A Presocratics Reader Selected Fragments and Testimonia Second Edition Edited, with Introduction, by Patricia Curd Translations by Richard D. McKirahan and Patricia Curd A PRESOCRATICS READER Second Edition A PRESOCRATICS READER Selected Fragments and Testimonia Second Edition Edited, with Introduction, by PATRICIA CURD Translations by RICHARD D. MCKIRAHAN and PATRICIA CURD Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis/Cambridge Copyright © 2011 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 For further information, please address Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. P.O. Box 44937 Indianapolis, Indiana 46244-0937 www.hackettpublishing.com Cover design by Listenberger Design & Associates Interior design by Dan Kirklin Composition by William Hartman Printed at Victor Graphics, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A Presocratics reader : selected fragments and testimonia / edited, with introduction, by Patricia Curd ; translations by Richard D. McKirahan. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-60384-305-8 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-60384-306-5 (cloth) 1. Philosophy, Ancient—Sources. 2. Pre-Socratic philosophers. I. Curd, Patricia, 1949– II. McKirahan, Richard D. B187.5.P75 2010 182—dc22 2010019297 Adobe PDF ebook ISBN: 978-1-60384-598-4 CONTENTS Preface vi On Abbreviations and Notes viii Maps x Time Line xiii Acknowledgments xiv 1. Introduction 1 2. The Milesians 13 2.1. Thales 13 2.2. Anaximander 16 2.3. Anaximenes 19 3. Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism 23 4. Xenophanes of Colophon 31 5. Heraclitus of Ephesus 39 6. Parmenides of Elea 55 7. Zeno of Elea 66 8. Empedocles of Acragas 73 9. Anaxagoras of Clazomenae 101 10. Leucippus and Democritus: Fifth-Century Atomism 109 11. Melissus of Samos 127 12. Philolaus of Croton 132 13. Diogenes of Apollonia 138 14. The Sophists 144 14.1. Protagoras 145 14.2. Gorgias 148 14.3. Prodicus 153 14.4. Hippias 154 14.5. Antiphon 155 15. The Derveni Papyrus, Columns IV–XXVI 162 Concordance 173 v PREFACE A Presocratics Reader began as a revised and expanded version of the first section of Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy (Hackett, 1st edition 1995). For a number of reasons, this is an excellent time to prepare a new edition of the Reader, and most of the changes will be incorporated into the next edition of Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Since 1995 and 1996 when this volume was put together, Presocratic studies have grown rapidly. Exciting new material has been discov- ered: the Strasbourg Papyrus with its previously unknown lines of Empedocles, and the Derveni Papyrus, which shows how Presocratic philosophy was adopted into the wider intellectual world of ancient Greece. There have been new studies published, and numerous inter- national conferences: scholars have asked novel questions, and offered fresh interpretations. In this new edition, I have revised all of the intro- ductory material (in many cases to take advantage of recent interpre- tations), and have included much of the new material (especially on Empedocles) that has come to light. The fragments in the Heraclitus and Empedocles chapters have been reordered, and the chapter on the Sophists has been changed in order to provide longer selections and a view of the Sophists more in keeping with contemporary scholar- ship. Finally, this edition includes the text of the intriguing Derveni Papyrus. For A Presocratics Reader, the most important development has been Richard D. McKirahan’s complete revision of his excellent volume, Philosophy Before Socrates, for its second edition. The translations from this new edition of Philosophy Before Socrates form the backbone of A Presocratics Reader, and in revising this little book, I have had the advantage of working through the new material and corresponding with Professor McKirahan. Suggestions from those who have used A Presocratics Reader (including students and colleagues here at Purdue University) have been very helpful, and I have tried to incorporate as many of them as possible. vi PREFACE vii This collection is meant as a sourcebook of moderate length; it is not a complete collection of the fragments and testimonia for the figures included here. My aim has been to provide a good selection from the early Greek philosophers, along with some of the ancient reports about them, with minimal editorial intrusion. I have strong views about many issues in Presocratic philosophy, but I have refrained from imposing them on the reader. Those who want more scholarly intervention should consult the suggested readings at the end of each section. These read- ings (some introductory and some more advanced) will offer interpreta- tions, arguments, and further references so that anyone beginning here can quickly enter the world of Presocratic scholarship. In the last two years I have worked with Richard McKirahan as he was preparing the second edition of Philosophy Before Socrates. He