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Διὰ τί τὰ ὕδνα δοκεῖ τῇ βροντῇ γίγνεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τί τοὺς καθεύδοντας οἴονται μὴ κεραυνοῦσθαι.

[1] 10 ὕδνα παμμεγέθη δειπνοῦσιν ἡμῖν Ἀγέμαχος παρέθηκεν ἐν Ἤλιδι. θαυμαζόντων δὲ τῶν παρόντων, ἔφη τις ὑπομειδιάσας ἄξιά γε τῶν βροντῶν τῶν ἔναγχος γενομένων ὡς δὴ καταγελῶν τῶν λεγόντων 15 τὰ ὕδνα τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ βροντῆς λαμβάνειν. ἦσαν οὖν οἱ φάσκοντες ὑπὸ βροντῆς τὴν γῆν διίστασθαι, καθάπερ ἥλῳ¹ τῷ ἀέρι χρωμένην, εἶτα ταῖς ῥωγμαῖς τεκμαίρεσθαι τοὺς τὰ ὕδνα μετιόντας· ἐκ δὲ τούτου δόξαν ἐγγενέσθαι τοῖς πολλοῖς, ὅτι τὸ 20 664c ὕδνον αἱ βρονταὶ γεννῶσιν οὐ δεικνύουσιν· ὥσπερ εἴ τις οἴοιτο τοὺς κοχλίας ποιεῖν τὸν ὄμβρον, ἀλλὰ μὴ προάγειν² μηδʼ ἀναφαίνειν. ὁ δʼ Ἀγέμαχος ἰσχυρίζετο τῇ ἱστορίᾳ καὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν ἠξίου μὴ ἄπιστον ἡγεῖσθαι. καὶ γὰρ ἄλλα πολλὰ θαυμάσια βροντῆς ἔργα καὶ κεραυνοῦ καὶ τῶν περὶ ταῦτα διοσημιῶν³ εἶναι, χαλεπὰς καταμαθεῖν ἢ παντελῶς ἀδυνάτους τὰς αἰτίας ἔχοντα. καὶ γὰρ ὁ γελώμενος οὑτοσὶ 5 καὶ παροιμιώδης⁴ ἔφη βολβὸς οὐ μικρότητι διαφεύγει τὸν κεραυνὸν, ἀλλʼ ἔχων δύναμιν ἀντιπαθῆ, καθάπερ ἡ συκῆ καὶ τὸ δέρμα τῆς φώκης ὥς φασι καὶ τὸ τῆς ὑαίνης⁵, οἷς τὰ ἄκρα τῶν ἱστίων⁶ οἱ ναύκληροι, καταδιφθεροῦσι. τὰ δʼ ἀστραπαῖα τῶν ὑδάτων 10 εὐαλδῆ καλοῦσιν οἱ γεωργοὶ καὶ νομίζουσι. καὶ 664d ὅλως εὔηθές ἐστι ταῦτα θαυμάζειν τὸ πάντων ἀπιστότατον ἐν τοῖς πάθεσι τούτοις καθορῶντας, ἐκ μὲν ὑγρῶν φλόγας, ἐκ δὲ μαλακῶν νεφῶν⁷ ψόφους σκληροὺς ἀναδιδομένους. ταῦτα δʼ εἶπεν ἀδολεσχῶ, 15 παρακαλῶν ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν ζήτησιν τῆς αἰτίας, ἵνα μὴ πικρὸς γένωμαι⁸ συμβολὰς τῶν ὕδνων πρασσόμενος.

