De generatione et corruptione
Aristotle
Aristotle. On Sophistical Refutations, On Coming to be and Passing Away, On the Cosmos. Forster, Edward Seymour, editor. London, Cambridge: William Heinmann Ltd., Harvard University Press, 1955.
3. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τέτταρα τὰ στοιχεῖα, τῶν δὲ τεττάρων ἓξ αἱ συζεύξεις, τὰ δ᾿ ἐναντία οὐ πέφυκε συνδυάζεσθαι (θερμὸν γὰρ καὶ ψυχρὸν εἶναι τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ πάλιν ξηρὸν καὶ ὑγρὸν ἀδύνατα), φανερὸν ὅτι τέτταρες ἔσονται αἱ τῶν στοιχείων συζεύξεις, [*](330 b) θερμοῦ καὶ ξηροῦ, καὶ θερμοῦ καὶ ὑγροῦ, καὶ πάλιν ψυχροῦ καὶ ὑγροῦ, καὶ ψυχροῦ καὶ ξηροῦ. καὶ ἠκολούθηκε κατὰ λόγον τοῖς ἁπλοῖς φαινομένοις σώμασι, πυρὶ καὶ ἀέρι καὶ ὕδατι καὶ γῇ· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πῦρ θερμὸν καὶ ξηρόν, ὁ δ᾿ ἀὴρ θερμὸν καὶ ὑγρόν (οἷον ἀτμὶς γὰρ ὁ ἀήρ), τὸ δ᾿ ὕδωρ ψυχρὸν καὶ ὑγρόν, ἡ δὲ γῆ ψυχρὸν καὶ ξηρόν, ὥστ᾿ εὐλόγως διανέμεσθαι τὰς διαφορὰς τοῖς πρώτοις σώμασι, καὶ τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν εἶναι κατὰ λόγον. ἅπαντες γὰρ οἱ τὰ ἁπλᾶ σώματα στοιχεῖα ποιοῦντες οἱ μὲν ἕν, οἱ δὲ δύο, οἱ δὲ τρία, οἱ δὲ τέτταρα ποιοῦσιν. ὅσοι μὲν οὗν ἓν μόνον λέγουσιν, εἶτα πυκνώσει καὶ μανώσει τἆλλα γεννῶσι, τούτοις συμβαίνει δύο ποιεῖν τὰς ἀρχάς, τό τε μανὸν καὶ τὸ πυκνὸν ἢ τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ψυχρόν· ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ δημιουργοῦντα, τὸ δ᾿ ἓν ὑπόκειται καθάπερ ὕλη. οἱ δ᾿ εὐθὺς δύο ποιοῦντες, ὥσπερ Παρμενίδης πῦρ καὶ γῆν, τὰ μεταξὺ μίγματα ποιοῦσι τούτων, οἷον ἀέρα καὶ ὕδωρ. ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ οἱ τρία λέγοντες, [*](ᵃ i.e. are mathematically possible.)
Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ τὸ πῦρ καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ ἕκαστον τῶν εἰρημένων ἁπλοῦν, ἀλλὰ μικτόν. τὰ δ᾿ ἁπλᾶ τοιαῦτα μέν ἐστιν, οὐ μέντοι ταὐτά, οἷον εἴ τι τῷ πυρὶ ὅμοιον, πυροειδές, οὐ πῦρ, καὶ τὸ τῷ ἀέρι ἀεροειδές· ὁμοίως δὲ κἀπὶ τῶν ἄλλων. τὸ δὲ πῦρ ἐστὶν ὑπερβολὴ θερμότητος, ὥσπερ καὶ κρύσταλλος ψυχρότητος· ἡ γὰρ πῆξις καὶ ἡ ζέσις ὑπερβολαί τινές εἰσιν, ἡ μὲν ψυχρότητος, ἡ δὲ θερμότητος. εἰ οὖν ὁ κρύσταλλός ἐστι πῆξις ὑγροῦ ψυχροῦ, καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἔσται ζέσις ξηροῦ θερμοῦ. διὸ καὶ οὐδὲν οὔτ᾿ ἐκ κρυστάλλου γίνεται οὔτ᾿ ἐκ πυρός.
Ὄντων δὲ τεττάρων τῶν ἁπλῶν σωμάτων, ἑκάτερον τοῖν δυοῖν ἑκατέρου τῶν τόπων ἐστίν· πῦρ μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀὴρ τοῦ πρὸς τὸν ὅρον φερομένου, γῆ δὲ καὶ ὕδωρ τοῦ πρὸς τὸ μέσον. καὶ ἄκρα μὲν καὶ εἰλικρινέστατα πῦρ καὶ γῆ, μέσα δὲ καὶ με [*](331 a) μιγμένα μᾶλλον ὕδωρ καὶ ἀήρ. καὶ ἑκάτερα ἑκατέροις ἐναντία· πυρὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐναντίον ὕδωρ, ἀέρι δὲ γῆ· ταῦτα γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων παθημάτων [*](It is doubtful what is meant here. The commentator Philoponos suggests that it was a collection of otherwise unpublished doctrines of Plato and thinks that Aristotle is referring to a theory of Plato that there was “the great” and “the small” and a third ἀρχή, which was a mixture of these and served as matter; but there is nothing to support this theory. H. H. Joachim takes “the Divisions” to mean the)