animals, »>eing vvilling to assimilate mundane natures to all the forms contained in himself, in order that he might make the world all-perfect. But he contains the distinct ideas of these, producing mortal from immortal natures.* He knew therefore, mortal natures. And it is evident that he knew them hy his inherent forms j and that he thought it lit the junior (jods should fabricate them, looking to him, and not to animal itself, as having in himself separately the ideas of mortal, and those of immortal natures. In animal itself therefore, there was the aerial, or the aquatic, or the pede^tiious, there l>emg one idea of each, viz. of all aerial, or aquatic, or jvedeslrious animals whatever; but in the Demiurgus they are divi¬ ded. And some indeed, are the formal [or specific! comprehensions of immortal, hut others of mortal, aerial animals, and in a similar mannt r of such as are aquatic and terre.-tk'I. Hence the formal multitude in animal itself, is not the same as the demiurgic, ps nia\ he inferred from these arguments. 1 he manner also, m which the division of these genera is made, must he considered. I or it is into a monad and triad; opposing the summit of the celestial genus, to the total genera; and also, into two duad.s. 1 or lie ('alls tin* celestial, and also the winged, genus , hut the aquatic, and also the pedestrious, species, as having an order inferior to the former, just is sjiecios is subordinate to genus.
Moreover, it is likewise necessary to survey this, that he omits the idea of fire in what he now s 'js, because the divine genus compie bonds the summit of fire, according to its own nature. l 7 or of the .sublunary bodies fire alone, has not an appropriate place, but alone subsists in mutation, and is alvvavs in want of nourishment from air, and water. For the upper region is the place adapted to tire. But it is not there. For it would he seen it it was there, since it is naturally visible. Nor does it arrive thither, since it is extinguished by the surrounding air, which is dissimilar to it. It therefore, it is necessary, that tli< re should he a wholeness of fire, and that lire having a form should exist somevv here, and should not alone subsist in becoming to be; hut sublunar} fire is not a tiling of this kind , if this l>e the case, lire will alone exist in the heavens, and will there remain sue li as it is, and always posse*ss its prope*r place. l - or the motion to the upper region, is not the natural motion eif fire*, hut ot fire having a preternatural subsistence*. Thus also the* Sacred Discourse of the ChahUcans, conjoins the* aerial bosoms with the lunar rattlings, and attributes to lire the celestial region, according to the distribution of the* elements into the world. For the* fire which is in generation, is a certain eflluxion of the celestial fire, and is in the cavities ot the* oi ier
• Instead of oro ra aOaeara wnpaym 111 this It l|ipMI8 to me
idararwe 6n/ra wuftaywy.
lh.it we should read nto ru>y
Book M .]
TIM.El'S OF PLATO.
olcmenls; Ihore not bring a sphere of fire by itself; but the summits of air imitate the purity of the upper tire. We say therefore, that these summits are sublunary lire, ami that the place of lire is under the heavens. For this place is most similar to the celestial profundity, just as the lowest extremity of air is most similar to water, in consequence of being thick and nebu¬ lous. This also, as it would seem, appears to have been the conception of Aristotle; for he thought lit thus to denominate the (ire which is lu re. Hut he calls the lire which is immediately under the heavens, and which he says, revolves in conjunction with the heavens, fiery-formed. If however, this be the case, it h perfectly requisite to ask him, where that which is truly tire, and ranks as a whole, exists } For it cannot lie the tire which is here, since it is not a whole, nor truly-existing tire ; since the tire which is truly so, is not licry-formed. He must therefore he compelled to admit, that fire which is truly so, and which is pure light, exists in the heavens. You must not however wonder, if most atte¬ nuated, and most pure tire, is in the summits of the air, just as the most gross and turhid tire, is in the bosom of the earth ; not ns making this fire to he another whole¬ ness different from that of air, but as admitting, from its being the most atte¬ nuated, that it is carried m the pores of the air, which are most narrow. Hence it is not visible, through two causes ; one, from not being distinctly formed, ami the other, from not resisting our sight, in consequence of consisting of the smallest parts. And this also is the case with the light of the eyes. Truly-existing tire therefore, is in the heavens. Hut the purest of sublunary fire, is in the air prox¬ imate to the heavenly bodies, which Plato farther on, calls a'tlier. And fire of the grossest nature is contained in the bosom of the earth. Since therefore Plato has spoken concerning the four genera in common, let us survey how he consti¬ tutes each of them, in what follows.
“The idea therefore, of that which is divine, lie for the most part pro¬ duced from lire, in order that it might be most splendid and beautiful to the view. [ Hut assimilating it to the universe, he made it to be round .” 1 J
The sphere of the fixed stars is the first of partial animals, which also the l)e-
* In the original, immediately after the text the following words occur, ax a title to the* comment, and which were inserted, I suppose, by some Scholiast, ra irfrovfuva rrpi rov otVoiovi cwt'. »'»i r>ji ovoiai avrov. wept rov tr^rjparot. wept rt]t Bevewt. wept tjj% nrrjirciv,. i. c. " lii'pnrics concerning the merratic anim.il [i. e. the sphere of the fixed stars]. Concerning the essence of if, its figure, position, and motion.” That part of the text also withio the brackets, is omitted in Proclut, though lie coin* inentsupon it.
