Page:Philosophical & Other Essays.pdf/38

 2 PHILOSOPHICAL AND OTHER ESSAYS have flourished in Asia Minor in the sixty-ninth Olympiad. The more exact dates of his life and death have been fixed in modern times to be 535 B. C. and 475 B. C. From the great perplexity of his writings, Herakleitos came to be surnamed the Obscure (ὁ σκοτεινός ). Even the great Aristotle complained about the grammatical difficulties in Herakleitos' work. This. work is said to have borne the customary title Tepi Tews- Even though we have not the whole work of Herakleitos before us we have sufficient fragments extant from that work to enable us to reconstruct Herakleitos' philosophy tolerably satisfactorily. Herakleitos wrote in aphorisms, which is the real reason of his occasional obscurity. To take one illustration out of many, it is impossible to make out what Herakleitos meant when he called gods mortals, and men immortals: θεοὶ θνητοί, άνθρωποι ἀθάνατοι. TOL. Very often, however, Herakleitos' meaning is plain when we once understand the secret of his philosophy; but we must remember that his style is often antithetical: the name of the bow (Bios), he says, is life (Blos), but its work is death- TOû Bioù ovvоμ* τοῦ βιοῦ οὔνομα. βίος, ἔργον δὲ θάνατος. Criticism of Predecessors. Herakleitos has been called a weeping philosopher,. as contrasted with Demokritos, who is called a laughing. philosopher. The charge against Herakleitos is due to some traces of pessimism found in his writings. Man, says Herakleitos, is kindled and put out like a light in. the night-time: ἄνθρωπος, ὅπως ἐν εὐφρόνῃ φάος, απτεται. αποσβέννυται. TOOBEUT. Time, he says elsewhere, is like a child playing draughts; it " amuses itself with counters, and builds castles on the sea-shore for the sake of throwing them down again: construction and destruction, destruc--2 PHILOSOPHICAL AND OTHER ESSAYS have flourished in Asia Minor in the sixty-ninth Olympiad. The more exact dates of his life and death have been fixed in modern times to be 535 B. C. and 475 B. C. From the great perplexity of his writings, Herakleitos came to be surnamed the Obscure (ὁ σκοτεινός ). Even the great Aristotle complained about the grammatical difficulties in Herakleitos' work. This. work is said to have borne the customary title Tepi Tews- Even though we have not the whole work of Herakleitos before us we have sufficient fragments extant from that work to enable us to reconstruct Herakleitos' philosophy tolerably satisfactorily. Herakleitos wrote in aphorisms, which is the real reason of his occasional obscurity. To take one illustration out of many, it is impossible to make out what Herakleitos meant when he called gods mortals, and men immortals: θεοὶ θνητοί, άνθρωποι ἀθάνατοι. TOL. Very often, however, Herakleitos' meaning is plain when we once understand the secret of his philosophy; but we must remember that his style is often antithetical: the name of the bow (Bios), he says, is life (Blos), but its work is death- TOû Bioù ovvоμ* τοῦ βιοῦ οὔνομα. βίος, ἔργον δὲ θάνατος. Criticism of Predecessors. Herakleitos has been called a weeping philosopher,. as contrasted with Demokritos, who is called a laughing. philosopher. The charge against Herakleitos is due to some traces of pessimism found in his writings. Man, says Herakleitos, is kindled and put out like a light in. the night-time: ἄνθρωπος, ὅπως ἐν εὐφρόνῃ φάος, απτεται. αποσβέννυται. TOOBEUT. Time, he says elsewhere, is like a child playing draughts; it " amuses itself with counters, and builds castles on the sea-shore for the sake of throwing them down again: construction and destruction, destruc--