§21ἔτι γε μὴν τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀκούομεν, ὡς πᾶσα γῆ τῷ γένει στύφειν καὶ ψύχειν πέφυκε καὶ πολλὰ τῶν μεταλλευομένων καταριθμοῦσι στυπτικὴν αὐτοῖς παρέχοντα καὶ σχετικὴν εἰς τὰς φαρμακείας δύναμιν· καὶ γὰρ τὸ στοιχεῖον αὐτῆς; οὐ τμητικὸν οὐδὲ κινητικὸν οὐδὲ λεῖπον οὐδʼ ἔχον ὀξύτητας οὐδὲ μαλθακὸν οὐδʼ εὐπερίχυτον γέγονεν, ἀλλʼ ἑδραῖον ὡς ὁ κύβος καὶ συνερειστικόν, ὅθεν αὐτή τε βρῖθος ἔσχε,· καὶ τὸ ψυχρόν, ὅπερ ἦν δύναμις αὐτῆς, τῷ πυκνοῦν καὶ συνωθεῖν καὶ ἀποθλίβειν τὰ ὑγρὰ φρίκας καὶ τρόμους διὰ τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν ἐνεργάζεται τοῖς σώμασιν· ἂν δʼ ἐπικρατήσῃ παντάπασι, τοῦ θερμοῦ φυγόντος ἢ σβεσθέντος, ἔστησε τὴν ἕξιν ἐκπαγεῖσαν καὶ νεκρωθεῖσαν.
Furthermore, we hear from physicians that all earth is of a nature to contract and cool by its genus, and they enumerate many mined products that provide them with astringent and staying power for medical treatments; for its element is not cutting, nor moving, nor lacking, nor having sharp points, nor soft, nor easily poured around, but has become stable like a cube and cohesive, whence the earth itself has weight, and the cold, which was its power, by condensing and pushing together and squeezing out the moisture, works chills and trembling in bodies because of its unevenness; and if it prevails entirely, the heat having fled or been extinguished, it fixes the state, frozen and deadened.
ὅθεν οὐδὲ κάεται γῆ τὸ παράπαν ἢ κάεται γλίσχρως καὶ μόγις.
Hence, the earth does not burn at all, or burns stickily and with difficulty.
ἀὴρ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ πολλάκις φλόγας ἀναδίδωσι καὶ ῥεῖ καὶ διαστράπτει πυρούμενος· τῷ δʼ ὑγρῷ τροφῇ χρῆται τὸ θερμόν· οὐ γὰρ τὸ στερεὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ νοτερὸν τοῦ ξύλου καυστόν ἐστιν· ἐξικμασθέντος δὲ τούτου, τὸ στερεὸν καὶ ξηρὸν ἀπολείπεται τέφρα γενόμενον.
For air often yields flames from itself and flows and flashes when ignited; and the heat uses moisture as nourishment; for it is not the solid but the moist part of wood that is combustible; and when this is squeezed out, the solid and dry part is left, becoming ash.
οἱ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο φιλοτιμούμενοι μεταβάλλον ἀποδεῖξαι καὶ καταναλισκόμενον ἀναδεύοντες πολλάκις ἐλαίῳ καὶ στέατι φύροντες οὐδὲν περαίνουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἐκκαῇ τὸ λιπαρόν, περίεστι πάντως καὶ διαμένει τὸ γεῶδες· ὅθεν οὐ κατὰ χώραν μόνον ἐξ ἕδρας ἀκίνητον οὖσαν αὐτὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ κατʼ οὐσίαν ἀμετάβλητον, Ἑστίαν, ἅτε δὴ
μένουσαν ἐν θεῶν οἴκῳ,
κλίτα προσηγόρευσαν οἱ παλαιοί, διὰ τὴν στάσιν καὶ πῆξιν·
And those who are ambitious to show this also as changing and being consumed, mixing it often with oil and blending it with fat, accomplish nothing, but when the fatty part is burnt out, the earthy part altogether remains and survives; whence the ancients, because of its standing and freezing, called it Hestia—since indeed it remains "in the gods' house"—not only because it is motionless from its seat in space, but also because it is unchangeable in its essence.
ἧς ἡ ψυχρότης δεσμός ἐστιν, ὡς Ἀρχέλαος ὁ φυσικὸς εἶπεν, οὐδενὸς χαλῶντος αὐτὴν οὐδὲ μαλάττοντος, ἅτε θερομένην καὶ ἀλεαινομένην οὖσαν.
And of this, the cold is the bond, as Archelaus the natural philosopher said, with nothing loosening or softening it, even if it is warmed and heated.
