- Source
- Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.8-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0004.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.9.57
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-09-30
Diogenes of Apollonia's origin, his discipleship under Anaximenes and close call with danger in Athens are recounted, alongside his physical doctrines centered on air and the opening of his treatise.
Διογένης Ἀπολλοθέμιδος Ἀπολλωνιάτης, ἀνὴρ φυσικὸς καὶ ἄγαν ἐλλόγιμος. ἤκουσε δέ, φησὶν Ἀντισθένης, Ἀναξιμένους. ἦν δὲ τοῖς χρόνοις κατʼ Ἀναξαγόραν. τοῦτόν φησιν ὁ Φαληρεὺς Δημήτριος ἐν τῇ Σωκράτους ἀπολογίᾳ διὰ μέγαν φθόνον μικροῦ κινδυνεῦσαι1 Ἀθήνησιν. Ἐδόκει δὲ αὐτῷ τάδε· στοιχεῖον εἶναι τὸν ἀέρα, κόσμους ἀπείρους καὶ κενὸν ἄπειρον· τόν τε ἀέρα πυκνούμενον καὶ ἀραιούμενον γεννητικὸν εἶναι τῶν κόσμων· οὐδὲν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος γίνεσθαι οὐδʼ εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν φθείρεσθαι· τὴν γῆν στρογγύλην, ἠρεισμένην ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, τὴν σύστασιν εἰληφυῖαν κατὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ θερμοῦ περιφορὰν καὶ πῆξιν ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ. Ἀρχὴ δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ συγγράμματος ἥδε· λόγου παντὸς ἀρχόμενον2 δοκεῖ μοι χρεὼν εἶναι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀναμφισβήτητον παρέχεσθαι, τὴν δʼ ἑρμηνείαν ἁπλῆν καὶ σεμνήν.
Diogenes of Apollonia, the son of Apollothemis, was a natural philosopher and exceedingly distinguished. According to Antisthenes, he was a hearer of Anaximenes; in time, however, he lived during the period of Anaxagoras. Demetrius of Phalerum says in his Apology of Socrates that this man, on account of great envy, came near running into mortal danger at Athens. His doctrines were as follows: that air is the element; that worlds are infinite and the void is infinite; that air, being condensed and rarefied, generates the worlds; that nothing comes to be from that which is not, nor is destroyed into that which is not; that the earth is spherical, supported in the middle, having received its composition through the rotation produced by heat and the solidification caused by cold. The beginning of his treatise is as follows: "It seems to me that whoever begins any discourse should provide an indubitable starting point, and an expression that is simple and dignified."
- 9.9.57μικροῦ κινδυνεῦσαι
The genitive μικροῦ is an idiomatic adverbial expression (elliptic for μικροῦ δεῖν) meaning "almost" or "narrowly missed." In forensic and political contexts, κινδυνεῦσαι often carries the specific sense of "running into capital peril" or "facing execution."
- 9.9.57λόγου παντὸς ἀρχόμενον
The accusative participle ἀρχόμενον functions as the subject of the infinitive παρέχεσθαι dependent on the impersonal χρεὼν εἶναι, denoting a generalized agent ("whoever begins"). The genitive λόγου παντὸς is the direct object governed by the middle participle ἀρχόμενον.