§1.3#2ὁρῶμεν δʼ οὐκ ἐν τοσούτῳ μεγέθει γιγνομένην τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τῶν ὄγκων, ὅταν ἐξ ὕδατος ἀὴρ γένηται διακριθέντος ἢ πῦρ ἐξ ἀέρος·
But we do not see the excess of volume coming to be in so great a magnitude when air is generated from water being dissolved, or fire from air.
ἀνάγκη δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν ἔχειν λόγον ὃν ἔχει τὸ τοσονδὶ καὶ μικρὸν ὕδωρ πρὸς τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ γιγνόμενον ἀέρα, καὶ τὸν πάντα πρὸς τὸ πᾶν ὕδωρ.
But it is necessary that the same ratio which this small quantity of water has to the air generated from it, all the air also has to all the water.
διαφέρει δʼ οὐδὲν οὐδʼ εἴ τις φήσει μὲν μὴ γίγνεσθαι ταῦτα ἐξ ἀλλήλων, ἴσα μέντοι τὴν δύναμιν εἶναι· κατὰ τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν τρόπον ἀνάγκη τὴν ἰσότητα τῆς δυνάμεως ὑπάρχειν τοῖς μεγέθεσιν αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ κὰν εἰ γιγνόμενα ἐξ ἀλλήλων ὑπῆρχεν.
And it makes no difference even if someone says that these do not come to be from one another, but are nevertheless equal in power; for in this way too, the equality of power must belong to their magnitudes, just as if they came to be from one another.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὔτʼ ἀὴρ οὔτε πῦρ συμπεπλήρωκε μόνον τὸν μεταξὴ τόπον, φανερόν ἐστι·
It is clear, then, that neither air nor fire alone has filled the intermediate region.
λοιπὸν δὲ διαπορήσαντας εἰπεῖν πῶς τέτακται τὰ δύο πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πρώτου σώματος θέσιν, λέγω δὲ ἀέρα τε καὶ πῦρ, καὶ διὰ τίνʼ αἰτίαν ἡ θερμότης ἀπὸ τῶν ἄνωθεν ἄστρων γίγνεται τοῖς περὶ τὴν γῆν τόποις.
What remains is to discuss, after raising difficulties, how the two—I mean air and fire—are ordered in relation to the position of the first body, and for what cause the heat from the stars above comes to be in the regions around the earth.
περὶ ἀέρος οὖν εἰπόντες πρῶτον, ὥσπερ ὑπεθέμεθα, λέγωμεν οὕτω καὶ περὶ τούτων πάλιν.
First, then, having spoken about air as we proposed, let us speak in this way about these matters again in turn.
εἰ δὴ γίγνεται ὕδωρ ἐξ ἀέρος καὶ ἀὴρ ἐξ ὕδατος, διὰ τίνα ποτʼ αἰτίαν οὐ συνίσταται νέφη κατὰ τὸν ἄνω τόπον;
If indeed water comes to be from air and air from water, for what cause on earth are clouds not formed in the upper region?
προσῆκε γὰρ μᾶλλον ὅσῳ πορρώτερον ὁ τόπος τῆς γῆς καὶ ψυχρότερος, διὰ τὸ μήθʼ οὕτω πλησίον εἶναι τῶν ἄστρων θερμῶν ὄντων μήτε τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀνακλωμένων ἀκτίνων, αἳ κωλύουσι πλησίον τῆς γὴς συνίστασθαι, διακρίνουσαι τῇ θερμότητι τὰς συστάσεις·
For it would be more fitting the further the region is from the earth and the colder it is, because of its being neither so near to the stars, which are hot, nor to the rays reflected from the earth, which prevent clouds from forming near the earth by dissolving the condensations with their heat.
γίγνονται γὰρ αἱ τῶν νεφῶν ἀθροίσεις, οὗ λήγουσιν ἤδη διὰ τὸ σχίζεσθαι εἰς ἀχανὲς αἱ ἀκτῖνες.
For the gatherings of clouds come to be where the rays already end because of being scattered into the vast void.
ἢ οὖν οὐκ ἐξ ἅπαντος τοῦ ἀέρος πέφυκεν ὕδωρ γίγνεσθαι, εἰ ὁμοίως ἐξ ἅπαντος, ὁ περὶ τὴν γῆν οὐ μόνον ἀήρ ἐστιν ἀλλʼ οἷον ἀτμίς, διὸ πάλιν συνίσταται εἰς ὕδωρ.
