Available translations: English
δείξας γὰρ ὅτι εἰ μὴ ἔχοι μέγεθος τὸ ὄν, οὐδ’ ἂν εἴη, ἐπάγει· εἰ δὲ ἔστιν, ἀνάγκη ἕκαστον μέγεθός τι ἔχειν καὶ πάχος καὶ ἀπέχειν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἕτερον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου. καὶ περὶ τοῦ προύχοντος ὁ αὐτὸς λόγος. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο ἕξει μέγεθος καὶ προέξει αὐτοῦ τι. ὅμοιον δὴ τοῦτο ἅπαξ τε εἰπεῖν καὶ ἀεὶ λέγειν· οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοιοῦτον ἔσχατον οὔτε ἕτερον πρὸς ἕτερον οὐκ ἔσται. οὕτως εἰ πολλά ἐστιν, ἀνάγκη αὐτὰ μικρά τε εἶναι καὶ μεγάλα· μικρὰ μὲν ὥστε μὴ ἔχειν μέγεθος, μεγάλα δὲ ὥστε ἄπειρα εἶναι.
For first showing that ‘if being did not have magnitude, it would not exist at all,’ he goes on, ‘if anything exists, it is necessary that each thing should have some magnitude and thickness, and that one part of it should be separated from another. The same argument applies to the thing that precedes this. That also will have magnitude and will have something before it. The same may be said of each thing once for all, for there will be no such thing as last, nor will one thing differ from another. So if there is a multiplicity of things, it is necessary that these should be great and small—small enough not to have any magnitude, and great enough to be infinite.’
Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898)How this fragment survives
- Simplicius
Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics · 30 v 141, 1
Citation in the source record
Simpl. Phys. 30 v 141, 1.
Compared the Greek of 29-B-1 with Fairbanks’ Zeno fragment 3; the numbering is not assumed to be identical.
Check the source record ↗Passage correspondence
3. Simpl. Phys. 30 v 141, 1. εἰ μὴ ἔχοι μέγεθος τὸ ὂν οὐδ’ ἂν εἴη, εἰ δὲ ἔστιν, ἀνάγκη ἕκαστον μέγεθός τι ἔχειν καὶ πάχος καὶ ἀπέχειν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἕτερον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου. καὶ περὶ τοῦ προύχοντος ὁ αὐτὸς λόγος. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο ἕξει μέγεθος καὶ προέξει αὐτοῦ τι. ὅμοιον δὴ τοῦτο ἅπαξ τε εἰπεῖν καὶ ἀεὶ λέγειν· οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοιοῦτον ἔσχατον ἔσται οὔτε ἕτερον πρὸς ἕτερον οὐκ ἔσται. οὕτως εἰ πολλά ἐστιν, ἀνάγκη αὐτὰ μικρά τε εἶναι καὶ μεγάλα, μικρὰ μὲν ὥστε μὴ ἔχειν μέγεθος, μεγάλα δὲ ὥστε ἄπειρα εἶναι.
Fairbanks (1898) records this source for Zeno 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.
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), retaining the displayed witness and quotation boundaries. Published English is credited separately
Open the historical edition ↗
Notes & source
Fairbanks fragment3 corresponds to DK29 B1 by Greek identity. Simplicius’s introductory carrier is included on both sides (“For first showing ... he goes on”). Complete quoted argument, not just the first sentence. Published English words unchanged; page/line numbers, bibliographic fragment markers and footnote callouts removed
Original text: Diels fragment text as transcribed by Forage (CC BY-SA4.0), retaining the displayed witness and quotation boundaries. Published English is credited separately View original source ↗
English: Arthur Fairbanks · The First Philosophers of Greece (1898) Published translation ↗
English translation: Public domain