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Anaximenes’ Cosmology

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Abstract

One of the strangest theories, combined with one of the most enigmatic images in Presocratic cosmology, which have puzzled many scholars, is ascribed to Anaximenes. According to him, says Hippolytus, the sun and the other celestial bodies do not go underneath the earth, but move around it like a felt hat (or a turban, or a ribbon) around our head:

  1. 7.1.

    (Anaximenes) denies that the heavenly bodies move under (ὑπὸ) the earth, as others suppose, but he says they turn around (περὶ) the earth, like a felt cap (πιλίον) turns around our head (περὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν κεφαλὴν στρέφεται). The sun is hidden not by going under the earth, but by being covered by the higher parts of the earth (ὑπὸ τῶν τῆς γῆς ὑψηλοτέρων μερῶν) and by being a greater distance away from us (διὰ τὴν πλείονα ἡμῶν αὐτοῦ γενομένων ἀπόστασιν).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Several possible translations are discussed in Bicknell (1966).

  2. 2.

    Hippolytus, Refutatio Omnium Haeresium 1.7.6 = DK 13A7(6) = LM ANAXIMEN. D3(6) = Gr Axs12(6) = TP2 As56[7.6] = KRS 156.

  3. 3.

    Cf. Panchenko (2015), 420.

  4. 4.

    KRS, p. 156.

  5. 5.

    Robinson (1968), 45.

  6. 6.

    Graham (2013a), 64.

  7. 7.

    Cf. Hippolytus, Refutatio Omnium Haeresium 1.7.4 = DK 13A7(4) = LM ANAXIMEN. D3(4) = Gr Axs12(4) = TP2 As56(7.4) = KRS 151.

  8. 8.

    Aristotle, De Caelo 294b13–21. = DK 13A20 = LM ANAXIMEN. D19 = Gr Axs13 = TP2 As3 = KRS 150.

  9. 9.

    Pseudo-Plutarch, Stromata 3, Fr. 179 = DK 13A6 = LM ANAXIMEN. D2 = Gr Axs11 = TP2 As83 = KRS 148.

  10. 10.

    P 3.15.8 (not in S) = DK 13A20 = LM ANAXIMEN. D 20b = Gr Axs15 = TP2 As46; not in KRS, but see p. 153.

  11. 11.

    Cf. Graham (2013a), 64 and 65, caption of Fig. 2.2.

  12. 12.

    Boll (1914), 361n. Boll’s suggestion is referred to in Guthrie (1962), 138, n. 2: “Hölscher in Hermes (1953), 413 says on the authority of Boll, Zeitschr. F. Assyr. (1914), 361, n., that the idea that the sun and moon go round instead of under the earth is Babylonian.”

  13. 13.

    Kopf’s remark that the top hat heaven of Boll’s suggestion should be thought of as tilted (see Boll 1914, 361) would encounter similar problems as in McKirahan’s interpretation (see below). It is not clear whether Kopf correctly reflects Boll’s intentions in this respect.

  14. 14.

    Anderson (2013, 43) interprets these words as “an indication that the lengths of the days of days and nights are dependent on the position of the observer (…) from the equator to the pole,” which is certainly wrong. The picture shows different positions of the sun and not observers at different positions. The latter is also Kominko’s interpretation: “The miniature showing the movement of the sun and its different path in the course of the year” (Kominko, 2013, 85).

  15. 15.

    Cf. KRS, p. 157. Kirk does not mention Democritus, but ascribes the tilt of the earth also to Anaxagoras and Diogenes. This is a mistake, because Anaxagoras and Diogenes taught the inclination of the heavens, not of the earth.

  16. 16.

    KRS, p. 157, my italics.

  17. 17.

    See KRS, p. 157. For the latter objection, see also Chap. 3, Sect. The Alleged Tilt of the Earth.

  18. 18.

    Robinson (1968), 45.

  19. 19.

    Ibidem.

  20. 20.

    Ibidem.

  21. 21.

    Bicknell (1969).

  22. 22.

    Actually, Bicknell says that “Leucippus and Democritus (…) indisputably held that the earth was tilted towards the north” (Bicknell 1969, 78; my italics). The last words must be a slip of the pen, since the texts explicitly say that the earth was tilted towards the south (which means that the northern part was lifted). That this ascription is not indisputable is explained in Chap. 3.

  23. 23.

    Bicknell (1969), 77.

  24. 24.

    Bicknell (1969), 78, second italics are mine.

  25. 25.

    Cf. Wöhrle (1993), 74–75.

  26. 26.

    Bicknell (1966), 17. See also Guthrie (1962), 138, n. 1: “it is the idea of movement which makes the simile so bizarre.”

  27. 27.

    Ibidem.

  28. 28.