Or is it that water is not naturally capable of coming to be from all of the air, or if it comes to be from all of it alike, the air around the earth is not merely air but like vapor, which is why it condenses again into water?
ἀλλὰ μὴν εἰ τοσοῦτος ὥν ὁ ἀὴρ ἅπας ἀτμίς ἐστι, δόξειεν ἂν πολὺ ὑπερβάλλειν ἡ τοῦ ἀέρος φύσις καὶ ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος, εἴπερ τά τε διαστήματα τῶν ἄνω πλήρη ἐστὶ σώματός τινος, καὶ πυρὸς μὲν ἀδύνατον διὰ τὸ κατεξηράνθαι ἂν τἆλλα πάντα, λείπεται δʼ ἀέρος καὶ τοῦ περὶ τὴν γῆν πᾶσαν ὕδατος· ἡ γὰρ ἀτμὶς ὕδατος διάκρισίς ἐστιν.
But indeed, if all the air, being so great, is vapor, the nature of air and that of water would seem to far exceed [the other elements], if the upper intervals are full of some body, and it is impossible for it to be fire (because all other things would have been dried up), and so what remains is that they are full of air and of the water about the whole earth; for vapor is a dissolution of water.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων ἠπορήσθω τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· ἡμεῖς δὲ λέγωμεν ἅμμα πρός τε τὰ λεχθησόμενα διορίζοντες καὶ πρὸς τὰ νῦν εἰρημένα.
Let these difficulties, then, be raised in this way; and let us speak, defining both in relation to what is to be said and to what has just been stated.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἄνω καὶ μέχρι σελήνης ἕτερον εἶναι σῶμά φαμεν πυρός τε καὶ ἀέρος, οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἐν αὐτῷ γε τὸ μὲν καθαρώτερον εἶναι τὸ δʼ ἧττον εἰλικρινές, καὶ διαφορὰς ἔχειν, καὶ μάλιστα ᾗ καταλήγει πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα καὶ πρὸς τὸν περὶ τὴν γῆν κόσ μον.
For we say that the upper region, as far as the moon, is a body different from both fire and air, although within itself indeed, one part is purer and another less unmixed, and it has differences, especially where it terminates towards the air and towards the world around the earth.
φερομέννου δὲ τοῦ πρώτου στοιχείου κύκλῳ καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ σωμάτων, τὸ προσεχὲς ἀεὶ τοῦ κάτω κόσμου καὶ σώματος τῇ κινήσει διακρινόμενον ἐκπυροῦται καὶ ποιεῖ τὴν θερμότητα.
And as the first element and the bodies within it are carried in a circle, that part of the lower world and body which is always contiguous to it, being dissolved by the motion, is set on fire and produces heat.
δεῖ δὲ νοεῖν οὕτως καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἀρξαμένους. τὸ γὰρ ὑπὸ τὴν ἄνω περιφορὰν σῶμα οἷον ὕλη τις οὖσα καὶ δυνάμει θερμὴ καὶ ψυχρὰ καὶ ξηρὰ καὶ ὑγρά, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τούτοις ἀκολουθεῖ πάθη, γίγνεται τοιαύτη καὶ ἔστιν ὑπὸ κινήσεως καὶ ἀκινησίας, ἧς τὴν αἰτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰρήκαμεν πρότερον.
And we must think of it in this way, beginning from here: for the body below the upper circular motion, being like a kind of matter, and potentially hot, cold, dry, and wet, and whatever other affections follow upon these, becomes such and exists so under the influence of motion and rest, of which we have previously stated the cause and the principle.
ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ μέσου καὶ περὶ τὸ μέσον τὸ βαρύτατόν ἐστιν καὶ ψυχρότατον ἀποκεκριμένον, γῇ καὶ ὕδωρ· περὶ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ ἐχόμενα τούτων, ἀήρ τε καὶ ὃ διὰ συνήθειαν καλοῦμεν πῦρ, οὐκ ἔστι δὲ πῦρ· ὑπερβολὴ γὰρ θερμοῦ καὶ οἷον ζέσις ἐστὶ τὸ πῦρ.
Thus, at the center and around the center, the heaviest and coldest things have been separated, namely earth and water; and around these and contiguous to them, there is air, and what we call fire through custom, though it is not fire; for fire is an excess of heat and like a boiling.