Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §25.1

Asymmetry and the Two Senses of Beginning and End of Motion

Passage 14 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus raises a puzzle regarding the asymmetry between the beginning and the end of motion, proposing a solution by distinguishing two senses of beginning and end: as a part of the continuous, and as a limit that is not a part.

§25.1Fr. 25 Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Θ. ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν περὶ Κινήσεως θαυμαστὰ, φησὶ, φαίνεται κατʼ αὐτὴν ὄντα τὴν φύσιν τῆς κινήσεως, οἷον εἰ μὴ ἔστιν αὐτῆς ἀρχὴ, πέρας δὲ ἔστι.
Fr. 25 For Theophrastus in the first book of On Motion says that wonderful things appear to exist in the very nature of motion, as for instance if there is no beginning of it, but there is an end.
Πῶς δὲ τὸ μὲν πέρας ἀδιαίρετον ἐλαμβάνομεν, τὴν δὲ ἀρχὴν ἐπʼ ἄπειρον διαιρετήν.
And how is it that we took the end as indivisible, but the beginning as divisible to infinity?
Δυνατὸν γὰρ τοῖς αὐτοῖς χρώμενον λόγοις καὶ τὸ πέρας τοῦ συνεχοῦς ἐπʼ ἄπειρον διαιρετὸν λαβεῖν καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀδιαίρετον· ἔοικεν οὖν καὶ τὸ πέρας διττὸν εἶναι καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ διττὴ τῆς τε κινήσεως καὶ τοῦ χρόνου καὶ παντὸς συνεχοῦς, τὸ μὲν ὡς τὸ πρῶτον ἢ τὸ ἔσχατον μέρος τοῦ συνεχοῦς, τὸ δὲ ὡς ἀρχὴ καὶ πέρας, τὰ μηκέτι μέρη μηδὲ ὅμοια τῷ ὅλῳ.
For it is possible, by using the same arguments, to take both the end of the continuous as divisible to infinity and the beginning as indivisible; therefore, both the end and the beginning of motion, time, and every continuous thing seem to be twofold: the one as the first or last part of the continuous, the other as a beginning and end which are no longer parts nor similar to the whole.

Notes

  1. §25.1φαίνεται ... ὄντα — When the verb φαίνομαι is accompanied by a participle (here ὄντα), it means 'it is manifest that...' or 'it clearly is...', in contrast to its construction with an infinitive, which means 'it seems to be...' (but might not actually be).
  2. §25.1χρώμενον — The accusative singular masculine participle is used as the logical subject of the infinitive λαβεῖν, which depends on the impersonal expression δυνατόν [ἐστι] ('it is possible'). The accusative is chosen to represent a general or indefinite subject ('one').
  3. §25.1τὰ μηκέτι μέρη — The phrase is in the neuter plural (τὰ ... μέρη ... ὅμοια), referring back to the combination of the feminine noun ἀρχή and the neuter noun πέρας. The neuter plural is used in apposition to refer to nouns of different genders or to signify abstract 'things'.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §25.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:25.1

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