Theophrastus · Fragments §26.1

Absurdity of Motion Having an End but No Beginning

Passage 15 of 196 · Greek

Summary

The passage points out the absurdity of Theophrastus' view that motion has no beginning but has an end, using walking, sailing, and a running horse as examples, and questions whether he means that a beginning does not exist or that it cannot be grasped.

§26.1Fr. 26 Θαυμαστὸν τοίνυν, καθάπερ φησὶν ὁ Θ., καὶ λίαν παρὰ τὰς ἐννοίας, εἰ μὴ ἔστιν ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως, πέρας δὲ ἔστιν, καὶ ὅλως εἰ μὴ ἄμφω πεπερασμένα, ἀλλὰ τέλος μέν ἐστι τοῦ βαδίζειν, ἀρχὴ δὲ οὐ, καὶ τέλος μὲν τοῦ πλεῖν, ἀρχὴ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν, καὶ ἡνίκα μὲν ἐπαύσατο τοῦ τρέχειν ὁ ἵππος ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ἡνίκα δὲ ἤρξατο οὐκ ἔστιν.

Fr. 26 Therefore, as Theophrastus says, it is surprising and very much contrary to common notions if there is no beginning of motion but there is an end, and in general if both are not limited, but there is an end of walking but not a beginning, and there is an end of sailing but there is no beginning, and it is possible to say when the horse stopped running, but not when it began.

Ἢ οὐ τοῦτό φησιν ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως, ἀλλʼ ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτὴν λαβεῖν;

Or does he not mean this, that there is no beginning of motion, but rather that it is not possible to grasp it?

Notes

26.1εἰ μὴ ἔστιν — The conditional clause introduced by εἰ after expressions of wonder (like θαυμαστόν) functions to introduce the object of wonder, meaning "it is surprising that..." or "it is surprising if...". It points to the paradoxical situation presented by Theophrastus.
26.1ἄμφω πεπερασμένα — The copula (such as εἶεν or ἐστίν) is omitted here. In contrast with the following ἀλλὰ, it means "if both (the beginning and the end) are not limited/finite".
26.1ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν — The conjunction ὡς introduces noun clauses explaining the demonstrative pronoun τοῦτο, which is the object of φησίν. It means "that...", and is parallel with ἀλλʼ ὡς... ("but rather that...").

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §26.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:26.1

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