Part i

T
• A ,N A: X I M E N E S.
.1 j
.A
CHAP. I.
His Life,
^Laert,. b SirnplU. c Cic. hcai. qutji. Plm, 2, ^6. • ,
^ Skht, •
A
'.iv
! iff. a;
Naximenes^ was a Mile fan , SonlJ ^/> are two names fg-
of Euriflratus^ •» Friend, Difcij nifying one thing.
That ^ the ^ Air is God, begotten, immenje , * C\c. de naf. infinite, ever in motion', b but that thofe things z&hich arife out of it are finite, Firjl is begotten, .
Earth, Water, Eire,then of thefe all things. That ’ the Air is God underftands of the faculties penetrating through the Elements or Bodies.
pie and Succeflbur to Anaxmanl der. According to Eufebim he ' fiourifhed in the lecond year of -the 5 (5 th Olym- 1 X piad.'* Suidas iaith he liv’d in the 5 5th Olympiad .at the taking of Sardis v/k^n Cyrus over- si threw Crcejus. So that the account of * A]^ol- lodorus (who affirms he was born in the (53d ^ Olympiad ) is corrupt. He heard alfo , as Tome affirm, Earmenides. He ufed the lonick Dialed, plain, and incompofed. f Eliny calls him the Inventor of Gnomonicks j but ^ per¬ haps it is a miftake for Anaximander. Of his au- dkoiswetQ Anaxagoras and Diogenes Apollonites. v 3 Thefe two Epiftles of his are preferved by Laertius.
A\u
Anaximenes to Eythagoras.
‘ ^~^Hales having lived happily even to old age, ‘ X ended his days unfortunately. One night ‘ going out of his Houle (as he uledjwith his ‘Maid,to contemplate the Stars, gazing, and not ‘ taking heed to the place, he lighted upon a ‘ precipice and fell down. This was the fate of ‘ the Milefian Aftronomer. But let us who were ^ his Auditors, prelerve the Memory of the Per- ‘ Ion, and our Sons and Auditors after us. Let ‘ us ftill retain his Sayings^ and begin all our ‘ Dilcourfes with Thales.
I
Anaximenes to Eythagoras.
‘ 'VT’Ou are more advifed than we, who leav- ‘ i ing Samos for Crotona live there in quiet; ‘ the Eacides prove injurious to others, and the ‘ Mile fans want not Tyrants of their own choof- ‘ ing. The King of Media is likewile terrible to us, but would not be fo, Ihould we pay him ‘ Tibute, The hnians are relblved to war with ‘ the Medes for the general Liberty , and if ‘ they fight we have no hope of Safety. Ho^v ‘ then can Anaximenes, perplexed with fear of ‘ death and Slavery apply his Mind to Celeftial ‘ Speculations? But you are coveted by the Cro- ‘ tonians, and all Italians Auditors come to ' you as far as from Sicily.
C H A P. II.
His Opinions.
SeEl. I. That the Air is the Erinciple of all things.
Seff. 2. Of the Heavens.
THat « the outward Superficies of Heaven A' Plut.pltu. Earthly. phil. 2. 1 1. ■
That the Stars are of a fiery Subfiance, invi- fiible. Earthly Bodies hit ermixt with them-, that they are inherent, as nails in Chryfial. , .
That they are force dback by the thick refi- a Pint. plac. fling Air, ^ and move not above (or underh butP^^'^- 2.2^. -■ about the Earth.
^ That 7/;^ Sun is fiat as aplate, of fiery fub- LT' fiance.
That e the Signs of Summer and Winter come s pint. pUc not by the Moon, but by the Sun only. phil. 2, 19.
That the Sun is eclipfed when the Alouth ^ fftt.plac. r out of which ifi'ueth his heat, is clofcd. P 2. 24.
That the Moon is likewise of a Fiery 'Nature.
That the Moon is eclipfed when the Alouth piut. plac.phiL out of which ijfueth her heat, is clofed. 2. 29.
Sefl. 3. Of Aleteors.
PlutSde plac, TTE held that the Air is the Erinciple of the duflin Martyr. XI Univerfe,cf which all things are engendred, par an. i. 3. which they refolve', our Souls by which we
live are Air,fo Spirit and Air contain in being all
phil.
TiUdX the Clouds are made by condenfation ofPlut.plac.phiU Air, Rain by condenfation of the Clouds, 4* out of which it is fqueezedfinow of Rain congeal'd in filling, and Hail of the fame, contrasted by a cold Wind.
Concerning Thunder, Li ghtning,f5' £•. To the af Stob. fertion of Anaximander he added the comparifon of the Ss:i,which being broken with Oars fhineth.