[2] αὐτὸν μὲν οὖν ἐγὼ ἔφην τρόπον τινὰ τῷ λόγῳ δεξιὰν ὀρέγειν τὸν Ἀγέμαχον· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἒν 20 γε τῷ παρόντι φαίνεσθαι πιθανώτερον, ἢ⁹ ὅτι ταῖς βρονταῖς πολλάκις ὕδωρ συνεκπίπτει γόνιμον. αἰτία δʼ ἡ τῆς θερμότητος ἀνάμιξις· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὀξὺ καὶ 664e καθαρὸν τοῦ πυρὸς ἄπεισιν ἀστραπὴ γενόμενον, τὸ δʼ ἐμβριθὲς καὶ πνευματῶδες ἐνειλούμενον τῷ νέφει 25 καὶ συμμεταβάλλον ἐξαιρεῖ¹⁰ τὴν ψυχρότητα καὶ συνεκπονεῖ¹¹ τὸ ὑγρόν· ὥστε μάλιστα τὸ¹² προσηνὲς ἐνδύεσθαι τοῖς βλαστάνουσι καὶ ταχὺ παχύνειν. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ κράσεων ἰδιότητα καὶ χυμοῦ διαφορὰν ἐμποιεῖ¹³ τὰ τοιαῦτα τοῖς ἀρδομένοις¹⁴· ὥσπερ αἵ τε 5 δρόσοι γλυκυτέραν ποιοῦσι τοῖς θρέμμασι τὴν πόαν, 664f καὶ τὰ¹⁵ τὴν ἶριν ἐξανθοῦντα νέφη, καθʼ ὧν ἂν ἐπερείσῃ¹⁶ ξύλων, εὐωδίας ἀναπίμπλησι· καὶ ταύτῃ γνωρίζοντες οἱ παρʼ ἡμῖν ἰρίσκηπτα καλοῦσι, τὴν ἶριν¹⁷ ὑπολαμβάνοντες ἐπισκήπτειν πολλῷ¹⁸ μᾶλλον 10 εἰκός ἐστι τοῖς ἀστραπαίοις καὶ κεραυνίοις ὕδασι καὶ πνεύμασι καὶ θερμότησιν εἰς βάθος ἐλαυνομέναις τὴν γῆν στρέφεσθαι καὶ συστροφὰς ἴσχειν τοιαύτας καὶ χαυνότητας, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς σώμασι τὰ χοιραδώδη καὶ ἀδενώδη φύματα θερμότητές τινες 15 καὶ ὑγρότητες¹⁹ αἱματώδεις ἐνδημιουργοῦσιν. οὐ γὰρ ἔοικε φυτῷ²⁰ τὸ ὕδνον οὐδʼ ἄνευ ὕδατος ἔχει τὴν 665a γένεσιν, ἀλλʼ ἄρριζον καὶ ἀβλαστές²¹ ἐστι²² καὶ ἀπολελυμένον, τῷ καθʼ ἑαυτὸ σύστασιν²³ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἔχειν παθούσης τι καὶ μεταβαλούσης. εἰ δέ γε γλίσχρος 20 ἔφην ὁ λόγος ὑμῖν δοκεῖ, τοιαῦτά τοι τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν βρονταῖς καὶ κεραυνοῖς συνεπομένων· διὸ καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς πάθεσι τούτοις δόξα θειότητος²⁴ πρόσεστι.

[3] παρὼν δʼ ὁ ῥήτωρ Δωρόθεος ὀρθῶς ἔφη λέγεις· οὐ γὰρ μόνον οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ ἰδιῶται τοῦτο 5 πεπόνθασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων τινές. ἐγὼ γοῦν οἶδα, κεραυνοῦ παρʼ ἡμῖν εἰς οἰκίαν ἐμπεσόντος καὶ πολλὰ θαυμαστὰ δράσαντος οἶνόν τε γὰρ 665b ἐκ πίθων διεφόρησε τοῦ κεράμου μηδὲν παθόντος, ἀνθρώπου τε καθεύδοντος διαπτάμενος οὔτʼ αὐτὸν 10 ἠδίκησεν οὔτε τῆς ἐσθῆτος ἔθιγε, ζώνην δὲ χαλκοῦς ἔχουσαν ὑπεζωσμένου διέτηξε τὸ νόμισμα²⁵ πᾶν καὶ συνέχεε· φιλοσόφῳ δὲ²⁶ παρεπιδημοῦντι Πυθαγορικῷ προσελθόντα καὶ διαπυνθανόμενον· τὸν δʼ ἀφοσιωσάμενον καὶ κελεύσαντα τὰ²⁷ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν δρᾶν²⁸ 15 καὶ προσεύχεσθαι τοῖς θεοῖς. ἀκούω δὲ καὶ στρατιώτου φυλάττοντος ἱερὸν ἐν Ῥώμῃ κεραυνὸν ἐγγὺς πεσόντα διακαῦσαι τῶν ὑποδημάτων τοὺς ἱμάντας, ἄλλο δὲ μηδὲν κακὸν ἐργάσασθαι· καὶ κυλιχνίων²⁹ ἀργυρῶν ξυλίνοις ἐγκειμένων³⁰ ἐλύτροις τὸν μὲν³¹ ἄργυρον 20 665c συνιζῆσαι τακέντα, τὸ δὲ ξύλον ἄθικτον καὶ ἀπαθὲς εὑρεθῆναι. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἔξεστι πιστεύειν καὶ μή· πάντων δὲ θαυμασιώτατον, ὃ πάντες ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἴσμεν, ὅτι τῶν ὑπὸ κεραυνοῦ διαφθαρέντων ἄσηπτα τὰ σώματα διαμένει· πολλοὶ γὰρ οὔτε κάουσιν οὔτε κατορύττουσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐῶσι περιφράξαντες, ὥσθʼ ὁρᾶσθαι τοὺς νεκροὺς ἀσήπτους ἀεί· τὴν Εὐριπίδου Κλυμένην ἐλέγχοντας ἐπὶ τοῦ Φαέθοντος εἰποῦσαν 5

