§2.11 Ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὔτε γέγονεν ὁ πᾶς οὐρανὸς οὔτ᾿ ἐνδέχεται φθαρῆναι, καθάπερ τινές φασιν αὐτόν, ἀλλʼ ἔστιν εἷς καὶ ἀΐδιος, ἀρχὴν μὲν καὶ τελευτὴν οὐκ ἔχων τοῦ παντὸς αἰῶνος, ἔχων δὲ καὶ περιέχων ἐν αὑτῷ τὸν ἄπειρον χρόνον, ἔκ τε τῶν εἰρημένων ἔξεστι λαμβάνειν τὴν πίστιν, καὶ διὰ τῆς δόξης τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἄλλως λεγόντων καὶ γεννώντων αὐτόν·
1 That the entire heaven, then, cannot have been generated and cannot be destroyed, as some assert, but is one and eternal, having no beginning or end of its entire duration, but having and containing within itself infinite time, can be gathered both from what has been said and through the opinion of those who speak otherwise and generate it.
εἰ γὰρ οὕτως μὲν ἔχειν ἐνδέχεται, καθʼ ὃν δὲ τρόπον ἐκεῖνοι γενέσθαι λέγουσιν οὐκ ἐνδέχεται, μεγάλην ἂν ἔχοι καὶ τοῦτο ῥοπὴν εἰς πίστιν περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀϊδιότητος.
For if it is possible for it to be in this way, but impossible in the manner they say it was generated, this in itself would have great weight in producing belief in its immortality and eternity.
διόπερ καλῶς ἔχει συμπείθειν ἑαυτὸν τούς ἀρχαίους καὶ μάλιστα πατρίους ἡμῶν ἀληθεῖς εἶναι λόγους, ὡς ἔστιν ἀθάνατόν τι καὶ θεῖον τῶν ἐχόντων μὲν κίνησιν, ἐχόντων δὲ τοιαύτην ὥστε μηθὲν εἶναι πέρας αὐτῆς, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ταύτην τῶν ἄλλων πέρας·
Therefore, it is well to convince oneself that the ancient and especially ancestral beliefs of ours are true, namely that there is something immortal and divine among things that possess motion, and possess motion of such a kind that there is no limit to it, but rather this motion is the limit of other motions.
τό τε γὰρ πέρας τῶν περιεχόντων ἐστί, καὶ αὕτη ἡ κυκλοφορία τέλειος οὖσα περιέχει τὰς ἀτελεῖς καὶ τὰς ἐχούσας πέρας καὶ παῦλαν, αὐτὴ μὲν οὐδεμίαν οὔτ᾿ ἀρχὴν ἔχουσα οὔτε τελευτήν, ἀλλʼ ἄπαυστος οὖσα τὸν ἄπειρον χρόνον, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων τῶν μὲν αἰτία τῆς ἀρχῆς, τῶν δὲ δεχομένη τὴν παῦλαν.
For the limit belongs to those things which contain, and this circular motion, being perfect, contains those that are imperfect and those that have a limit and cessation, itself having neither beginning nor end, but being unceasing through infinite time, while of other motions it is the cause of the beginning of some, and receives the cessation of others.
τὸν δʼ οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν ἄνω τόπον οἱ μὲν ἀρχαῖοι τοῖς θεοῖς ἀπένειμαν ὡς ὄντα μόνον ἀθάνατον· ὁ δὲ νῦν μαρτυρεῖ λόγος ὡς ἄφθαρτος καὶ ἀγένητος, ἔτι δʼ ἀπαθὴς πάσης θνητῆς δυσχερείας ἐστίν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἄπονος διὰ τὸ μηδεμιᾶς προσδεῖσθαι βιαίας ἀνάγκης, ἣ κατέχει κωλύουσα φέρεσθαι πεφυκότα αὐτὸν ἄλλως· πᾶν γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐπίπονον, ὅσῳπερ ἂν ἀϊδιώτερον ᾖ, καὶ διαθέσεως τῆς ἀρίστης ἄμοιρον.