allowed me to use a version of the new text in a seminar with upper-level undergraduates and graduate students at Purdue University, and we discussed many questions of translation and interpretation. As always, I have learned much from Richard, even—and perhaps mostly—when we disagree. (I am happy to note that over these years we have come to have more agreements.) I am grateful for his comments and suggestions on my work over the years, including this project. I have also benefited from the Pythagorean expertise of Professor Carl Huffman, to whom I extend thanks. The editors at Hackett Publishing have supported Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy and A Presocratics Reader from the beginning, and I am grateful to them, and especially to Brian Rak and Liz Wilson. ON ABBREVIATIONS AND NOTES The standard text collection for the Presocratics is H. Diels and W. Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (6th edition, Berlin, 1951, and later printings), commonly referred to as DK. This collection has defined the scholarly conventions for referring to Presocratic texts, whether in Greek, Latin, or a modern translation. For each Presocratic philosopher DK assigns an identifying number: for example, Heraclitus is 22 and Anaxagoras is 59. DK uses the letter A to indicate testimony from ancient sources about that person, and the letter B to refer to what are taken to be direct quotations from that figure’s work. These quotations are also referred to as the fragments, since all we have are small sections from longer works. Furthermore, DK identifies the testimonia and fragments by unique numbers. Thus text identified as 22A2 refers to Heraclitus (22) testimony (A) number two (2); and text identified as 59B12 refers to Anaxagoras (59) fragment (B) number twelve (12). In this volume, DK numbers (where available) accompany every quotation; when all the passages in a chapter come from the same sec- tion of DK, the particular Presocratic’s identifying number (22 or 59 in the examples just given) is listed only for the first passage. Hence fragment 1 from Anaxagoras will be identified as “(59B1)” and frag- ment 12 as “(B12).” Where texts come from more than one section, com- plete identifying DK numbers will be used as appropriate. In all cases, the source of the testimony or fragment from which DK drew the text appears at the end of the passage. For those texts that are not included in DK, the standard textual identification for the source is given along with the indication “not in DK.” Where proper names follow textual references, the reference is to the editor of the standard edition of the relevant text. For example, in the Heraclitus chapter, the entry “Proclus, Commentary on Plato’s Alcibiades I 117, Westerink” following selection 8 (B104) indicates that the fragment comes from Proclus’ Commentary on Plato’s Alcibiades I, and can be found on p. 117 of L. G. Westerink’s 1954 viii ON ABBREVIATIONS AND NOTES ix edition of the text. References to two major papyrus collections use the standard abbreviations “P.Herc.” and “P.Oxy.”1 Unless otherwise indicated, translations are by Richard D. McKirahan. In the few places where I have modified his translations, “tmpc” appears in the source identification line; where I have translated the entire pas- sage, “tpc” appears. All of the translations in Chapter 9 (Anaxagoras) are mine. Notes on the texts are scattered throughout this collection. Notes from the translator (McKirahan) are marked as such; all other notes are mine. Finally, in the translations of quoted passages from ancient authors, I use a system of brackets: (. .) Parenthetical comment in the ancient text <. .> Supplements to the text (either proposed by scholars, or added by the translator for the sake of clarity) [. .] Alternative possible translations, explanatory remarks, or context for the quoted passage 1. P.Herc. is the Herculaneum Papyri, followed by the classification number of the papyrus. (More information can be found at http://163.1.169.40/cgi-bin/ library?site=localhost&a=p&p=about&c=PHerc&ct+0&1=en&w=utf-8.) P.Oxy. is the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, followed by the classification number of the papyrus. (More information can be found at http://www.papyrology.ox.ac.uk/ POxy/.) MAPS x A PRESOCRATICS READER MAPS MAPS xi xii THRACE Abdera Aegospotami Mount Lampsacus Olympus Troy Mitylene LESBOS Mt. Aegean LYDIA Parnassus Sea Delphi Smyrna BOEOTIA Mt. CHIOS IONIA Thebes Clazomenae Helicon Marathon Elis Megara Rhamnous Colophon Corinth Athens Ephesus Meander R. PELOPONNESEMycenae Samos Olympia Argos Priene CEOS Miletus DELOS Branchidae Sparta PAROS Cos A PRESOCR MELOS A TICS CRETE 0 100 Miles R E A 0 100 Kilometers DER Greece and Western Asia Minor TIME LINE TIME TIMELINE TIME LINE xiii TIME LINE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Excerpts from Richard D. McKirahan, Philosophy Before Socrates: An Introduction with Texts and Commentary, 2nd edition, Hackett Publishing Company, 2010.