    Cf. Guthrie (1962), 138, n. 1; Webster (1961), 89 and 105, n. 32.

  29. 29.

    Bicknell (1966), 18.

  30. 30.

    Ibidem.

  31. 31.

    Bicknell (1969), 79.

  32. 32.

    Bicknell (1969), 77–78, my italics.

  33. 33.

    Bicknell (1969), 78, my italics.

  34. 34.

    Bicknell is confused here with the obliquity of the ecliptic, which has nothing to do with the alleged inclination of the heaven (nor with the inclination of the earth). See Chap. 3, Sect. The Tilt of the Celestial Axis.

  35. 35.

    Bicknell (1969), 78, second italics mine.

  36. 36.

    See Chap. 3.

  37. 37.

    Bicknell (1969), 78–79.

  38. 38.

    See McKirahan (2010), 57.

  39. 39.

    McKirahan (2010), 56.

  40. 40.

    McKirahan (2010), 56, n. 15.

  41. 41.

    McKirahan (2010), 56.

  42. 42.

    In Anaximenes’ time there was not one star (almost) at the celestial pole, as is now the Polar star. People hat to orientate themselves by means of the circumpolar stars, such as the Two Bears.

  43. 43.

    Fehling (1985), 206: “In diesem Weltbilde ist die Erdeoberfläche kreisrund, vom Okeanos umflosssen. Der Himmel, als etwas Festes gedacht, liegt als Flachdach (nicht Halbkugel und nicht Käseglocke) darüber.”

  44. 44.

    Cf. Fehling (1985), 208.

  45. 45.

    Ibidem.

  46. 46.

    Fehling (1985), 206.

  47. 47.

    Cf. Fehling (1985), 206.

  48. 48.

    Cf. Fehling (1985), 207.

  49. 49.

    See Panchenko (2015).

  50. 50.

    P 2.16.6 = MR 487 (2.16.4) = TP2 As38; not in DK (but see Dox 346, n.1), LM, Gr, and KRS.

  51. 51.

    Qusṭā ibn Lūqā, quoted from MR 488, after Daiber (1980),153; also in TP2 As205 and Bottler (2014), 388; not in LM, Gr, and KRS.

  52. 52.

    S 1.24.1 = DK 13A14 = Gr Axs19 = MR 488 = TP2 As124; not in LM and KRS.

  53. 53.

    Eusebius, Preparatio Evangelica 15.47.3 = MR 487 = TP2 As91 = Bottler (2014), 368; not in DK, LM, Gr, and KRS. Eusebius leaves out the word ἀλλὰ.

  54. 54.

    Diogenes Laërtius, Vitae Philosophorum 2.3 = DK13A1 = Gr Axs1 = TP2 As72; not in LM and KRS.

  55. 55.

    See Dox 346 and DK 12A14.

  56. 56.

    Cf. MR 487.

  57. 57.

    Cf. MR 491 and n. 321. See also their reconstructed text and translation in MR493 and 494.

  58. 58.

    MR 488. This argument is repeated in Bottler (2014), 389: “Die korrupte Textversion von Ps. Plutarch und Qosṭā ibn Lūqā sei auf das ausgefallene οὐχ zurückzuführen.”

  59. 59.

    See MR 491.

  60. 60.

    Cf. P 2.16.5 ≠ S 1.24.2 = DK 12A18 = Gr Axr28 = TP2 Ar56 =  MR 487 and 488 = KRS 128; not in LM.

  61. 61.

    This opposition only holds for the sun and moon (and the planets, and perhaps the invisible bodies), but not for the stars, who are like nails fixed into the firmament and thus carried along.

  62. 62.

    TP2 As38.

  63. 63.

    See TP2 As38.

  64. 64.

    Caption of TP2 As205.

  65. 65.

    Bottler (2014), 388.

  66. 66.

    See LSJ, περί III.

  67. 67.

    Mourelatos (2013), 99.

  68. 68.

    Aristotle, Meteorologica 354a28–32 = DK 13A14 = LM ANAXIMEN. D16 = Gr Axs18 = TP2 As4. = KRS 157. Graham translates “this region,” but meant is the northerly region mentioned just before.

  69. 69.

    Cf. MR 488.

  70. 70.

    Guthrie (1962), 138, where he also notes: “Hölscher (…) says, on the authority of Boll (…), that the idea that the sun and moon go round instead of under the earth is Babylonian.” See also Hölscher (1970), 218, and Boll (1914), 361, n.

  71. 71.

    Wöhrle (1993), 74.

  72. 72.

    Panchenko (2015), 420.

  73. 73.

    In Chap. 3, Sect. The Shape of the Earth, we saw that in this archaic conception there must also be mountains at the outer edge of the Ocean to prevent the water from flowing off the earth.

  74. 74.

    KRS, p. 156.

