§4.1#2ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἐστίτι ὁ τόπος
παρὰ τὰ σώματα, καὶ πᾶν σῶμα αἰσθητὸν ἐν τόπῳ, διὰ τούτων ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι· δόξειε δʼ ἂν καὶ Ἡσίοδος ὀρθῶς λέγειν ποιήσας πρῶτον τὸ χάος.
That place is something, then, besides bodies, and that every sensible body is in a place, one might suppose from these things; and Hesiod too might seem to speak correctly in making chaos first.
λέγει γοῦν “πάντων μὲν πρώτιστα χάος γένετʼ, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα γαῖʼ εὐρύστερνος,” ὡς δέον πρῶτον ὑπάρξαι χώραν τοῖς οὖσι, διὰ τὸ νομίζειν, ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοί, πάντα εἶναί που καὶ ἐν τόπῳ.
At any rate he says, ‘First of all chaos came to be, and then broad-bosomed earth,’ as if there must first be space for existing things, because he thought, like the many, that everything is somewhere and in a place.
εἰ δʼ ἐστὶ τοιοῦτο, θαυμαστή τις ἂν εἴη ἡ τοῦ τόπου δύναμις καὶ προτέρα πάντων·
If indeed it is of such a nature, the power of place would be something wonderful and prior to all things.
οὗ γὰρ ἄνευ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδὲν ἔστιν, ἐκεῖνο δʼ ἄνευ τῶν ἄλλων, ἀνάγκη πρῶτον εἶναι· οὐ γὰρ ἀπόλλυται ὁ τόπος τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ φθειρομένων. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἔχει γε ἀπορίαν,
εἰ ἔστι, τί ἐστι, πότερον ὄγκος τις σώματος ἤ τις ἑτέρα φύσις· ζητητέον γὰρ τὸ γένος αὐτοῦ πρῶτον.
For that without which nothing else is, but which itself is without the others, must necessarily be first; for the place is not destroyed when the things in it perish. Not but what it presents difficulty, if it exists, as to what it is, whether it is some bulk of body or some other nature; for its genus must be sought first.
διαστήματα μὲν οὖν ἔχει τρία, μῆκος καὶ πλάτος καὶ βάθος, οἷς ὁρίζεται σῶμα πᾶν.
Now it has three dimensions, length, breadth, and depth, by which every body is bounded.
ἀδύνατον δὲ σῶμα εἶναι τὸν τόπον· ἐν ταὐτῷ γὰρ ἂν εἴη δύο σώματα.
But it is impossible for place to be a body; for there would be two bodies in the same place.
ἔτι εἴπερ ἔστι σώματος τόπος καὶ χώρα, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ἐπιφανείας καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν περάτων· ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἁρμόσει λόγος·
Furthermore, if there is a place and space of a body, clearly there is also of a surface and the other limits; for the same argument will apply.
ὅπου γὰρ ἦν πρότερον τὰ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπίπεδα, ἔσται πάλιν τὰ τοῦ ἀέρος.
For where the planes of water were before, there will be again those of air.
ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδεμίαν διαφορὰν ἔχομεν στιγμῆς καὶ τόπου στιγμῆς, ὥστʼ εἰ μηδὲ ταύτης ἕτερόν ἐστιν ὁ τόπος, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδενός, οὐδʼ ἐστί τι παρʼ ἕκαστον τούτων ὁ τόπος.
But indeed we have no difference between a point and the place of a point, so that if the place of this is not different either, neither is it of any of the others, nor is place something besides each of these.
τί γὰρ ἄν ποτε καὶ θείημεν εἶναι τὸν τόπον;
For what indeed could we ever suppose place to be?
οὔτε γὰρ στοιχεῖον οὔτʼ ἐκ στοιχείων οἷόν τε εἶναι τοιαύτην ἔχοντα φύσιν, οὔτε τῶν σωματικῶν οὔτε τῶν ἀσωμάτων·
For it is not possible that a thing having such a nature should be either an element or composed of elements, whether bodily or bodiless.
μέγεθος μὲν γὰρ ἔχει, σῶμα δʼ οὐδέν· ἔστι δὲ τὰ μὲν τῶν αἰσθητῶν στοιχεῖα σώματα, ἐκ δὲ τῶν νοητῶν οὐδὲν γίγνεται μέγεθος.
For it has magnitude, but no body; and the elements of sensible things are bodies, while from intelligible things no magnitude comes to be.
ἔτι δὲ καὶ τίνος ἄν τις θείη τοῖς οὖσιν σἴτιον εἶναι τὸν τόπον;
Further, of what could one suppose place to be the cause to existing things?
οὐδεμία γὰρ αὐτῷ ὑπάρχει αἰτία τῶν τεττάρων·
For no cause of the four belongs to it.
οὔτε γὰρ ὡς ὕλη τῶν ὄντων (οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ συνέστηκεν) οὔτε ὡς εἶδος καὶ λόγος τῶν πραγμάτων οὔθʼ ὡς τέλος, οὔτε κινεῖ τὰ ὄντα.
For it is neither as matter of existing things (for nothing is composed of it), nor as form and definition of things, nor as end, nor does it move existing things.
ἔτι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς εἰ ἔστι τι τῶν ὄντων, ποὺ ἔσται.
Further, if it itself is something of existing things, where will it be?
ἡ γὰρ Ζήνωνος ἀπορία ζητεῖ τινὰ λόγον· εἰ γὰρ πᾶν τὸ ὂν ἐν τόπῳ, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τοῦ τόπου τόπος ἔσται, καὶ τοῦτο εἰς ἄπειρον.
For Zeno's difficulty demands some explanation; for if everything that exists is in a place, clearly there will also be a place of place, and so on to infinity.
ἔτι ὥσπερ ἅπαν σῶμα ἐν τόπῳ, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τόπῳ ἅπαντι σῶμα·
Again, just as every body is in a place, so in every place there is a body.
πῶς οὖν ἐροῦμεν περὶ τῶν αὐξανομένων;
How then shall we speak of things that increase?
ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἐκ τούτων συναύξεσθαι αὐτοῖς τὸν τόπον, εἰ μήτʼ ἐλάττων μήτε μείζων ὁ τόπος ἑκάστου.
For from these things it is necessary that their place increases along with them, if the place of each is neither smaller nor larger.
διὰ μὲν οὖν τούτων οὐ μόνον τί ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ ἔστιν, ἀπορεῖν ἀναγκαῖον.
Through these things, then, it is necessary to be in doubt not only as to what it is, but also whether it exists.