[219]Dionysius says that even the spider has more notion of design than the atoms, but the sarcasm is not quite to the point. [220]1 Cor. xv. 41. [221]“God ever brings like to like.”—Homer, _Od._ xvii. 218, a proverb quoted both by Plato and Aristotle. [222]Dionysius is probably thinking of Plato’s _Timæus_ 56B, where the pyramid is said to be the geometrical shape of fire which is the principal constituent of the bodies of the stars (Professor H. Jackson). [223]Dionysius is here referring to such a passage as Gen. i. 6 ff. No doubt the ancients thought the vault of heaven was solid, enclosing the atmosphere which covers the earth, and that the stars were either fixed upon it or moved in their courses on its surface. [224]Ps. civ. 23. [225]_i. e._ the sun’s yearly (as opposed to its daily) course. [226]“The righteous” here is a very unusual equivalent for “the Christians”: it is possible, however, that the translation is: “however much these men disagree, being but poor creatures, though righteous enough in their own estimate.” [227]Ecclus. xliii. 5. [228]The idea is of some stars being solitary, like a Greek or Roman colony (ἀποικία) with a constitution of its own, and of others grouping themselves into constellations or communities (συνοικία). The colony had a founder (οἰκιστής), the community or household would have some sort of controller (οἰκοδεσπότης). [229]Ecclus. xvi. 26 f. [230]The natural motion of atoms was downwards, but there was also a slight sideward motion, and when they impinged a motion upwards by blows and tossings, and this produced the shape of things. But Dionysius here says, how is that theory consistent with the orderly march of the stars? [231]Dionysius here plays on the derivation of ἄτοµοι, from τέµνειν (= to cut). [232]Amos iii. 3 (LXX). The A.V. and R.V. give the more exact meaning “agreed” to the last word. [233]Hesiod, _Works and Days_, iv. 408 and 411. [234]Viz. the heathen, to whom the poets were to some extent what the prophets are to us Christians. [235]Jer. xlviii. 10. [236]The happiness of the King of Persia was proverbial: see Hor., _Od._ ii. 12, 21, iii. 9, 4. [237]By “Necessity” here Dionysius means not “Fate” in the fatalist’s sense, but that supreme Will and Purpose of God, which is opposed to the Epicurean doctrine of chance. [238]The title here given (ὑποθῆκαι) is not given in the list of Democritus’s works, but the ὑποµνήµατα ἠθικά may be meant. [239]It is impossible to reproduce the play upon words here, εὐτυχῆ τὴν φρόνησιν, ἐµφρονεστάτην τὴν τύχην. The reference seems to be to such poetical passages as Soph., _O. T._ 977 ff., and Eur., _Alc._ 785 ff., where the practical wisdom of leaving the future to take care of itself is extolled.