Tim. Plat. Vol. II. 2 \.
Vol. IF
[book iv.
miurgus first constituted, producing it for the most part from the idea of fire. For it is necessary in the first place, that we should discuss the essence of it, in the next place, the figure, in the third place, the position, and in the fourth place, the motion of it. The discussion therefore, of its essence, is the occasion of much discord among the interpreters. For how does it possess for the most part the idea of fire ? is it as some sa\, Iw-cause it is mingled from all the elements, hut participates mostly of tire ? Or is it because every celestial genus consists of all the elements, but the greatest part of it is fiery ? For it is possible to assert either of these ; just as if we should say, lhatall things consist of all the genera of lieing, but that iutelligibles have most of sameness. Or is it not as he would interpret, who truly surveys things themselves, that a subsistence for the most part from the idea of fire, signifies that fire possesses most abundantly the idea of the fifth body, as being the recipient of many productive powers, of which each of the divine bodies is full } Or shall we say, that it is not according to any one of these modes, but as others assert, that divine animals consist of fire, hut of lire w hich haH an essence possessing interval, and is multitudinous ? For the intelligible has the form of unity, but the corporeal is multitudinous, as Ijeiug partible, and pos¬ sesses interval, in consequence of having hulk. Or may we not say, as the most true of all the assertions, that we should look to all these conceptions, and sur¬ vey one truth as the result of all of them * for we place all the elements in the heavens, hut immaterially, so far ns the immaterial can subsist in material natures. We also sav, that the elements subsist in the heavens, but according to the sum¬ mits of them only. For if the forms of fire, air, water and earth, are in intelligi- bles, it is necessary that the heavens should he the first participants of this tetrad. But fabrication proceeding, constitutes also the last nature of the elements, and which is truly material. We likewise assert, that the idea of the stars, for the most part, consisLs of fire. For though all the elements are in them, yet fire pre¬ dominates; because in the elements of generation, lire has the relation of form to the other elements. It is necessary therefore, in the [celestial] (Jotls, that the fiery churateristic should he most abundant, in order that form may have dominion over the subject essence ; but that there should he the least of the other elements, because tins least portion lias the order of a subject. Hence, the terrestrial nature is there, as living a certain solid essence, and tangible hulk. On this ac¬ count also, it resists our sight. The fiery nature likewise is there, as illuminating and giving form to hulk and interval. Hut the elements which are between the-e, subsist tin re, as connecting the extremes, and causing them to be one. Fire how¬ ever, predominates ov< r all the other elements, because the form w lich is there, vanquishes the subject, connectedly contains, and preserves it on all sides, and is itself full of life and self-motive power. Hence also it is full of divine and dcini-
Book tv .]
r iiM/i:r.s or h.ato.
urgic productive powers, and proceeds into multitude and inti rval, every way de¬ fining that which possesses dimensions, and comprehending the hulk of body.
Nor must we fear the skilful in dialectic, who looking to a certain small part of nature, revile Plato for saying, that fire tends upward, hut that the stars have a circular motion. For a tendency upward has no place in the fire of the heavens; just as neither does self-motion pertain to intelligible fire, nor to that which is of a eorporeal-formed nature. For the reason [i. e. form, or produc tive principle of fire] in intellect, is intellectual fire. For motions are consubsistenl with things according to the order of essences. But if divine fire is that which has the power of constituting the stars, it is not such as this most material and gross [sublunary fire]. And if it is most splendid and l>cautiful, it is different from this obscure lire, which is mingled with the deformity of matter. For the last matter is darkness and deformity. But this divine fire is most splendid and beautiful, both which are indubitable signs of truth. For the super-luminous transparent splendor of light, is the image of divine goodness, and its being decorated with beauty, is an indication of intelligible symmetry. Divine fire therefore, is very different from that which is not divine. Hence, it appears that truly existing fire is there in the highest place; and that on this nccount, the stars are fu ry, and are allotted the place of fire. The summit likewise of earth is there. On the contrary, the whole of earth 1 is here, which participates as much as being earth, it is possible of the last fire, which is most terrestrial and gross ; just as the fire which i v in the heavens possesses the summit of earth, the earth which is there being superior to the oli- scuritv and grossness of this sublunary earth. [I his also is conformable to the doctrine of Ptolemy and Plotinus, that every body, when it is in its proper place, is either fixed, or revolves in a circle; hut that n tendency upward or a tendency downw ard are the motions of bodies, which not being in their proper places, strive to obtain their proper place. So that each of the other elements, when in its proper place, will either remain fixed in it, or will he movi d in a circle. And if it should he of a fiery nature and tend upward, it will entirely he in a foreign place.