φίλος δέ μοι

³²

ἄλουτος³³ ἐν φάραγξι σήπεται νέκυς.

ὅθεν οἶμαι καὶ τὸ θεῖον ὠνομάσθαι τῇ ὁμοιότητι 665d τῆς ὀσμῆς, ἣν τὰ παιόμενα τοῖς κεραυνοῖς ἀφίησιν ἐκτριβομένην πυρώδη καὶ δριμεῖαν ὑφʼ ἧς ἐμοὶ 10 δοκοῦσι καὶ κύνες καὶ ὄρνιθες ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν διοβλήτων σωμάτων. ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἄχρι τούτου τῆς αἰτίας ὥσπερ δάφνης παρατετρώχθω³⁴· τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ τοῦτον ἔφη παρακαλῶμεν³⁵, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῖς ὕδνοις ἐνευημέρηκεν, ἵνα μὴ πάθωμεν τὸ τοῦ Ἀνδροκύδους³⁶. ἐκεῖνος 15 γὰρ ὧν ἐποίησε πάντων ἐναργέστατα³⁷ καὶ κάλλιστα³⁸ τοὺς περὶ τὴν Σκύλλαν ἰχθῦς ζωγραφήσας ἔδοξε 665e τῷ πάθει μᾶλλον ἢ τέχνῃ³⁹ κεχρῆσθαι· φύσει γὰρ ἦν φίλοψος· οὕτω φήσει⁴⁰ τις καὶ ἡμᾶς ὑφʼ ἡδονῆς φιλοσοφήσαντας⁴¹ περὶ τῶν ὕδνων ἀμφισβητήσιμον 20 ἐχόντων τὴν γένεσιν, ὡς ὁρᾶς ⁴² ἐν δὲ τούτοις ὑποκειμένης τῷ λόγῳ τῆς εὐπειθείας, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ⁴³ προδήλῳ τῷ εἶναι πειθούσης.