That the Rainbow is made by reflexion of the Sun-beams upon a thick Cloud, which, not Plut.de plac. able to pierce it, are rejraSed upon it. pl^H- 3* 5*
That Earthquakes proceed from the rarity and drynefs of the Earth, one being caus'd by excejfive hear, the other by excejfive cold. Further explain¬ ed by ‘ ArifiotJe thus •, He held that the Earth, Plutarch de as well when it is moifi as when it is dry, break-t‘fi‘^’ 3* *5- eth, and by thefe great pieces thereof which ufe to -fs^nec'nau fall upon it, is fhaken : Hence it is that Earth- qtieft. 6. 10. quakes happen either in draughts or great Rains ; by droughts it is broken, and by great Showers excejfively moifined parts likewife in funder.
He called the contraUion and Condenfation Pht. de of matter, cold', the lax at ion and rarity thereof ,pPim3 frig^ heat ', whence a Man breaths out of his Mouth both hot and cold ; his breath comprefi by his Lips, and condens'd is cold j but breathed forth with an open Mouth is hot by reafon of the rarity.
/ A N A X A-
p A R. T. I.
• N
A N A X A G O R A S.
65.,
A
C H A P. L
AnaxagorasV Country^ time^ and fiudy ofPhilofophy.
A. Naxagoroi was of Glazomen^^ Son of Uegefibului or Eubulus^ born in the 70th Olympiad according to Apollo- dorus ; in the firft year thereof-, Emi¬ nent for his noble birth and wealthy fortunes, but more for his magnanimous Contempt of them. * He left his Lands and Patrimony, (faith bTufc!meji$.^ Gcero^) to learn and obtain the Divinede- c De orator,' I'.light of Philofophy : And c converted himfelf from civil Affairs to the knowledge of things. Suidof affirms he left his Grounds to Sheep and Camels to be eaten up; And therefore Apolloni- tfs Tyaneus faid, he read Philofophy to Beafts f Hip. mau than to Men. Vlato derides him for
quitting his Eftate ^ Laertius reports he affign’d it to hiS' Friends ^ whereuppn being by them accufed of improvidence -, why ( anlwered he ) do not you take care of it > To one who re¬ proved him, as taking no care of 'his Country , wrong tne not^ faith he, nty great eji Care is my Country.^ pointing to the Heavens. To anor ther, asking for what end he was born , he anfwered, to contemplate the Sun Aloon^ and Heavens. > ' In fine, he withdrew himfelf hLaa-f* to contemplation of natural Philofophy not regarding civil affairs. In this Study Anaxi- Ctcer. ds nat.jjigyig^ wasliis Maftet f from whom he received his Learning.
*Laeru s In the twentieth year of his Age the firft of the 7 5th Olympiad, Colliades being Archon (whom Laertius corruptly calls Callias) at the time Xerxes’ 'ii Expedition into Greece he went to Athens to ftudy Philofophy, where he con¬ tinued thirty Years, and was honoured with the Title of Nw the Alind.^ as being the firft that added that principle to Matter-, fo Attion.
Where dwells fatted Anaxagoras, the Mind^
K7t J'ltm Which things confufed orderly dejign’d.
91utS(>
CHAP. II.
Of hk Opinions.
Sect. I . Of the firji principles., and beginning of things.
He held that the material principle of all things is one and many otiAioiyi^ parts infinite, i Flat. plac. Jimular, and contrary, continuous to the touch, , Phil. i. 5. fuflaining themfelves, not contained by any other. Arifi. Fhyf. Hk gtounds thefe : F.irft, becaufe, according to ^ Arifl. phrf. common Rule of natural Philofophers, of 3. 7. * ’ nothing proceeds nothing, it is not poffible any
thing can be made of that which is not ^ or that ' which hath a being can be refolved into that which hath none. Secondly, becaufe contraries
are made mutually of each other, therefore they were in each other before ; for if it beneceffa- ry, that whatfoever is made, be made of that which is, or is not, but that itfhould be made or that which is not impofllble, wherein all agree, that ever difcourfed upon Nature, it fol¬ lows neceffarily, that they be made of things . ’ • that are, and are within thefe very things though by reafon of their fmallnefs,not difcern- j
able by us ; Hence it is that they fay, every thing ismixt with every thing -, becaufe they lee . any thing made of any thing : but things feem different, and are called divers in refpe0; to one another,by reafon that the multitude of Infinites which are within aboundeth in the Miftion ; for the whole is neither quite white nor black ,
Flefh nor Bone, but every thing leemeth to be of the Nature of that whereof it hath moft k of fimple Nourifhment, as Bread, Water,, pi,^ and the like, are bred the Hair, Veins, Arteries,
Nerves, Bones, and other parts of the Body* all things are therefore in this food, as Nerves*
Bones, and the like , difcernable by Reafon* though rfPt by Senfe ; Of thefe Atomes the whole World confifteth, as iGold of Grains ^ Laert thefe homogeneal parts are the matter of all things, his Opinion is thus expreft by „ Lucre- ^ *•
tins.
