Empedocles Quotes
Empedocles of Acragas was an ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosopher of the 5th century BC, born in the Greek city of Acragas in Sicily. His doctrine of the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire, mixed and separated by the cosmic forces of Love and Strife, was the dominant account of natural change in Greek and medieval thought until the early modern period. The quotes below are attributed to Empedocles, organized by topic.
Browse Empedocles by topic
Empedocles on Death
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“Hear first the four roots of all things: shining Zeus, life-bringing Hera, Aidoneus, [ 2 ] and Nestis, [ 3 ] who wets with tears the mortal wellspring.”
τέσσαρα γὰρ πάντων ῥιζώματα πρῶτον ἄκουε· Ζεὺς ἀργὴς Ἥρη τε φερέσβιος ἠδ’ Ἀιδωνεύς Νῆστίς θ’, ἥ δακρύοις τέγγει κρούνωμα βρότειον. -
“And I will tell you something else: there is no birth of all mortal things, nor any end in wretched death, but only a mixing and dissolution of mixtures ; 'birth' is so called on the part of mankind.”
ἄλλο δέ τοι ἐρέω· φύσις οὐδενός ἐστιν ἁπάντων θνητῶν, οὐδέ τις οὐλομένου θανάτοιο τελευτή, ἀλλὰ μόνον μίξις τε διάλλαξίς τε μιγέντων ἐστί, φύσις δ’ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀνομάζεται ἀνθρώποισιν. -
“But, when the elements have been mingled in the fashion of a man and come to the light of day, or in the fashion of the race of wild beasts or plants or birds, then men say that these come into being; and when they are separated, they call that woeful death . They call it not aright; but I too follow the custom, and call it so myself.”
οἱ δ᾿ ὅτε μὲν κατὰ φῶτα μιγέντ᾿ εἰς αἰθέρ᾿ ἵ⟨κωνται⟩ ἢ κατὰ θηρῶν ἀγροτέρων γένος ἢ κατὰ θάμνων ἠὲ κατ᾿ οἰωνῶν, τότε μὲν τὸ ⟨λέγουσι⟩ γενέσθαι, εὖτε δ᾿ ἀποκρινθῶσι, τὸ δ᾿ αὖ δυσδαίμονα πότμον· ἥ θέμις ⟨οὐ⟩ καλέουσι, νόμωι δ᾿ ἐπίφημι καὶ αὐτός.
Empedocles on God
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“Blessed is he who has acquired a wealth of divine wisdom , but miserable is he in whom there rests a dim opinion concerning the gods .”
Purifications | tr. Arthur Fairbanks -
“For one by one did quake the limbs of God.”
On Nature | tr. William Leonard
Empedocles on Knowledge
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Attributed to Empedocles:
“Hold fast to these things in your eager mind, and you will see them all clearly.”
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“τέσσαρα γὰρ πάντων ῥιζώματα πρῶτον ἄκουε· Ζεὺς ἀργὴς Ἥρη τε φερέσβιος ἠδ’ Ἀιδωνεύς Νῆστίς θ’, ἥ δακρύοις τέγγει κρούνωμα βρότειον.”
Hear first the four roots of all things: shining Zeus, life-bringing Hera, Aidoneus, [ 2 ] and Nestis, [ 3 ] who wets with tears the mortal wellspring. | fr. 6 -
“ἄλλο δέ τοι ἐρέω· φύσις οὐδενός ἐστιν ἁπάντων θνητῶν, οὐδέ τις οὐλομένου θανάτοιο τελευτή, ἀλλὰ μόνον μίξις τε διάλλαξίς τε μιγέντων ἐστί, φύσις δ’ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀνομάζεται ἀνθρώποισιν.”
And I will tell you something else: there is no birth of all mortal things, nor any end in wretched death, but only a mixing and dissolution of mixtures ; 'birth' is so called on the part of mankind. | fr. 8 -
“οἱ δ᾿ ὅτε μὲν κατὰ φῶτα μιγέντ᾿ εἰς αἰθέρ᾿ ἵ⟨κωνται⟩ ἢ κατὰ θηρῶν ἀγροτέρων γένος ἢ κατὰ θάμνων ἠὲ κατ᾿ οἰωνῶν, τότε μὲν τὸ ⟨λέγουσι⟩ γενέσθαι, εὖτε δ᾿ ἀποκρινθῶσι, τὸ δ᾿ αὖ δυσδαίμονα πότμον· ἥ θέμις ⟨οὐ⟩ καλέουσι, νόμωι δ᾿ ἐπίφημι καὶ αὐτός.”