  75. 75.

    KRS, p. 157.

  76. 76.

    KRS, p. 156.

  77. 77.

    Fehling (1985), 208 n. 33: “Solche hausbackenen Vergleiche gehören typisch zum etwas gönnerhaften Umgang des 4. Jahrhunderts mit den Vorsokratikern. Es gibt keinen Grund, den Vergleich Anaximenes zu geben.”

  78. 78.

    This would, of course, not implie that Fehling’s interpretation of a flat heaven (cf. Fig. 5.9) should be followed. Moreover, and very inconsistently, Fehling (1985, 208 n. 33) sees the image of a tilted cap as an excellent illustration of Anaximenes’ intentions.

  79. 79.

    Epicurus, On Nature ĪĀ [33] Arrighetti, from Herculaneum Papyri 1042.8.vi = Gr Axs 20, not in DK, LM, TP2 (but see p. 243, n. 2), and KRS. Graham’s translation inserts the word “and” (which is not in the Greek text), between the two halves of this text. This suggests a juxtaposition of two functions of the ring of mountains, whereas the last clause is meant to indicate who the people are that introduced the idea of a ring of mountains.

  80. 80.

    P 2.11.1 = MR 434; not in Gr and KRS.

  81. 81.

    Dox 339 and TP2 read τὴν περιφορὰν τὴν ἐξωτάτω γῆς εἶναι; Bottler (2014, 350) translates: “Anaximenes (die οὐσία des Himmels sei) der äußerste irdische Umkreis.”

  82. 82.

    S 1.23.1 = DK13A13 = LM ANAXIMEN. D12; not in Gr and KRS.

  83. 83.

    Similar translations can be found in Dumont (1988), 54 and Reale (2017), 297.

  84. 84.

    Fehling (1985), 208: “Seine Formulierung ist sonst der allgemeinen des Aristoteles so ähnlich daß man dahinstehen lassen muß, wieweit sie als individuelle Aussage über Anaximenes zu werten ist.”

    Fehling (1994), 145: “Er hat deshalb mangels eines anderen Kandidaten die oben zitierte Bemerkung des Aristoteles über die ‘alten Meteorologen’ auf Anaximenes bezogen und sich damit auch in der modernen Forschung durchgesetzt.”

  85. 85.

    Theodoretus, Graecarum affectionum curatio 4.15–16 = DK 13A12 = TP2 As112 = Ar135 = MR 331, not in Gr, LM, and KRS. Wöhrle’s translation, which says that the text is about the earth (“Erde”) must be a slip of the pen, because the word περιδινεῖσϑαι clearly has to do with the cosmos, and τροχός is Anaximander’s word for the heavenly bodies.

  86. 86.

    In DK 13A12, it is simply announced as a text from Aëtius and not from Theodoretus; this information is given only in Dox 329, at the bottom of the page).

  87. 87.

    Cf. MR 333.

  88. 88.

    See Dox 329 and, e.g., Conche (1991), 212, n. 40.

  89. 89.

    MR 335.

  90. 90.

    P 2.14.3 (= S 1.24.1) = DK 13A14 = LM ANAXIMEN. D14[3] = Gr Axs17 = MR 470 = TP2 As37 = KRS 154.

  91. 91.

    See Schwabl (1966), 37.

  92. 92.

    Mansfeld (1983), 97.

  93. 93.

    LM in a note to ANAXIMEN. D14[3].

  94. 94.

    Cf. Schwabl (1966), 36.

  95. 95.

    See KRS, p. 155 and Longrigg (1965), 249.

  96. 96.

    See Bicknell (1969), 55.

  97. 97.

    KRS, p. 155.

  98. 98.

    Schwabl (1966), 34.

  99. 99.

    See KRS, translation of 154 and argument on p. 155; Bicknell (1969), 54. Wöhrle (1993), 44 has “eisartig,” but in TP2 As37 “kristallartig.”

  100. 100.

    Longrigg (1965), 249 states that “the word κρύσταλλος and its derivatives never in the Classical period refer to anything but ice.” This does not, however, preclude the text from emphasizing the transparency of ice rather than its coldness.

  101. 101.

    See Couprie (2015a).

  102. 102.

    Wöhrle (1993), 73.

  103. 103.

    Bicknell (1969), 77.

  104. 104.

    See Panchenko (2016).

  105. 105.

    See Kočandrle (2018).

  106. 106.

    P = Aëtius in pseudo-Plutarch, Placita (numbering according to Dox).

    S = Aëtius in Stobaeus, Anthologium (numbering according to Wachsmuth and Hense).

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  1. Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    Dirk L. Couprie

  2. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Dirk L. Couprie

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Couprie, D.L. (2018). Anaximenes’ Cosmology. In: When the Earth Was Flat. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97052-3_7

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