He says that the All is infinite, and that it is part full, and part
empty. These (the full and the empty), he says, are the elements. From
them arise innumerable worlds and are resolved into them. The worlds
come into being thus. There were borne along by “abscision from the
infinite” many bodies of all sorts of figures “into a mighty void,”
and they being gathered together produce a single vortex. In it, as
they came into collision with one another and were whirled round in
all manner of ways, those which were alike were separated apart and
came to their likes. But, as they were no longer able to revolve in
equilibrium owing to their multitude, those of them that were fine
went out to the external void, as if passed through a sieve; the rest
stayed together, and becoming entangled with one another, ran down
together, and made a first spherical structure. This was in substance
like a membrane or skin containing in itself all kinds of bodies. And,
as these bodies were borne round in a vortex, in virtue of the
resistance of the middle, the surrounding membrane became thin, as the
contiguous bodies kept flowing together from contact with the vortex.
And in this way the earth came into being, those things which had been
borne towards the middle abiding there. Moreover, the containing
membrane was increased by the further separating out of bodies from
outside; and, being itself carried round in a vortex, it further got
possession of all with which it had come in contact. Some of these
becoming entangled, produce a structure, which was at first moist and
muddy; but, when they had been dried and were revolving along with the
vortex of the whole, they were then ignited and produced the substance
of the heavenly bodies. The circle of the sun is the outermost, that
of the moon is nearest to the earth, and those of the others are
between these. And all the heavenly bodies are ignited because of the
swiftness of their motion; while the sun is also ignited by the stars.
But the moon only receives a small portion of fire. The sun and the
moon are eclipsed.... (And the obliquity of the zodiac is produced) by
the earth being inclined towards the south; and the northern parts of
it have constant snow and are cold and frozen. And the sun is eclipsed
rarely, and the moon continually, because their circles are unequal.
And just as there are comings into being of the world, so there are
growths and decays and passings away in virtue of a certain necessity,
of the nature of which he gives no clear account.
Footnote 948:
Diog. ix. 31 sqq. (R. P. 197, 197 c). This passage deals expressly
with Leukippos, not with Demokritos or even “Leukippos and
Demokritos.” For the distinction between the “summary” and “detailed”
doxographies in Diogenes, see Appendix, § 15.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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