ἐμοῦ δὲ παρακελευομένου καὶ λέγοντος καιρὸν⁴⁴ εἶναι καθάπερ ἐν κωμῳδίᾳ μηχανὰς αἴροντα καὶ βροντὰς ἐμβάλλοντας⁴⁵ παρὰ πότον διαλέγεσθαι περὶ κεραυνῶν, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα παρίεσαν⁴⁶ συνομολογοῦντες, 5 περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐν τοῖς καθεύδουσι μὴ κεραυνουμένων ἀκοῦσαί τι βουλόμενοι λιπαρεῖς ἦσαν. ἐμοὶ δὲ πλέον οὐδὲν ἐγίγνετο τῆς αἰτίας ἁψαμένῳ 665f κοινὸν ἐχούσης τὸν λόγον· ὅμως δʼ οὖν ἔφην ὡς τὸ κεραύνιον πῦρ ἀκριβείᾳ καὶ λεπτότητι θαυμαστὸν 10 ἐστιν, αὐτόθεν περὶ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ καθαρᾶς καὶ ἁγνῆς ἔχον οὐσίας, καὶ πᾶν εἴ τι συμμίγνυται νοτερὸν ἢ γεῶδες αὐτῷ τῆς περὶ τὴν⁴⁷ κίνησιν ὀξύτητος; ἀποσειομένης καὶ διακαθαιρούσης. διόβλητον μὲν οὐδέν ὥς φησι Δημόκριτος⁴⁸ ⁴⁹ παρʼ αἰθρίης στέγειν 15 ⁵⁰ σέλας. τὰ μὲν οὖν πυκνὰ τῶν σωμάτων, σίδηρος⁵¹, χαλκός, ἄργυρος, χρυσός⁵², ἀποστέγει καὶ φθείρεται καὶ τήκεται, πάσχοντα τῷ προσμάχεσθαι καὶ ἀντερείδειν⁵³ τῶν δʼ ἀραιῶν καὶ πολυπόρων καὶ χαλώντων ὑπὸ μανότητος ἀψαυστὶ διεκθεῖ, καθάπερ 20 666a ἱματίων⁵⁴ καὶ ξύλων αὔων· τὰ δὲ χλωρὰ κάει, τῆς ὑγρότητος ἀντιλαμβανομένης καὶ συνεξαπτομένης. εἴπερ οὖν τὸ τοὺς καθεύδοντας μὴ ἀποθνήσκειν ὑπὸ κεραυνῶν ἀληθές ἐστιν, ἐνταῦθα δεῖ ζητεῖν οὐκ ἀλλαχόθι τὴν αἰτίαν. μᾶλλον γὰρ ἔρρωται καὶ συνέστηκε καὶ ἀντερείδει τὰ σώματα τῶν ἐγρηγορότων, ἅτε δὴ πᾶσι τοῖς μέρεσι πεπληρωμένα 5 πνεύματος· ὑφʼ οὗ καὶ τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἐπιστρέφοντος ὥσπερ ἐν ὀργάνῳ καὶ σφίγγοντος εὔτονον γέγονε καὶ συνεχὲς αὑτῷ καὶ πυκνὸν τὸ ζῷον. ἐν δὲ 666b τοῖς ὕπνοις ἐξανεῖται, καὶ μανὸν⁵⁵ καὶ ἀνώμαλον⁵⁶ καὶ ἄτονον καὶ διακεχυμένον, καὶ πόρους ἔσχηκε πολλούς, 10 τοῦ πνεύματος ἐνδιδόντος; καὶ ἀπολείποντος, διʼ ὧν φωναί τε καὶ ὀσμαὶ διεκθέουσι μηδεμίαν αἴσθησιν ἑαυτῶν παρέχουσαι. τὸ γὰρ ἀντερεῖδον καὶ τῷ ἀντερείδειν πάσχον οὐκ ἀπαντᾷ τοῖς προσφερομένοις, ἣκιστα δὲ τοῖς ὑπὸ λεπτότητος καὶ ὠκύτητος 15 τοιαύτης ὥσπερ ὁ κεραυνὸς διιπταμένοις⁵⁷. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἧττον ἰσχυρὰ δυσπαθείαις ἡ φύσις ἀμύνεται, σκληρότητας προβαλλομένη καὶ πυκνότητας· ὧν δʼ ἄμαχος ἡ δύναμίς ἐστιν, ὑπὸ τούτων ἧττον ἀδικεῖται τὰ εἴκοντα τῶν ἀνθισταμένων. πρόσλαβε⁵⁸ 20 δὲ τούτοις ἔφην οὔτι μικρὰν⁵⁹ ἔκπληξιν πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ φόβον καὶ τάρβος, ὑφʼ ὧν πολλοὶ μηδὲν 666c ἄλλο παθόντες αὐτῷ τῷ δεῖσαι ἀποθανεῖν⁶⁰ ἀπέθανον. καὶ γὰρ τὰ θρέμματα διδάσκουσι βροντῆς γενομένης οἱ ποιμένες εἰς ταὐτὸ συνθεῖν καὶ συννεύειν· τὰ γὰρ σποράδην ἀπολειφθέντα διὰ τὸν φόβον ἐκτιτρώσκει. καὶ μυρίους ἤδη τεθνηκότας ἰδεῖν ἔστιν ὑπὸ βροντῆς, οὐδὲν οὔτε πληγῆς; ἴχνος οὔτε καύσεως ἔχοντας, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ φόβου τῆς ψυχῆς 5 ὡς ἔοικεν ὄρνιθος δίκην ἀποπταμένης τοῦ σώματος