Next Anaxagoras we muft purfue,
And his Homoiomeria review ^
A term that’s no where mention’d but among The Greeks^ too copious for our narrow tongue:
Yet may the fenfe be in more words array’d 5 The principle of all things, entrails made Of fmalleft Entrails, bone of fmalleft bone.
Blood of Imall fanguine drops reduc’d to one ;
Gold of fmall grains, earth of fmall Sands ‘ compared.
Small drops to Water, fparksto Fire contraffedj The like in every thing fuppos’d, yet he Nature afferted from all vacuum free^
And held that each corporeal Being might Be fubdivided into Infinite.
That “ God is an infinite lelfmoving faift
that this divine ° infinite Mind not enclofed^'^F** 5* in any Body, is the efficient caufe of all°f''' thffigs j out of the infinite matter confiftingp of fimilar parts , every thing being made ac- del. 4. 2. cording to its Species by the divine Mind, who when all things were at firft confufedly mingled together, came and reduced them to order.
Se£f. 2. Of the Heavens.
THat the higher parts of the World are full of
Yire,the Lower thatis there he called ather, . ,
and that properly ^ faith Arijlotle, for the Body, • which is continually in qui^ motion, is con- •‘--
eeived
^4
ANAXAGORAS.
** Plut. PlUC. phU. 2. 13.
Cl
jfA//. 2. 1 5.
cc
cc
’ Plut. plitc. phil. 2. 23.
Achil.Tut. If^g. in Arat.
ceived to be Divine by Nature, tor that realon called aiher.^ none of thofe that are here below being of that kind.
That “ the ambient (ether being of a Fiery Nature by the fwiftnefs of its Motion, fnatcheth up Stones from the Earth, which being fet on Fire, become Stars, ‘ all car¬ ried from Eafl to Wefi.
That *■ ‘ the Stars are impelled by the ‘ condenfation of the Air about the Poles, which ‘ the Sun makes more ftrong by compreffing.
That the ‘ Stars are Earthly, and- that after ‘ the firlf Secretion of the Elements, the Fire ‘ fepar^iting it felf!,drew fome parts of the Earth ‘ to its own Nature, and made them like Fire .* ‘ whereupon he farther affirmed
' to him us a Looking-glals ^ by the lame rea- Ibn (faith he) appeared chiefly in Vontus.^ two or more Suns.
That ‘ Winds proceed from ejftenuaf^Oii o'tum. ' the Air, by the Sunr * ' •
That ‘ Earth quakes are cauled by the Air Arifl. Meteor.
^ 01 j¥!the/\ which being of its own Nature M-’c.
‘ apt to alcend, . when it gets into the- Veins and ^ Caverns of the Earth, finding difficulty in the ' ' ' “ ' ’
' getting out, caufeth that Thaking^ for the upper parts of the Earth contradf themfelves ‘ by the benefit of Rain, Nature having made ‘ the whole Body thereof alike, lax and Ipongy,
‘ the parts, as in a Bail, fuperior and inferior j ‘ the fuperior, that which is inhabited by us,
‘the inferior, the other: This -wind getfng
* Plut. plac. phi!. 2.2Q. La-
) ' The Sun is a burning Plate or Stone, ‘ into the inferior parts, breaks the condenled many rimes bigger than whole ‘ Air, with the fame force as we fee Clouds
ert. Achil Tat. ^ converfion is made by the repuUe of the Nor- ‘ broken, when, upon the collifion of them, ifag.inArat. ‘ them Ait, whicli he, by compreffing, makes ‘ and motion of the agitated Air, Fire breaks
Pint. plaC. c rnrtr^» flrz-vnor ‘ fotth ‘ ♦■nic Air fallc iir\nn rh.ir ixfhir-h ic npvr
phil. 2, 21.
* Plut. plac. phil. 2. 25.
