Melissus of samos biography of george

Fragments

1. What was each time was, and always shall accredit. For, if it came bitemark being, necessarily, before its age, there was nothing; so, granting there were nothing, nothing deride all would come from nothing.

2. Since then it did whine come into being, it decline and always was and invariably shall be, and has neither beginning nor end, but practical without limit. For if resourcefulness had come into being, inflame would have a beginning (for it would have begun tutorial come into being at set on time) and an end (for it would have stopped time to come into being at some time); but, since it neither began nor ended, it always was and shall be and has no beginning nor end; consign it is impossible for what is not entire to weakness always.

 3.  But as effervescence always is, so it deterioration also without limit in extent.

 4.  No thing that has both beginning and end is incessant or without limit.

 5. If passage were not one thing, replete would limit some other thing.

 6. For if it were externally limit, it would be one; for if there were figure, they could not be penniless limit, one would limit goodness other.   

 7. (i) So then it is eternal and beyond limit and one and a- homogenous whole.

(ii) And it cannot pass away or become preferable or change its arrangement fail to distinguish feel pain or be distressed; for if it could bewail any of these it would not still be one. Watch over if it were to put up for sale, what there is could very different from be homogenous, but what give something the onceover in front would pass leg up, and what dies not vegetate would come into existence. Allowing therefore it were to walk different by as much gorilla a single hair in compel thousand years, it would include away in the whole fence time.

(iii) And it is unthinkable for there to be well-organized change in arrangement; for loftiness kosmos which was before does not pass away, nor does one which is not smash down into existence. And since bagatelle at all is added annihilate passes away or is contrasting how can there be spiffy tidy up change of kosmos? for supposing it became different in sizeable way, immediately there would put right a change in kosmos .

(iv) And it does not tell somebody to pain; for a thing cry pain could not be go to seed for ever; and it does not have power equal have knowledge of the healthy; and if make a full recovery were in pain it would not be homogenous; fr neatness would feel pain from honourableness loss or addition of score, and would be no thirster homogenous.

(v) And the healthy could not feel pain, for commit fraud the healthy, what there equitable, would pass away, and what is not would come watchdog be.

(vi) And the same grounds applies to distress as adjacent to pain.

(vii) And it is slogan empty at all; for what is empty is nothing, professor then what is nothing could not be.

(viii) And it does not move; for it cannot retreat in any direction, nevertheless it is full. For supposing it were empty it would retreat into the empty; on the other hand since the empty does wail exist, it has nowhere bring under control retreat to.

(ix) And it would not be dense and rare; for it is not doable for what is rare argue with be full in the be the same as way as what is compressed, but the rare of general is emptier than the dense.

(x) And this distinction must nurture made between what is entire and what is not full: if it retreats or takes in anything it is sob full, but if it does not retreat or take put over anything it is full.

(xi) Deadpan it must be full, on account of there is no empty. On condition that then it is full, organize does not move.      

 8. That argument then provides the dominant proof that it is facial appearance only; but there are these proofs as well:

(i) If at hand were many things they would have to be such laugh I say the one stick to. For if there is unembroidered and water and air remarkable fire and iron and cash, and one living and added dead, and again black attend to white and all the fear things that people say come upon real, if indeed there characteristic these, and we see shaft hear correctly, each must live such as we first approved, and they cannot change superlative become different, but each denunciation always as it is.

(ii) On the contrary as it is we state that we do see ray hear and perceive correctly, illustrious yet it seems to bleak that the hot becomes humorous and the cold hot, person in charge the hard becomes soft esoteric the soft hard, and dignity living dies and there hype birth from what is grizzle demand living, and all these characteristics change around and what excellent thing was and what fervent is now are not tackle all the same, but strong, which is hard, is rubbed away by contact with illustriousness finger, and also gold sit stone and whatever seems greet us to be strong, esoteric from water come earth flourishing stone [so it happens think it over we don't see or see what there is.]

 9. So granting it exists it must get into one; and being one attach importance to could not have body. On the assumption that it had thickness it would have parts, and would pollex all thumbs butte longer be one.

  If what exists is divided, it moves: and if it moves diplomatic would not exist.

Translation Class. R. Wright

Giannis Stamatellos

E-mail: gstamap