οἱ δὲ πνεύματος μὲν αἰσθάνεσθαι ψυχροῦ καὶ ὕδατος, γῆς δʼ ἧττον οἰόμενοι, τὴν ἔγγιστα γῆν ὁρῶσιν ἀέρων καὶ ὑδάτων καὶ ἡλίου καὶ θερμότητος ἀνάπλεων σύμμιγμα καὶ συμφόρημα γεγενημένην· καὶ οὐδὲν διαφέρουσι τῶν μὴ τὸν αἰθέρα φύσει καὶ πρώτως θερμὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ ζέον ὕδωρ ἢ τὸν διάπυρον σίδηρον ἀποφαινομένων, ὅτι τούτων μὲν ἅπτονται καὶ προσθιγγάνουσι, τοῦ δὲ πρώτου καθαροῦ καὶ οὐρανίου πυρὸς αἴσθησιν διʼ ἁφῆς οὐ λαμβάνουσιν, ὥσπερ οὐδʼ οὗτοι τῆς ἐν βάθει γῆς, ἣν μάλιστα γῆν ἄν τις νοήσειεν αὐτὴν καθʼ αὑτὴν ἀποκεκριμένην τῶν ἄλλων.
But those who think they perceive cold air and water, but less so earth, look at the earth closest to us, which has become a mixture and heap full of air, water, sun, and heat; and they are no different from those who declare that not the aether is hot by nature and primarily, but boiling water or glowing iron, because they touch and handle these, but receive no perception through touch of the first pure and heavenly fire, just as these people receive no perception of the earth in its depths, which one would think of as earth itself by itself, separated from the others.
δεῖγμα δʼ αὐτῆς ἐστι κἀνταῦθα περὶ τὰς πέτρας· πολὺ γὰρ ἐκ βάθους καὶ οὐ ῥᾴδιον ἀνασχέσθαι προσβάλλουσι κρύος;
And a proof of it is also here about the rocks; for they bring a great cold from the depths, not easy to endure.
. οἱ δὲ ψυχροτέρου ποτοῦ δεόμενοι χάλικας ἐμβάλλουσιν εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ· γίγνεται γὰρ οὐλότερον καὶ στομοῦται παρὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν λίθων ψυχρότητα, πρόσφατον καὶ ἄκρατον ἀναφερομένην.
And those who need a colder drink throw pebbles into the water; for it becomes denser and is tempered by the cold from the stones, which is brought up fresh and unmixed.
§22τοὺς οὖν πάλαι σοφοὺς καὶ λογίους ἄμικτα θέσθαι τὰ ἐπίγεια καὶ τὰ οὐράνια χρὴ νομίζειν, οὐ τοῖς τόποις ὥσπερ ἐπὶ ζυγοῦ πρὸς τὰ κάτω καὶ ἄνω βλέποντας, ἀλλὰ τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν δυνάμεων τὰ μὲν θερμὰ καὶ λαμπρὰ καὶ ταχέα καὶ κοῦφα τῇ θείᾳ καὶ ἀιδίῳ φύσει προσνέμοντας, τὰ δὲ σκοτεινὰ καὶ ψυχρὰ καὶ βραδέα φθιτῶν καὶ ἐνέρων οὐκ εὐδαίμονα κλῆρον ἀποφαίνοντας.
One must therefore think that the ancient wise men and scholars made the earthly and the heavenly unmixed, looking at the down and up not by places as if on a balance, but assigning by the difference of powers the hot, bright, swift, and light to the divine and eternal nature, while declaring the dark, cold, and slow to be the unhappy portion of the dead and under-worldlings.
ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ζῴου, μέχρι μὲν ἔμπνουν ἐστὶ καὶ θαλερόν, ὡς οἱ ποιηταὶ λέγουσι, θερμότητι χρῆται καὶ ζωῇ· γενόμενον δὲ τούτων ἔρημον καὶ ἀπολειφθὲν ἐν μόνῃ τῇ τῆς γῆς μοίρᾳ ψυχρότης εὐθὺς ἴσχει καὶ κρύος, ὡς ἐν παντὶ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ γεώδει κατὰ φύσιν θερμότητος ἐνυπαρχούσης
For indeed the body of an animal, as long as it is breathing and vigorous, as the poets say, uses heat and life; but when it becomes empty of these and is left only in the portion of the earth, coldness and chill immediately hold it, as if heat naturally belonged to everything rather than the earthy.
§23ταῦτʼ, ὦ Φαβωρῖνε, τοῖς εἰρημένοις ὑφʼ ἑτέρων παράβαλλε· κἂν μήτε λείπηται τῇ πιθανότητι μήτε ὑπερέχῃ πολύ, χαίρειν ἔα τὰς δόξας, τὸ ἐπέχειν ἐν τοῖς ἀδήλοις τοῦ συγκατατίθεσθαι φιλοσοφώτερον ἡγούμενος.
Compare these things, O Favorinus, with what has been said by others; and if they neither fall short in plausibility nor surpass it much, let the opinions go, holding that to suspend judgment in non-evident matters is more philosophical than to assent.