But, when the elements have been mingled in the fashion of a man and come to the light of day, or in the fashion of the race of wild beasts or plants or birds, then men say that these come into being; and when they are separated, they call that woeful death . They call it not aright; but I too follow the custom, and call it so myself. | fr. 9 As quoted by John Burnet , Early Greek philosophy (1908 -
“fr. 9 As quoted by John Burnet , Early Greek philosophy (1908) p. 240”
οἱ δ᾿ ὅτε μὲν κατὰ φῶτα μιγέντ᾿ εἰς αἰθέρ᾿ ἵ⟨κωνται⟩ ἢ κατὰ θηρῶν ἀγροτέρων γένος ἢ κατὰ θάμνων ἠὲ κατ᾿ οἰωνῶν, τότε μὲν τὸ ⟨λέγουσι⟩ γενέσθαι, εὖτε δ᾿ ἀποκρινθῶσι, τὸ δ᾿ αὖ δυσδαίμονα πότμον· ἥ θέμις ⟨οὐ⟩ καλέουσι, νόμωι δ᾿ ἐπίφημι καὶ αὐτός. -
“νήπιοι· οὐ γάρ σφιν δολιχόφρονές εἰσι μέριμναι, οἵ δὴ γίγνεσθαι πάρος οὐκ ἐὸν ἐλπίζουσιν ἤ τι καταθνήισκειν τε καὶ ἐξόλλυσθαι ἁπάντηι.”
Fools -- for their thoughts are not well-considered who suppose that not-being exists or that anything dies and is wholly annihilated. | fr. 11 -
“Fools -- for their thoughts are not well-considered who suppose that not-being exists or that anything dies and is wholly annihilated.”
νήπιοι· οὐ γάρ σφιν δολιχόφρονές εἰσι μέριμναι, οἵ δὴ γίγνεσθαι πάρος οὐκ ἐὸν ἐλπίζουσιν ἤ τι καταθνήισκειν τε καὶ ἐξόλλυσθαι ἁπάντηι. -
“οὐδέ τι τοῦ παντὸς κενεὸν πέλει οὐδὲ περισσόν.”
Nothing of the All is either empty or superfluous. | fr. 13 -
“Fortunate is he who has acquired a wealth of divine understanding, but wretched the one whose interest lies in shadowy conjectures about divinities.”
Purifications
Empedocles on Life
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“I have already once been a boy and a girl, a bush and a bird and a mute fish in the sea.”
ἤδη γάρ ποτ’ ἐγὼ γενόμην κοῦρός τε κόρη τε θάμνος τ’ οἰωνός τε καὶ ἔξαλος ἔλλοπος ἰχθύς.
Empedocles on Love
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Attributed to Empedocles:
“Love and Strife alternately rule and are ruled in turn.”
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“This quote refers to Love and Strife, the fundamental opposing and ordering forces in Empedocles' model of the cosmos.”
On Nature
Empedocles on Nature
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Attributed to Empedocles:
“There are four roots of all things: bright Zeus, life-giving Hera, Aidoneus, and Nestis whose tear-drops are a well-spring to mortals.”
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Attributed to Empedocles:
“There is no birth in mortal things, nor any end in ruinous death; there is only mingling and interchange of what is mingled.”
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“For already, sometime, I have been a boy and a girl, a shrub, a bird, and a silent fish in the sea.”
Purifications -
“From such honor and such a height of fortune am I, thus fallen to earth, cast down amongst mortals.”
Purifications -
“With deep roots Ether plunged into earth.”
On Nature
Empedocles on Time
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“Once on a time a youth was I, and I was a maiden/A bush, a bird, and a fish with scales that gleam in the ocean.”
Purifications | tr. Jane Ellen Harrison -
“As it has long been and shall be, not ever, I think, will unfathomable time be emptied of either.”
On Nature