Humanitext Reader

Plutarch · Life of Numa §11.1-11.2

The Circular Temple of Vesta and Pythagorean Cosmology

Passage 11 of 22 · Greek

Summary

Explains that Numa's construction of the temple of Hestia imitated the Pythagorean model of the universe with fire at the center rather than the earth, and notes that Plato in his old age held a similar cosmological view.

§11.1Νομᾶς δὲ λέγεται καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἑστίας ἱερὸν ἐγκύκλιον περιβαλέσθαι τῷ ἀσβέστῳ πυρὶ φρουράν, ἀπομιμούμενος οὐ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς γῆς ὡς Ἑστίας οὔσης, ἀλλὰ τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου, οὗ μέσον οἱ Πυθαγορικοὶ τὸ πῦρ ἱδρῦσθαι νομίζουσι, καὶ τοῦτο Ἑστίαν καλοῦσι καὶ μονάδα· §11.2τὴν δὲ γῆν οὔτε ἀκίνητον οὔτε ἐν μέσῳ τῆς περιφορᾶς οὖσαν, ἀλλὰ κύκλῳ περὶ τὸ πῦρ αἰωρουμένην οὐ τῶν τιμιωτάτων οὐδὲ τῶν πρώτων τοῦ κόσμου μορίων ὑπάρχειν.
Numa is also said to have built the temple of Hestia in a circular shape as a protection for the unquenched fire, imitating not the shape of the earth as being Hestia, but that of the entire universe, in the center of which the Pythagoreans believe the fire is situated, and this they call Hestia and the Monad; and they believe that the earth is neither motionless nor in the center of the rotation, but is suspended in a circle around the fire, and does not belong to the most honorable or primary parts of the universe.
ταῦτα δὲ καὶ Πλάτωνά φασι πρεσβύτην γενόμενον διανενοῆσθαι περὶ τῆς γῆς ὡς ἐν ἑτέρᾳ χώρᾳ καθεστώσης, τὴν δὲ μέσην καὶ κυριωτάτην ἑτέρῳ τινὶ κρείττονι προσήκουσαν.
And they say that Plato also, when he had grown old, held these opinions about the earth, as being established in another place, and that the central and most sovereign place belongs to some other, superior being.

Notes

  1. §11.1περιβαλέσθαι — The middle infinitive of περιβάλλω, taking the accusative τὸ ... ἱερὸν (the temple) and the dative τῷ ... πυρὶ (the fire), meaning 'to put [the temple] around [the fire]'. φρουράν is an accusative in apposition expressing purpose or result ('as a protection').
  2. §11.1ὡς Ἑστίας οὔσης — The construction of ὡς with the genitive participle οὔσης, qualifying the preceding τῆς γῆς (of the earth), expressing a subjective definition or characterization: 'the earth as being Hestia (the goddess of the hearth/earth)'.
  3. §11.2ὑπάρχειν — An infinitive in the accusative-with-infinitive (A.c.I.) construction continuing under the governance of νομίζουσι (the Pythagoreans believe) in the preceding sentence. The subject is the accusative τὴν δὲ γῆν. ὑπάρχω with the genitive τῶν τιμιωτάτων ... μορίων means 'to belong to / be part of'.
  4. §11.2ὡς ἐν ἑτέρᾳ χώρᾳ καθεστώσης — A participle construction following διανενοῆσθαι περὶ τῆς γῆς (to have thought about the earth) expressing the content of the thought under ὡς. The first part ὡς ... καθεστώσης uses a genitive participle agreeing with γῆς (or a genitive absolute), while the second part τὴν δὲ ... προσήκουσαν uses an accusative participle (supply χώραν as subject) with δέ marking the contrast, both depending on ὡς.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Numa §11.1-11.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg005.humanitext-grc2:11.1-11.2

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