Ἐμπεδοκλῆς

Adler number: epsilon,1003

Translated headword: Empedocles, Empedokles
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
They say that the Agrigentian Empedokles followed in the steps of Pythagoras,
as Apollonius of Tyana also did. For [they say that] he associated with the gods
and learned from them what in men they find pleasing and what vexing; and he
also discussed nature there. Some find evidence of his divinity and conjecture
mutually inconsistent opinions about him, but according to Apollonius Apollo
agreed that he could come and be a god, whereas Athena and Muse[1] and
other gods, whose appearance and names men no longer know, were not in
agreement with his associating with them. And whatever Pythagoras taught,
his disciples accepted as law and honored him as one coming from Zeus, and
there was a policy of silence about his divinity; for they heard many divine and
ineffable things, difficult to grasp for those who have not first learned that
silence is also [a form of] speech. And that Empedokles led this life is clear from
[his words] "Rejoice, I am an immortal god among you, no longer human." Also,
"for I have already lived as both female and male."[2] And the ox in Olympia,
which he is said to have made from pastry and sacrificed[3] -- these would be
[things typical of someone] approving the views of Pythagoras.

Greek Original:
Ἐμπεδοκλῆς: τὸν Ἀκραγαντῖνον Ἐμπεδοκλέα βαδίσαι φασὶ τὴν ὁδὸν
Πυθαγόρου, ἣν καὶ Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεὺς ἐζήλωσε. ξυνεῖναι γὰρ τοῖς θεοῖς
καὶ μανθάνειν παρ' αὐτῶν, ὅπη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χαίρουσι καὶ ὅπη ἄχθονται,
περί τε φύσεως ἐκεῖθεν λέγειν: τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἄλλους τεκμαίρεσθαι τοῦ
θείου καὶ δόξας ἀνομοίους ἀλλήλαις περὶ αὐτοῦ δοξάζειν, Ἀπολλωνίῳ δὲ
τόν τε Ἀπόλλωνα ἥκειν ὁμολογοῦντα, ὡς αὐτὸς εἴη, ξυνεῖναι δ' ἂν καὶ μὴ
ὁμολογοῦντα Ἀθηνᾶν τε καὶ Μοῦσαν καὶ θεοὺς ἑτέρους, ὧν τὰ εἴδη καὶ τὰ
ὀνόματα οὔπω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους γινώσκειν. καὶ ὅ τι ἀποφήνοιτο ὁ
Πυθαγόρας, νόμον τοῦτο οἱ ὁμιληταὶ ἡγοῦντο καὶ ἐτίμων αὐτὸν ὡς ἐκ Διὸς
ἥκοντα, καὶ ἡ σιωπὴ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θείου σφίσιν ἐπήσκητο: πολλὰ γὰρ θεῖά τε
καὶ ἀπόρρητα ἤκουον, ὧν κρατεῖν χαλεπὸν ἦν μὴ πρῶτον μαθοῦσιν, ὅτι καὶ
τὸ σιωπᾶν λόγος. ὅτι δὲ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς τὸν βίον τοῦτον ἤσκητο, δηλοῖ τό,
χαίρετ', ἐγὼ δ' ὔμμιν θεὸς ἄμβροτος, οὐκέτι θνητός. καί, ἤδη γάρ ποτ' ἐγὼ
γενόμην κούρη τε κόρος τε. καὶ ὁ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ βοῦς, ὃν λέγεται πέμμα
ποιησάμενος θῦσαι, τὰ Πυθαγόρου ἐπαινοῦντος εἴη ἄν.
Notes:
From Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 1.1; cf. pi 3121. For Empedokles
cf. (epsilon 1001), epsilon 1002, epsilon 1004.
[1] Plural in Philostratus.
[2] Influenced by his first teacher, Parmenides, who speaks as a female through
"Doxa".
[3] See Wright (1981) 283. Pythagoras and his followers, including E.,
disapproved of animal sacrifices. The Olympia reference resulted from the
confusion between Empedocles with his grandfather the Olympic victor.
Reference:
Wright, M.R., Empedocles: The Extant Fragments. New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 1981
Keywords: athletics; biography; ethics; gender and sexuality; geography;
imagery; philosophy; religion; zoology
Translated by: Marta Steele on 8 June 2000@15:18:13.
Vetted by:
William Hutton (Fixed notes, chose keywords. Text unchanged) on 8 June
2000@21:10:26.
David Whitehead (modified translation; added note; cosmetics) on 17 June
2002@08:02:16.
Catharine Roth (fixed wrong note numbers, reported by Andrew Smith) on 10
October 2004@19:14:23.
David Whitehead (another x-ref) on 8 December 2005@10:19:24.
David Whitehead (modified end of translation, and n.3) on 9 December
2005@05:20:08.
David Whitehead (more of same) on 9 December 2005@07:05:59.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics) on 19 August
2012@04:31:46.
Catharine Roth (tweaked translation) on 2 February 2017@01:32:36.