§30.1Fr. 30
Θ. μέντοι φησὶ τοὺς γένεσιν καὶ φθορὰν τοῦ κόσμου κατηγοροῦντας ὑπὸ τεττάρων ἀπατηθῆναι τῶν μεγίστων, γῆς ἀνωμαλίας, θαλάττης ἀναχωρήσεως, ἑκάστου τῶν τοῦ ὅλου μερῶν διαλύσεως χερσαίων φθορᾶς κατὰ γένη ζώων.
However, Theophrastus says that those who charge the world with generation and destruction have been deceived by four of the greatest factors: the inequality of the earth, the retreat of the sea, the dissolution of each of the parts of the whole, and the destruction of land animals by their kinds.
Κατασκευάζειν δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον οὕτως· εἰ μὴ γενέσεως ἀρχὴν ἔλαβεν ἡ γῆ, μέρος ὑπανεστὼς οὐδὲν ἂν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ἑωρᾶτο· χθαμαλὰ δʼ ἤδη τὰ ὄρη πάντα ἐγεγένητο καὶ οἱ γεωλόφοι πάντες ἰσόπεδοι τῇ πεδιάδι· §30.2τοσούτων γὰρ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν ὄμβρων ἐξ ἀϊδίου φερομένων εἰκὸς ἦν τῶν διῃρμένων πρὸς ὕψος τὰ μὲν χειμάρροις ἀπερρῆχθαι τὰ δʼ ὑπονοστήσαντα κεχαλάσθαι, πάντα δὲ διὰ πάντων ἤδη λελειάνθαι· νυνὶ δὲ συνεχεῖς ἀνωμαλίαι καὶ παμπόλλων ὀρῶν αἱ πρὸς αἰθέριον ὕψος ὑπερβολαὶ μηνύματʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ τὴν γῆν μὴ ἀΐδιον εἶναι· πάλαι γὰρ ὡς ἔφην ἐν ἀπείρῳ χρόνῳ ταῖς ἐπομβρίαις ἀπὸ περάτων ἐπὶ πέρατα πᾶσα λεωφόρος ἐγεγένητο.
And they establish the first argument in this way: if the earth had not received a beginning of generation, no prominent part would be seen upon it; but all the mountains would already have become low, and all the hills level with the plain; for since so many rains have been falling each year from eternity, it was likely that of the things raised to a height, some would have been broken off by torrents and others, having subsided, would have sunk down, and all things through and through would already have been smoothed over; but as it is, the continuous inequalities and the elevations of very many mountains towards the ethereal height are proofs that the earth is not eternal; for long ago, as I said, in infinite time, through the heavy rains, the whole earth from end to end would have become a level highway.
Πέφυκε γὰρ ἡ ὕδατος φύσις καὶ μάλιστα ἀπὸ ὑψηλοτάτων καταράττουσα τὰ μὲν ἐξωθεῖν τῆ βίᾳ τὰ δὲ τῷ συνεχεῖ τῶν ψεκάδων κολάπτουσα κοιλαίνειν ὑπεργάζεσθαί τε τὴν σκληρόγεων καὶ λιθωδεστάτην ὀρυκτήρων οὐκ ἔλαττον.
For the nature of water, especially when rushing down from the highest places, is naturally disposed to push some things away by force, and to hollow out others by wearing them away with the continuous dropping, and to wear down even the hardest and most stony soil no less than diggers do.
§30.3Καὶ μὴν ἥ γε θάλασσα, φασὶν, ἤδη μεμείωται, μάρτυρες δὲ αἱ νήσων εὐδοκιμώταται Ῥόδος τε καὶ Δῆλος· αὗται γὰρ τὸ μὲν παλαιὸν ἠφαο νισμέναι κατὰ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐδεδύκεσαν ἐπικλυζόμεναί χρόνῳ δʼ ὕστερον ἐλαττουμένης ἠρέμα κατʼ ὀλίγον ἀνίσχουσαι διεφάνησαν ὡς αἱ περὶ αὐτῶν ἀναγραφεῖσαι μηνύουσιν ἱστορίαι· τὴν δὲ Δῆλον καὶ Ἀνάφην ὠνόμασαν διʼ ἀμφοτέρων ὀνομάτων πιστούο μενοι τὸ λεγόμενον, ἐπειδὴ ἀναφανεῖσα δήλη ἐγένετο ἀδηλουμένη καὶ ἀφανὴς οὖσα τὸ πάλαι.
