§1.7.1κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῶν ὅλων σύστασιν μίαν ἔχειν ἰδέαν οὐρανόν τε καὶ γῆν, μεμιγμένης αὐτῶν τῆς φύσεως· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διαστάντων τῶν σωμάτων ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων, τὸν μὲν κόσμον περιλαβεῖν ἅπασαν τὴν ὁρωμένην ἐν αὐτῷ σύνταξιν, τὸν δʼ ἀέρα κινήσεως τυχεῖν συνεχοῦς, καὶ τὸ μὲν πυρῶδες αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς μετεωροτάτους τόπους συνδραμεῖν, ἀνωφεροῦς οὔσης τῆς τοιαύτης φύσεως διὰ τὴν κουφότητα· ἀφʼ ἧς αἰτίας τὸν μὲν ἥλιον καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πλῆθος τῶν ἄστρων ἐναποληφθῆναι τῇ πάσῃ δίνῃ· τὸ δὲ ἰλυῶδες καὶ θολερὸν μετὰ τῆς τῶν ὑγρῶν συγκρίσεως ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ καταστῆναι διὰ τὸ βάρος·
For in the initial constitution of the universe, heaven and earth had a single form, their natures being mixed; but after this, when the bodies separated from one another, the universe came to embrace all the order seen within it, while the air obtained continuous movement, and its fiery part ran together to the highest regions, since such a nature is upward-tending because of its lightness; and for this reason the sun and the rest of the multitude of stars were caught up in the entire whirl; while the muddy and turbid matter, together with the condensation of the wet parts, settled at the same place because of its weight.
§1.7.2εἰλούμενον δʼ ἐν ἑαυτῷ συνεχῶς καὶ συστρεφόμενον ἐκ μὲν τῶν ὑγρῶν τὴν θάλατταν, ἐκ δὲ τῶν στερεμνιωτέρων ποιῆσαι τὴν γῆν πηλώδη καὶ παντελῶς ἁπαλήν.
And as it turned continually within itself and condensed, from the wet parts it made the sea, and from the more solid parts it made the earth, muddy and entirely soft.
§1.7.3ταύτην δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἥλιον πυρὸς καταλάμψαντος πῆξιν λαβεῖν, ἔπειτα διὰ τὴν θερμασίαν ἀναζυμουμένης τῆς ἐπιφανείας συνοιδῆσαί τινα τῶν ὑγρῶν κατὰ πολλοὺς τόπους, καὶ γενέσθαι περὶ αὐτὰ σηπεδόνας ὑμέσι λεπτοῖς περιεχομένας· ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι καὶ τοῖς λιμνάζουσι τῶν τόπων ἔτι καὶ νῦν ὁρᾶσθαι γινόμενον, ἐπειδὰν τῆς χώρας κατεψυγμένης ἄφνω διάπυρος ὁ ἀὴρ γένηται, μὴ λαβὼν τὴν μεταβολὴν ἐκ τοῦ κατʼ ὀλίγον.
This earth at first, when the fire around the sun shone upon it, became solid, and then, as its surface fermented because of the heat, some of the wet parts swelled up in many places, and around them putrefactions enclosed in thin membranes arose; which very thing is still seen to happen even now in marshy and swampy places, whenever, after the ground has been chilled, the air suddenly becomes burning hot, not having received the change gradually.
§1.7.4ζωογονουμένων δὲ τῶν ὑγρῶν διὰ τῆς θερμασίας τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον τὰς μὲν νύκτας λαμβάνειν αὐτίκα τὴν τροφὴν ἐκ τῆς πιπτούσης ἀπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος ὁμίχλης, τὰς δʼ ἡμέρας ὑπὸ τοῦ καύματος στερεοῦσθαι· τὸ δʼ ἔσχατον τῶν κυοφορουμένων τὴν τελείαν αὔξησιν λαβόντων, καὶ τῶν ὑμένων διακαυθέντων τε καὶ περιρραγέντων, ἀναφυῆναι παντοδαποὺς τύπους ζῴων.
And as the wet parts were quickened with life by the heat in the manner described, by night they immediately received nourishment from the mist falling from the surrounding atmosphere, and by day they were solidified by the heat; and at last, when the embryos had received their full growth, and the membranes had been burnt up and ruptured, all kinds of animal forms emerged.
§1.7.5τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν πλείστης θερμασίας κεκοινωνηκότα πρὸς τοὺς μετεώρους τόπους ἀπελθεῖν γενόμενα πτηνά, τὰ δὲ γεώδους ἀντεχόμενα συγκρίσεως ἐν τῇ τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐπιγείων τάξει καταριθμηθῆναι, τὰ δὲ φύσεως ὑγρᾶς μάλιστα μετειληφότα πρὸς τὸν ὁμογενῆ τόπον συνδραμεῖν, ὀνομασθέντα πλωτά,
Of these, those that had shared in the greatest heat went off to the high regions, becoming birds; those that clung to the earthy mixture were numbered in the class of reptiles and other land animals; and those that had partaken most of the wet nature ran together to the kindred place, being named swimming creatures.
§1.7.6τὴν δὲ γῆν ἀεὶ μᾶλλον στερεουμένην ὑπό τε τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἥλιον πυρὸς καὶ τῶν πνευμάτων τὸ τελευταῖον μηκέτι δύνασθαι μηδὲν τῶν μειζόνων ζωογονεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα μίξεως ἕκαστα γεννᾶσθαι τῶν ἐμψύχων,
And the earth, being constantly solidified more and more by the fire around the sun and by the winds, was finally no longer able to generate any of the larger creatures, but each of the living things was begotten from their mixture with one another.
§1.7.7ἔοικε δὲ περὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων φύσεως οὐδʼ Εὐριπίδης διαφωνεῖν τοῖς προειρημένοις, μαθητὴς ὢν Ἀναξαγόρου τοῦ φυσικοῦ· ἐν γὰρ τῇ Μελανίππῃ τίθησιν οὕτως,
"ὡς οὐρανός τε γαῖά τʼ ἦν μορφὴ μία· ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐχωρίσθησαν ἀλλήλων δίχα, τίκτουσι πάντα κἀνέδωκαν εἰς φάος, δένδρη, πετηνά, θῆρας, οὕς θʼ ἅλμη τρέφει, γένος τε θνητῶν. "
And Euripides also, who was a disciple of Anaxagoras the natural philosopher, seems not to disagree with the aforesaid concerning the nature of the universe; for in his Melanippe he sets it down thus: "How heaven and earth were of one form; but when they were separated apart from each other, they bore all things and brought them into the light: trees, birds, beasts, those which the brine nurtures, and the race of mortals."