And the ancients assigned the heaven and the upper region to the gods, as being alone immortal; and the present argument testifies that it is indestructible and ungenerated, and further unaffected by any mortal difficulty, and in addition to these without toil because it requires no violent necessity to hold it back and prevent it from moving in another direction, as is its nature; for all such constraint is toilsome, the more so the more eternal it is, and is devoid of the best disposition.
διόπερ οὔτε κατὰ τὸν τῶν παλαιῶν μῦθον ὑποληπτέον ἔχειν, οἱ φασιν Ἄτλαντός τινος αὐτῷ προσδεῖσθαι τὴν σωτηρίαν· ἐοίκασι γὰρ καὶ τοῦτον οἱ συστήσαντες τὸν λόγον τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχειν ὑπόληψιν τοῖς ὕστερον· ὡς γὰρ περὶ βάρος ἐχόντων καὶ γεηρῶν ἀπάντων τῶν ἄνω σωμάτων ὑπέστησαν αὐτῷ μυθικῶς ἀνάγκην ἔμψυχον.
Therefore, we must not suppose it to be as in the myth of the ancients, who say that its safety requires some Atlas; for those who devised this story seem to have had the same conception as those of later times; for as though all the upper bodies possessed weight and were earthy, they mythologically placed under it an animate necessity.
οὔτε δὴ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ὑποληπτέον, οὔτε διὰ τὴν δίνησιν θάττονος τυγχάνοντα φορᾶς τῆς οἰκείας ῥοπῆς ἔτι σώζεσθαι τοσοῦτον χρόνον, καθάπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς φησίν.
Nor indeed must we suppose it in this way, nor that through the vortex, obtaining a motion swifter than its own proper tendency, it is still preserved for so long a time, as Empedocles says.
ἀλλά μὴν οὐδʼ ὑπὸ ψυχῆς εὔλογον ἀναγκαζούσης μένειν ἀΐδιον· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς οἷόν τʼ εἶναι τὴν τοιαύτην ζωὴν ἄλυπον καὶ μακαρίαν·
Moreover, it is not reasonable that it should remain eternal under the compulsion of a soul; for neither could such a life be painless and blessed for the soul.
ἀνάγκη γὰρ καὶ τὴν κίνησιν μετὰ βίας οὖσαν, εἴπερ κινεῖσθαι κεφυκότος τοῦ πρώτου σώματος ἄλλως κινεῖ συνεχῶς, ἄσχολον εἶναι καὶ πάσης ἀπηλλαγμένην ῥαστώνης ἔμφρονος, εἴ γε μηδʼ ὥσπερ τῇ ψυχῇ τῇ τῶν θνητῶν ζῴων ἐστὶν ἀνάπαυσις ἡ περὶ τὸν ὕπνον γινομένη τοῦ σώματος ἄνεσις, ἀλλʼ ἀναγκαῖον Ἰξίονός τινος μοῖραν κατέχειν αὐτὴν ἀΐδιον καὶ ἄτρυτον.
For the motion must be with violence, if indeed it moves continuously the first body which is naturally disposed to move in another way, and must be without leisure and devoid of all intellectual ease, especially since there is not even any rest for it such as that which occurs in sleep as a relaxation of the body for the souls of mortal animals, but it must be held by some eternal and tireless fate like that of Ixion.
εἰ δή, καθάπερ εἴπομεν, ἐνδέχεται τὸν εἰρημένον ἔχειν τρόπον περὶ τῆς πρώτης φορᾶς, οὐ μόνον αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς ἀϊδιότητος οὕτως ὑπολαβεῖν ἐμμελέστερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ μαντείᾳ τῇ περὶ τὸν θεὸν μόνως ἂν ἔχοιμεν οὕτως ὁμολογουμένως ἀποφαίνεσθαι συμφώνους λόγους.
If, then, as we have said, it is possible for the first motion to be in the manner described, not only is it more harmonious to think of its eternity in this way, but also this is the only way we can put forward consistent arguments in agreement with our intuitive beliefs about God.
ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν τοιοῦτων λόγων ἅλις ἔστω τὰ νῦν.
But let what has been said of such matters suffice for the present.