἵνα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα, ἐν τῷ πολλῷ περιέχοντι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀποκριθεῖσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀποκρινομένοις.

But mind, as it always has been, especially now also is where all other things are, in the surrounding mass, and in the things that were separated, and in the things that are being separated.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 33 r 157, 7

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 33 r 157, 7.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-14 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 12; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    12. ὁ δὲ νοῦς, ὡς ἀεί ποτε, κάρτα καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, ἵνα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα, ἐν τῷ πολλῷ περιέχοντι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀποκριθεῖσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀποκρινομένοις.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 12, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 12 corresponds to DK 59-B-14. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 15

Available translations: English

τὸ μὲν πυκνὸν καὶ διερὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν καὶ τὸ ζοφερὸν ἐνθάδε συνεχώρησεν ἔνθα νῦν <ἡ γῆ>· τὸ δὲ ἀραιὸν καὶ τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ξηρὸν <καὶ τὸ λαμπρὸν> ἐξεχώρησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσω τοῦ αἰθέρος.

The dense, the moist, the cold, the dark, collected there where now is the earth; the rare, the warm, the dry, the bright, departed toward the farther part of the aether.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 38 r; 179, 3

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 38 r; 179, 3.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-15 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 8; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    8. τὸ μὲν πυκνὸν καὶ διερὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν καὶ τὸ ζοφερὸν ἐνθάδε συνεχώρησεν ἔνθα νῦν <ἡ γῆ>· τὸ δὲ ἀραιὸν καὶ τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ξηρὸν <καὶ τὸ λαμπρὸν> ἐξεχώρησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσω τοῦ αἰθέρος.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 8, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 8 corresponds to DK 59-B-15. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 16

Available translations: English

ἀπὸ τουτέων ἀποκρινομένων συμπήγνυται γῆ· ἐκ μὲν γὰρ τῶν νεφελῶν ὕδωρ ἀποκρίνεται, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος γῆ, ἐκ δὲ τῆς γῆς λίθοι συμπήγνυνται ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ, οὗτοι δὲ ἐκχωρέουσι μᾶλλον τοῦ ὕδατος.

Earth is condensed out of these things that are separated. For water is separated from the clouds, and earth from the water; and from the earth stones are condensed by cold; and these are separated farther from water.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 38 r 179, 8

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 38 r 179, 8.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-16 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 9; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    9. ἀπὸ τουτέων ἀποκρινομένων συμπήγνυται γῆ· ἐκ μὲν γὰρ τῶν νεφελῶν ὕδωρ ἀποκρίνεται, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος γῆ, ἐκ δὲ τῆς γῆς λίθοι συμπήγνυνται ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ, οὗτοι δὲ ἐκχωρέουσι μᾶλλον τοῦ ὕδατος.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 9, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 9 corresponds to DK 59-B-16. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 17

Available translations: English

τὸ δὲ γίνεσθαι καὶ ἀπόλλυσθαι οὐκ ὀρθῶς νομίζουσιν οἱ Ἕλληνες· οὐδὲν γὰρ χρῆμα γίνεται οὐδὲ ἀπόλλυται, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ ἐόντων χρημάτων συμμίσγεταί τε καὶ διακρίνεται. καὶ οὕτως ἂν ὀρθῶς καλοῖεν τό τε γίνεσθαι συμμίσγεσθαι καὶ τὸ ἀπόλλυσθαι διακρίνεσθαι.

The Greeks do not rightly use the terms ‘coming into being’ and ‘perishing.’ For nothing comes into being nor yet does anything perish, but there is mixture and separation of things that are. So they would do right in calling the coming into being ‘mixture,’ and the perishing ‘separation.’

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)
How this fragment survives
  • Simplicius

    Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 34 v 163, 20

    Citation in the source record

    Simpl. Phys. 34 v 163, 20.

    Compared the Greek of 59-B-17 with Fairbanks’ Anaxagoras fragment 17; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.