Furthermore, they say, the sea has indeed already decreased, and the most famous of the islands, Rhodes and Delos, are witnesses; for these in ancient times, having been hidden, had sunk beneath the sea, being inundated, but later, as the sea gradually decreased, they rose up and became visible, as the histories written about them show; and they named them Delos and Anaphe, confirming what is said through both names, since having appeared it became manifest, whereas formerly it was unmanifest and unseen.
Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις μεγάλων πελαγῶν μεγάλους κόλπους καὶ βαθεῖς ἀναξηρανθέντας ἠπειρῶσθαι καὶ γεγενῆσθαι τῆς παρακειμένης χώρας μοῖραν οὐ λυπρὰν σπειρομένους καὶ φυτευομένους· οἷς σημεῖα τῆς παλαιᾶς ἐναπολελεῖφθαι θαλαττώσεως ψηφῖδας τε καὶ κόγχας καὶ ὅσα ὁμοιότροπα πρὸς αἰγιαλοὺς εἴωθεν ἀποθράττεσθαι
And in addition to these, they say that great and deep gulfs of great seas, having dried up, have become mainland and have become no small part of the adjacent country, being sown and planted; for which things, they say, pebbles and shells and whatever similar things are accustomed to be washed up on shores have been left behind as signs of the ancient marine state.
§30.4Εἰ δὲ μειοῦται ἡ θάλαττα, μειωθήσεται μὲν ἡ γῆ, μακραῖς δʼ ἐνιαυτῶν περιόδοις καὶ εἰσάπαν ἑκάτερον στοιχεῖον ἀναλωθήσεται, δαπανηθήσεται δὲ καὶ ὁ σύμπας ἀὴρ ἐκ τοῦ κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐλαττούμενος, ἀποκριθήσεται δὲ τὰ πάντα εἰς μίαν οὐσίαν τὴν τοῦ πυρός.
But if the sea decreases, the land too will decrease, and in long periods of years both elements will be completely consumed, and the entire air also will be spent, being diminished little by little, and all things will be resolved into one substance, that of fire.
§30.5Πρὸς δὲ τὴν τοῦ τρίτου κεφαλαίου κατασκευήν χρήσονται λόγῳ τοιῷδε· φθείρεται πάντως ἐκεῖνο οὗ πάντα τὰ μέρη φθαρτά ἐστι· τοῦ δὲ κόσμου πάντα τὰ μέρη φθαρτά ἐστι· φθαρτὸς ἄρα ὁ κόσμος ἐστίν
For the establishment of the third point, they will use an argument of this kind: That thing is altogether destructible of which all the parts are destructible; and all the parts of the world are destructible; therefore, the world is destructible.
§30.6Τὸν δὲ τέταρτον καὶ λοιπὸν λόγον ἀκριβωτέον ὧδέ φασιν.
And the fourth and remaining argument, they say, must be examined more closely as follows.
Εἰ ὁ κόσμος ἀΐδιος ἦν, ἦν ἂν καὶ τὰ ζῶα ἀΐδια καὶ πολύ γε μᾶλλον τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος, ὅσῳ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἄμεινον.
If the world were eternal, animals also would be eternal, and much more so the human race, inasmuch as it is better than the others.
Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀψίγονον φανῆναι τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐρευνᾶν τὰ φύσεως· εἰκὸς γὰρ μᾶλλον δὲ ἀναγκαῖον ἀνθρώποις συνυπάρξαι τὰς τέχνας ὡς ἂν ἰσήλικας οὐ μόνον ὅτι λογικῇ φύσει τὸ ἐμμέθοδον οἰκεῖον ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι ζῆν ἄνευ τούτων οὐκ ἔνεστιν·
But on the contrary, it appears to have been born late to those who wish to investigate the secrets of nature; for it is likely, or rather necessary, that the arts coexisted with humans as being of the same age, not only because systematic method is suitable to a rational nature, but also because it is impossible to live without these.
ἴδωμεν οὖν τοὺς ἑκάστων χρόνους ἀλογήσαντες τῶν ἐπιτραγῳδουμένων θεοῖς μύθων * * εἰ μὴ ἀΐδιος ἄνρωπος, οὐδʼ ἄλλο τι ζῶον, ὥστʼ οὐδʼ αἱ δεδεγμέʼ ναι ταῦτα χῶραι, γῆ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ ἀήρ.
Let us therefore look at the times of each, disregarding the tragic myths told about the gods... if man is not eternal, neither is any other animal, so that neither are the regions that received them: earth, water, and air.
Ἐξ ὧν τὸ φθαρτὸν εἶναι τὸν κόσμον δῆλόν ἐστιν.
From which things it is clear that the world is destructible.