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Theophrastus · Fragments §17.1

Proof of the Composite Nature and Principles of Bodies

Passage 5 of 196 · Greek

Summary

This chunk describes how Theophrastus, at the beginning of his Physics, demonstrated the proposition that all natural things, because they are either bodies or accompanied by a body, are composite and therefore possess constituent principles.

§17.1Fr. 17 Θ. ἐν ἀρχῇ τῶν αὐτοῦ Φυσικῶν καὶ ταύτην τὴν πρότασιν ἀπέδειξε λέγων· τὸ μέντοι τῶν φυσικῶν ὁ ἀρχὰς εἶναι δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ τὰ μὲν φυσικὰ σώματα σύνθετα εἶναι, πᾶν δὲ σύνθετον ἀρχὰς ἔχειν τὰ ἐξ ὧν σύγκειται· ἅπαν γὰρ τὸ φύσει ἢ σῶμά ἐστιν ἢ ἔχει γε σῶμα· ἄμφω δὲ σύνθετα.
\nFr. 17\nTheophrastus, at the beginning of his Physics, also demonstrated this proposition, saying: that there are indeed some principles of natural things is clear from the fact that, on the one hand, natural bodies are composite, and on the other hand, every composite thing has as principles those things of which it is composed; for everything that exists by nature is either a body or at least has a body, and both are composite.

Notes

  1. 17.1ὁ — The word 'ὁ' in the manuscript tradition is widely considered a corruption of 'τινάς' (some) or 'ὅλως' (at all), modifying the accusative plural 'ἀρχάς' which serves as the subject of the infinitive 'εἶναι'. Thus, it is interpreted as 'that there are some principles (of natural things)'.
  2. 17.1ἐκ τοῦ — The preposition 'ἐκ' and the genitive article 'τοῦ' govern both of the subsequent accusative-and-infinitive clauses in parallel: 'τὰ μὲν φυσικὰ σώματα σύνθετα εἶναι' and 'πᾶν δὲ σύνθετον ἀρχὰς ἔχειν τὰ ἐξ ὧν σύγκειται', indicating the ground or reason ('from the fact that...').
  3. 17.1ἀρχὰς ἔχειν τὰ ἐξ ὧν σύγκειται — The direct object of 'ἔχειν' is 'τὰ' (substantivized, containing the antecedent of the relative pronoun 'ὧν'), while 'ἀρχάς' functions as a predicate accusative ('to have as principles'). 'ἐξ ὧν σύγκειται' is a relative clause meaning 'those things of which it is composed'.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §17.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:17.1

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