    Passage correspondence

    17. τὸ δὲ γίνεσθαι καὶ ἀπόλλυσθαι οὐκ ὀρθῶς νομίζουσιν οἱ Ἕλληνες· οὐδὲν γὰρ χρῆμα γίνεται οὐδὲ ἀπόλλυται, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ ἐόντων χρημάτων συμμίσγεταί τε καὶ διακρίνεται. καὶ οὕτως ἂν ὀρθῶς καλοῖεν τό τε γίνεσθαι συμμίσγεσθαι καὶ τὸ ἀπόλλυσθαι διακρίνεσθαι.

    Check the source record ↗

    Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaxagoras fragment 17, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Identified by comparison of the Greek text, not by matching edition numbers: Fairbanks fragment 17 corresponds to DK 59-B-17. Complete published fragment translation; footnote callouts and page/line numbers removed; words unchanged. Fairbanks’s matching Greek text is supplied so differing editorial readings and line order remain aligned

Original text: Arthur Fairbanks, The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), at the linked original-language page. English source and edition are cited separately View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 18

Available translations: English

ἥλιος ἐντίθησι τῆι σελήνηι τὸ λαμπρόν.

It is the sun that puts brightness into the moon.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How 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
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. Burnet explicitly follows Diels’s text and arrangement (§126)

Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 19

Available translations: English

Ἶριν δὲ καλέομεν τὸ ἐν τῆισι νεφέληισιν ἀντιλάμπον τῶι ἡλίωι. χειμῶνος οὖν ἐστι σύμβολον· τὸ γὰρ περιχεόμενον ὕδωρ τῶι νέφει ἄνεμον ἐποίησεν ἢ ἐξέχεεν ὄμβρον.

We call rainbow the reflexion of the sun in the clouds. Now it is a sign of storm; for the water that flows round the cloud causes wind or pours down in rain.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How 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
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. Burnet explicitly follows Diels’s text and arrangement (§126)

Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 20LATIN WITNESSATTRIBUTION REVISED

Available translations: English

cane ascendente messem, descendente vero terrae cultum homines exordiri; canem XL diebus totidemque noctibus occultari.

With the rise of the Dogstar men begin the harvest; with its setting they begin to till the fields. It is hidden for forty days and nights.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How 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
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. Latin witness: the report’s introductory attribution and subditque are removed, retaining the complete attributed statements. Original language is Latin, not Greek

The DK supplement withdraws this passage from Anaxagoras and assigns it to Hesiod’s astronomical poetry. The historical B20 reference is retained here; it is not an accepted quotation from Anaxagoras. See DK II, p. 420, correction to p. 41, line 12 and following.

Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

DK attribution correction ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 21

Available translations: English

ὑπ’ ἀφαυρότητος αὐτῶν, οὐ δυνατοί ἐσμεν κρίνειν τἀληθές.

From the weakness of our senses we are not able to judge the truth.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How 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
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. The parenthetic quoting-author tag φησίν is removed from the Greek. The translator resolves αὐτῶν to its antecedent, the senses

Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 21a

Available translations: English

ὄψις γὰρ ἀδήλων τὰ φαινόμενα.

What appears is a vision of the unseen.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How this fragment survives
  • Sextus Empiricus

    Against the Mathematicians · VII 140

    Citation in the source record

    Sext. vii. 140

    Check the source record ↗

    Burnet (1908), note 984, quotes this maxim in Greek and expressly attributes it to Anaxagoras while discussing Democritus’ approval of it.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (Berlin: Weidmann, 1906), p. 322; historical running original-language text, excluding the critical apparatus.
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. Complete quoted maxim in Sextus Empiricus VII140; surrounding Sextus commentary excluded

Existing human translation retained verbatim; historical original-language passage covers the same translated quotation.

1906 quotation omits τῶν, unlike the later displayed version; the human English translation remains aligned.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (Berlin: Weidmann, 1906), p. 322; historical running original-language text, excluding the critical apparatus. View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits

  • English · John Burnet. Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

DK 59 B 21b

Available translations: English

ἀλλ’ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις ἀτυχέστεροι τῶν θηρίων ἐσμέν, ἐμπειρίαι δὲ καὶ μνήμηι καὶ σοφίαι καὶ τέχνηι κατὰ Ἀναξαγόραν σφῶν τε αὐτῶν χρώμεθα καὶ βλίττομεν καὶ ἀμέλγομεν καὶ φέρομεν καὶ ἄγομεν συλλαμβάνοντες.

