Anaximander

DK 12

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Original textTranslation

Available translations: English

ἐξ ὧν δὲ ἡ γένεσίς ἐστι τοῖς οὖσι, καὶ τὴν φθορὰν εἰς ταῦτα γίνεσθαι κατὰ τὸ χρεών· διδόναι γὰρ αὐτὰ δίκην καὶ τίσιν ἀλλήλοις τῆς ἀδικίας κατὰ τὴν τοῦ χρόνου τάξιν.

And into that from which things take their rise they pass away once more, “as is ordained; for they make reparation and satisfaction to one another for their injustice according to the appointed time,”

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, 2nd edition (1908)

How this fragment survives

Simplicius
Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 6 r (24, 19)
Citation in the source record
Simpl. Phys. 6 r (24, 19)
Compared the Greek of 12-B-1 with Fairbanks’ Anaximandros fragment 2; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.
Passage correspondence
2. In Simpl. Phys. 6 r (24, 19); Dox. 476, it is generally agreed that the following phrase is from Anaximandros: κατὰ τὸ χρεών· διδόναι γὰρ αὐτὰ ἀλλήλοις τίσιν καὶ δίκην τῆς ἀδικίας.⁠ [5] ⁠
Check the source record ↗
Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaximandros fragment 2, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement. Fairbanks explicitly identifies the quoted wording within the source discussion; this citation does not fix the boundary of every modern reconstruction.
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 (1903), p. 16, chapter 2 A9
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Burnet’s complete translated Simplicius quotation, excluding Simplicius’ closing style judgment. The Greek prefix summarizing the unlimited is not paired with this quotation. Candidate spacing only is normalized

The selected Greek is checked against Diels’s 1903 printed edition. Burnet’s English and the quotation boundaries are unchanged.

Quotation selected from surrounding Simplicius testimony.

Letter spacing and line-break hyphenation normalized.

Terminal comma in the source changed to a period to close the standalone excerpt.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (1903), p. 16, chapter 2 A9 View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, 2nd edition (1908) Published translation ↗

Source pages: 1

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

Available translations & credits

English · John Burnet. Early Greek Philosophy, 2nd edition (1908). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗
Source pages: 1
Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

DK 12 B 2

Available translations: English

ταύτην δ’ ἀίδιον εἶναι καὶ ἀγήρω.

He says that this is eternal and ageless

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, 2nd 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
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (1906), pp. 13–14; historical ancient running text.
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The entire eternal/ageless statement, excerpted from Burnet’s longer Hippolytus sentence. His subsequent world-encompassing statement is not paired here

All existing modern-language translation text is preserved. The same quoted ancient passage remains paired.

The paired ancient words were checked directly against the historical 1906 scan. Current translation wording is unchanged; abbreviation expansion, punctuation and iota-adscript/subscript are normalized.

Restored the historical connective δ’ after ταύτην; it does not change the translation meaning.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (1906), pp. 13–14; historical ancient running text. View original source ↗

English: John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, 2nd edition (1908) Published translation ↗

Source pages: 1

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

Available translations & credits

English · John Burnet. Early Greek Philosophy, 2nd edition (1908). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗
Source pages: 1
Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

DK 12 B 3

Available translations: English

ἀθάνατον . . καὶ ἀνώλεθρον

immortal and indestructible

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)

How this fragment survives

Aristotle
Physics · iii. 4; 203 b 13 ff
Citation in the source record
Arist. Phys. iii. 4; 203 b 13 ff.
Compared the Greek of 12-B-3 with Fairbanks’ Anaximandros fragment 1; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.
Passage correspondence
1. Arist. Phys. iii. 4; 203 b 13 ff. The words ἀθάνατον γὰρ καὶ ἀνώλεθρον and by some the words περιέχειν [9] ἅπαντα καὶ πάντα κυβερνᾶν are thought to come from Anaximandros.
Check the source record ↗
Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Anaximandros fragment 1, corresponding to part or all of this passage. The selected translation may use a different text or arrangement. Fairbanks explicitly identifies the quoted wording within the source discussion; this citation does not fix the boundary of every modern reconstruction.
Citation in a linked historical source record.

Original-text edition
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (1906), pp. 14; historical ancient running text.
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Exact quoted adjectives from Fairbanks’ translation of Aristotle, Physics 203b7, p. 9; introductory and explanatory apparatus is not represented as translated

All existing modern-language translation text is preserved. The same quoted ancient passage remains paired.

The displayed ellipsis omits the carrier connective γάρ; both quoted words and καί occur in the historical Greek.

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, 2nd edition, volume I (1906), pp. 14; historical ancient running text. View original source ↗

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

Source pages: 1

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

Available translations & credits

English · Arthur Fairbanks. The First Philosophers of Greece (1898). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗
Source pages: 1
Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

DK 12 B 5

Available translations: English

λίθωι κίονι τὴν γῆν προσφερῆ.

Anaximander, that it resembles a smooth stony pillar.

Several hands, revised by William W. Goodwin · Plutarch’s Morals, vol. III (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911), The Opinions of the Philosophers III.10, p. 155

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
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (1906), pp. 16; historical ancient running text.
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The complete short doxographical proposition in Aëtius/Pseudo-Plutarch III.10.2. This is a report about Anaximander, not a surviving verbatim sentence by him

Goodwin’s historical wording names Anaximander and supplies “smooth”; these are retained, not newly composed. The quoted DK Greek is the short predicate, whose subject is the earth. The preceding English context says “the earth”

The larger carrier reference is not reproduced with this reading

All existing modern-language translation text is preserved. The same quoted ancient passage remains paired.

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, 2nd edition, volume I (1906), pp. 16; historical ancient running text. View original source ↗

English: Several hands, revised by William W. Goodwin · Plutarch’s Morals, vol. III (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911), The Opinions of the Philosophers III.10, p. 155 Published translation ↗

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

English translation: Public domain (identified historical translation; edition and contributor evidence reviewed for Romania/EU and US)

Available translations & credits

English · Several hands, revised by William W. Goodwin. Plutarch’s Morals, vol. III (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911), The Opinions of the Philosophers III.10, p. 155. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗
Translation: Public domain (identified historical translation; edition and contributor evidence reviewed for Romania/EU and US)
Original edition: Historical original edition: public domain under the recorded term review.

Anaximander

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