Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §163.1

Why Fishing Nets Rot in Winter and Deep Heat

Passage 168 of 196 · Greek

Summary

This chunk discusses why fishermen's nets rot in winter rather than in summer, referencing Theophrastus' theory that heat, compressed by the cold, concentrates in the depths of the sea and earth.

§163.1Fr. 163 Διὰ τί χειμῶνος μᾶλλον ἢ θέρους τὰ τῶν ἁλιέων σήπεται δίκτυα;
Fr. 163 Why do the nets of fishermen rot in winter rather than in summer?
καίτοι τά γε ἄλλα μᾶλλον τῷ θέρει τοῦτο πάσχει.
And yet, other things at least undergo this rather in the summer.
Πότερον, ὡς Θ. οἴεται, τῷ ψυχρῷ τὸ θερμὸν ὑποχωροῦν ἀντπεριίσταται καὶ θερμότερα ποιεῖ τὰ ἐν βάθει τῆς θαλάσσης ὥσπερ τῆς γῆς·
Is it because, as Theophrastus thinks, the heat, retreating and yielding to the cold, recoils upon itself and makes things in the depth of the sea warmer, just as in the earth?
διὸ καὶ τὰ πηγαῖα τῶν ὑδάτων χλιαρώτερα τοῦ χειμῶνός εἰσι καὶ μᾶλλον ἀτμίζουσι αἱ λίμναι καὶ οἱ ποταμοί·
For this reason, also, spring waters are warmer in the winter, and lakes and rivers steam more.
κατακλείεται γὰρ εἰς βάθος ἡ θερμότης ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ κρατήσαντος.
For the heat is shut up in the depth by the cold which has got the upper hand.

Notes

  1. §163.1τῷ ψυχρῷ — Dative governed by the participle ὑποχωροῦν ("retreating", "yielding to"), meaning "yielding to the cold", rather than a simple dative of means or cause.
  2. §163.1ἀντπεριίσταται — The verb ἀντιπεριίστημι (related to the noun ἀντιπερίστασις) is a technical term in Aristotelian physics and Theophrastus, describing the process where a quality (here, heat) is compressed and concentrated internally by its opposite surrounding quality (cold), thereby intensifying itself.
  3. §163.1ὥσπερ τῆς γῆς — The phrase τὰ ἐν βάθει is omitted from the preceding clause τὰ ἐν βάθει τῆς θαλάσσης, meaning "just as [the things in the depth of] the earth."
  4. §163.1τοῦ χειμῶνός — A genitive of time meaning "in the winter." It is not the genitive of comparison after the comparative χλιαρώτερα ("warmer than winter"), but specifies the season in which the spring waters become warmer than usual.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §163.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:163.1

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