Yea, in all these we are far more unhappy than the brutes. But by our experience, memory, wit, and dexterity (as Anaxagoras speaks) we make use of what is theirs; we press out their honey, we milk them, we catch them, and drive them up and down as we please.

William Baxter; revised by William W. Goodwin · Plutarch’s Essays and Miscellanies, vol. II (1911), Of Fortune 3
How this fragment survives
  • Plutarch

    On Fortune · 3, 98F

    Citation in the source record

    Plutarch, Of Fortune 3, 98F

    Check the source record ↗

    The previously reviewed passage boundary excludes Plutarch’s following inference.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (Berlin: Weidmann, 1906), p. 322; historical running original-language text, excluding the critical apparatus.
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact Anaxagoras passage in Plutarch, Of Fortune 3, 98F; the following Plutarchan inference is excluded

Existing human translation retained verbatim; historical original-language passage covers the same translated quotation.

Full translated carrier agrees with the 1906 Plutarch quotation.

Supplementary context has not been verified throughout against an identified historical edition. The translated paired reading remains available.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (Berlin: Weidmann, 1906), p. 322; historical running original-language text, excluding the critical apparatus. View original source ↗

English: William Baxter; revised by William W. Goodwin · Plutarch’s Essays and Miscellanies, vol. II (1911), Of Fortune 3 Published translation ↗

Source pages: 1

Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Available translations & credits

  • English · William Baxter; revised by William W. Goodwin. Plutarch’s Essays and Miscellanies, vol. II (1911), Of Fortune 3. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Source pages: 1

    Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

DK 59 B 22

Available translations: English

τὸ καλούμενον ὄρνιθος γάλα τὸ ἐν τοῖς ὠιοῖς εἶναι λευκόν.

What is called “birds’ milk” is the white of the egg.

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908)
How 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
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Greek content compared with the published translation. Original published wording retained; reference numbers, page/line numbers and footnote callouts removed. The attribution “Anaxagoras says in the Physics” is excluded; the complete reported proposition is retained

Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), with the quotation boundaries and adaptations stated in the notes. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, second edition (1908) Published translation ↗

English translation: Public domain

Available translations & credits
DK 59 B 24

Available translations: English

χαλεπὸν χρήματα συναγείρασθαι, χαλεπώτερον δὲ φυλακὴν τούτοις περιθεῖναι.

It is hard to get money, but much harder to keep it.

Thomas Stanley · Aelian, Various History (1665), IV.14
How this fragment survives
  • Aelian

    Various History · IV.14

    Citation in the source record

    Aelian, Various History (1665), IV.14

    Check the source record ↗

    Stanley’s 1665 translation attributes this saying to Anaxagoras, but the transmitted Greek names Anaxarchus. The same saying is listed at 59 B24 and 72 B2; these are not two independent sayings.

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

  • Aelian

    Various History · IV 14

    Citation in the source record

    AEL. V. Hist. IV 14

    Check the source record ↗

    Citation in a linked historical source record.

These are source citations recorded for this reading or its linked historical source unit. They do not describe the complete manuscript transmission. A supporting record may include a longer passage or a different editorial text.

Original-text edition
Original quotation from the linked DK source; the full source witness remains available below
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The exact translated saying is paired here; the carrier’s attribution remains in the full witness

Stanley’s edition attributes the saying to Anaxagoras; the transmitted text printed in these DK entries names Anaxarchus. This attribution difference is retained explicitly. DK includes the same saying at 59 B24 and 72 B2; the two references are not two distinct sayings

Original quotation from the linked DK source; the full source witness remains available below View original source ↗

English: Thomas Stanley · Aelian, Various History (1665), IV.14 Published translation ↗

Additional original-language witness

AEL. V. Hist. IV 14 καὶ Ἀνάξαρχος ἐν τῶι Περὶ βασιλείας φησὶ χαλεπὸν χρήματα συναγείρασθαι, χαλεπώτερον δὲ φυλακὴν τούτοις περιθεῖναι.

Witness source ↗

English translation: Public domain (historical published translation).

Available translations & credits

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LIDDELL · SCOTT · JONES

Greek dictionary

LSJ (1940) · Perseus Digital Library · Sources & licences