* Plut. plac. phil. 2. 30. Laert.
more Prong. ' ‘ forth .• this Air falls upon that which is next,
^ That ‘ the Moon is a dark Body, enlight- ‘ feeking to get out, and tears in pieces what- ‘ n^d by the Sun, Flabitable, having Plains, ‘ foever it meets, untill through thofe narrow ‘ Hills and Waters ^ that * the inequality in paflages, it either finds a way to Heaven, or ‘her Face proceeds from a mixture, cold and ‘ forceth one: which Laertius ohi'cuiQly ex-. ‘ Earthly, for there is Darknefs mixt with her ‘ preffeth, the repulfion of the Air upon the
y InCratylo.
% Plut. plac. phil. 3
I.
‘ Fiery Nature, whence fhe is called a Star, or ‘ falfe Light. » Llaio faith, that the Moon ‘ was occafion of Difhonour to him, becaufe ‘ he affumed the Original of this Opinion of hei ‘ borrowing Light, to himfelfj whereas it was ‘ much more Ancient.
That * ‘ the milky way is the fhadow of ‘ the Earth upon that part of Heaven, when ‘ the Sun, being underneath, enlightens not all:
* Meteor, i. 8. ‘ • Or as Arijiotle.^ that the Milky w^iy is the ‘ light of Ibme Stars, for the Sun being under ‘ the Earth, Icoks not upon fome Stars, the ‘ light of thofe on whom he looks is not feen, ‘ being fwallowed up in his ^ the proper light ‘ of thofe which are hindred by the Earth from ‘ the Suns illumination, is the Galaxy ^ Laer- ‘ tius faith, he held the Galaxy to be the re-
‘ r>F thpliaht nF
flcbfion of the light of the Sun.
Of Meteors,
Se£f.
Earth
That .‘ Snow ‘is did it feem white to him, the Water whereof it is black.
not white, but black, nor^'^^*^*^'
becaufe he congealed
knew
qUdlJ}. 4.
to be
Seft. 4. Of the Earth.
^J^Hat ‘ the beginning of Motion proceeding Laert.
3'
Aril}. Meteor,
t.6.
THat ‘ Comets are the co-apparition of ‘ wandring Stars, which approach fb near each other, as that
Laert.
Other, as that they feem to touch one another: or as ‘ the concourfe of Pla-
‘ nets, emitting Flames.
That ‘ falling Stars are fliot down from the ‘ (ether., as Sparkles, and therefore foon extin- ^ guifhed.
That ‘ Thunder is the Collifion of the Clouds, lightning their mutual attrition: or, 3> 5* ‘ 25 plutarS'., the Cold falling upon the Hot^
‘ or the (Ztherial upon the aerial., the noife which ‘ it makes is Thunder ; of the blacknefs of the ‘ Clouds is caufed Lightning, of the greatnefs ‘ of the light I'hunderbolts, of the more cor- ‘ poreal Fire, whirl- winds, of the more Cloudy
from the mind, the heavy Bodies ob- ‘ rained the loweft' place, as the Earthy the ‘ light the higheft, as the fire : thofe betwixt ‘both, the middle, as the Air and Water .• thus ‘ the Sea fubfifts .upon the fuperficies of the ‘ Earth, which is flat, the Humidity being ratified , by the Sun.
‘ That the primitive humidity being diffufed,p/;,/..p/^.j,;5,;/, ‘ as a Pool was burne^ by the motion of the 3. 16.
‘ Sun about it, and the unbfious part being ex- ^ haled, the remainder became Salt.
That ‘ as foon as the World was made, zw^Tlut. plac.phU. ‘ living Creatures produced out of the World,
‘ the World enclined of it felf towards the ‘ South, according to Divine Providence •, that ‘ fome parts thereof might be Habitable, others ‘ not Habitable, by reafon of the extremities of ‘ Heat and Cold.
That ‘ the miftion of the Elements is by a'p-Plut.plac.pbil. ‘ pofition.
That ‘ the inundation of Nilus is caufed by Plut.plac.pljU. ‘ the Snow of JEthiopia., which isdiffolved in4« i* Summer, and congealed in Winter.
Sebl. 5. Of Laving Creatures.
Prefters.
That ‘ Lightning diflills from the (ether i and ‘ that from that great heat of Heaven many ‘ things fall down, which the Clouds preferve ‘ a long time enclofed.
Tint, plac.phil.
3- 5.
That the ‘ Rain bow is a refraffion of the Sun’s light upon a thick dark Cloud, oppofite
T
Hat ‘Creatures were fiift Generated Laert. Humidity, Calidity, and Earthly Mat- ‘ ter •, afterwards mutually of one another, '
‘ Males on the right fide. Females on the left.
That ‘ the Soul is that which moveth, • that* pint, plac ‘ it is aerial, and hath a Body of the nature oDW. 4. i. ‘Air.
■A
That