The Presocratic Reader

Anaximenes

DK 13

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Original textTranslation

Available translations: English

τὸ γὰρ συστελλόμενον αὐτῆς καὶ πυκνούμενον ψυχρὸν εἶναί φησι, τὸ δ’ ἀραιὸν καὶ τὸ χαλαρόν (οὕτω πως ὀνομάσας καὶ τῶι ῥήματι) θερμόν.

He says that the compressed and the condensed state of matter is cold, while the rarefied and relaxed (a word he himself uses) state of it is heat.

Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), p. 19
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
Ancient text as supplied by Forage, explicitly attributed to Diels 1903; retained passage checked against the published English
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Plutarch, On the Principle of Cold 7, 947F. Entire existing Greek sentence is covered; no new English wording

Ancient text as supplied by Forage, explicitly attributed to Diels 1903; retained passage checked against the published English View original source ↗

English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), p. 19 Published translation ↗

English translation: Public-domain historical English translation; source-specific attribution retained.

Available translations & credits
  • English · Arthur Fairbanks. The First Philosophers of Greece (1898), p. 19. Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public-domain historical English translation; source-specific attribution retained.

Available translations: English

οἷον ἡ ψυχή, φησίν, ἡ ἡμετέρα ἀὴρ οὖσα συγκρατεῖ ἡμᾶς, καὶ ὅλον τὸν κόσμον πνεῦμα καὶ ἀὴρ περιέχει.

“Just as,” he said, “our soul, being air, holds us together, so do breath and air encompass the whole world.”

John Burnet · Early Greek Philosophy, 2nd edition (1908)
How this fragment survives
  • Aëtius (Diels’s reconstructed collection)

    Opinions of the Philosophers · I.3.4 (Doxographi Graeci, p.278)

    Citation in the source record

    Aët. I 3,4 (D.278)

    Check the source record ↗

    Diels gives this citation above the quoted soul-and-air comparison. Aëtius names the doxographical collection reconstructed by Diels; this record does not establish an independent surviving manuscript of that collection.

    Citation in the selected reading.

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. 25, chapter 3 B2
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

The complete quoted soul/air comparison only. The Aetian criticism and surrounding testimony remain in the full source witness

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

Only the quoted soul/air comparison is selected; surrounding testimony and criticism are omitted.

Letter spacing, line breaks and enclosing quotation marks normalized.

The initial relative οἷον has the rough breathing printed by Diels.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (1903), p. 25, chapter 3 B2 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.

Available translations: English

πλατὺν ὡς πέταλον τὸν ἥλιον.

It is broad like a leaf.

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. 20; historical ancient running text.
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

Aetian statement about the sun; it in Burnet’s publication refers to the sun in the preceding sentence

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.

Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2nd edition, volume I (1906), pp. 20; 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.

Available translations: German

ἐγγύς ἐστιν ὁ ἀὴρ τοῦ ἀσωμάτου· καὶ ὅτι κατ’ ἔκροιαν τούτου γινόμεθα, ἀνάγκη αὐτὸν καὶ ἄπειρον εἶναι καὶ πλούσιον διὰ τὸ μηδέποτε ἐκλείπειν.

Die Luft steht dem Unkörperlichen nahe, und weil wir durch den Ausfluß derselben entstehen, muß sie unendlich und reich sein, da sie niemals ausgeht.

German · Hermann Diels · Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2. Auflage, Band I (1906)
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. 21; historical ancient running text.
Open the historical edition ↗

Notes & source

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.

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. 21; historical ancient running text. View original source ↗

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

German wording transcribed and checked against the printed 1906 edition, p. 21; line-end hyphenation and page breaks are joined. The matching original identifies the portion translated. Consult the cited edition for surrounding source context

The quoted words, without the preceding Olympiodorus carrier, are translated. Diels prints this under “Spurious material.”

German · Hermann Diels · Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2. Auflage, Band I (1906) Published translation ↗

Public domain

Available translations & credits
  • German · Hermann Diels. Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 2. Auflage, Band I (1906). Default reading. Published translation ↗ Paired original ↗

    Translation: Public domain

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

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