πολλοὺς γάρ ὡς ὁ Εὐριπίδης φησὶ βροντῆς πνεῦμʼ⁶¹ ἄναιμον ὤλεσε

666d καὶ γὰρ⁶² ἄλλως⁶³ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων ἡ ἀκοὴ παθητικώτατὸν 10 ἐστι, καὶ μεγίστας οἱ διὰ ψόφου θόρυβοι καὶ φόβοι ταραχὰς ἐπιφέρουσιν ὧν τῷ καθεύδοντι πρόβλημα τὸ ἀναίσθητόν ἐστιν. οἱ δʼ ἐγρηγορότες καὶ ταῖς προπαθείαις ἀναλίσκονται καί, τοῦ δέους τὸ σῶμα συνδέοντος ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ συνάγοντος καὶ 15 πυκνοῦντος, ἰσχυρὰν ποιοῦσι τὴν πληγὴν τῷ ἀντερείδειν.

Quaestiones Convivales. Plutarch. ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs. Leipzig. 1892.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Συμποσιακῶν προβλημάτων βιβλία (Greek) (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. IV. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1892.)

Translations (1)

Symposiacs Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. III. Goodwin, William W., editor; Creech, Thomas, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 4.2 focus

Question II.
WHY MUSHROOMS ARE THOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED BY THUNDER, AND WHY IT IS BELIEVED THAT MEN ASLEEP ARE NEVER THUNDERSTRUCK.
AGEMACHUS, PLUTARCH, DOROTHEUS.

[1] AT a supper in Elis, Agemachus set before us very large mushrooms. And when all admired at them, one with a smile said, These are worthy the late thunder, as it were deriding those who imagine mushrooms are produced by thunder. Some said that thunder did split the earth, using the air as a wedge for that purpose, and that by those chinks those that sought after mushrooms were directed where to find them; and thence it grew a common opinion, that thunder engenders mushrooms, and not only makes them a passage to appear; as if one should imagine that a shower of rain breeds snails, and not rather makes them creep forth and be seen abroad. Agemachus stood up stiffly for the received opinion, and told us, we should not disbelieve it only because it was strange, for there are a thousand other effects of thunder and lightning and a thousand omens deduced from them, whose causes it is very hard, if not impossible, to discover; for this laughed-at, this proverbial mushroom doth not escape the thunder because it is so little, but because it hath some antipathetical qualities that preserve it from blasting; as likewise a fig-tree, the skin of a sea-calf (as they say), and that of the hyena, with which sailors cover the ends of their sails. And husbandmen call thunder-showers fertilizing, and think them to be so. Indeed, it is absurd to wonder at these things, when we see the most incredible things imaginable in thunder, as flame rising out of moist vapors, and from soft clouds such astonishing noises. Thus, he continued, I prattle, exhorting you to enquire after the cause; and I shall accept this as your club for these mushrooms.

[2] Then I began: Agemachus himself helps us exceedingly toward this discovery; for nothing at the present seems more probable than that, together with the thunder, oftentimes generative waters fall, which receive that quality from the heat mixed with them. For the piercing pure parts of the fire break away in lightning; but the grosser flatulent part, being wrapped up in the cloud, changes its nature, taking away the coldness and rendering the moisture mild and gentle, and altering and being altered with it, warms it so that it is made fit to enter the pores of plants, and is easily assimilated to them. Besides, such rain gives those things which it waters a peculiar temperature and difference of juice. Thus dew makes the grass sweeter to the sheep, and the clouds from which a rainbow is reflected make those trees on which they fall fragrant. And our priests, distinguishing it by this, call the wood of those trees rainbow-struck, imagining that Iris, or the rainbow, hath rested on them. Now it is probable that when these thunder and lightning showers with a great deal of warmth and spirit descend forcibly into the caverns of the earth, the ground is moved thereby, and knobs and tumors are formed like those produced by heat and noxious humors in our bodies, which we call wens or kernels. For a mushroom is not like a plant, neither is it produced without rain; it hath no root nor sprouts, it depends on nothing, but is a being by itself, having the consistence only of the earth, which hath been a little changed and altered. If this discourse seems frivolous, I assure you that such are most of the effects of thunder and lightning which we see; and upon that account men think them to be immediately directed by Heaven, and not depending on natural causes.

[3] Dorotheus the rhetorician, one of our company, said: You speak right, sir, for not only the vulgar and illiterate, but even some of the philosophers, have been of that opinion. I remember here in this town lightning broke into a house, and did a great many strange things. It let the wine out of a vessel, though the earthen vessel remained whole; and falling upon a man asleep, it neither hurt him nor blasted his clothes, but melted certain pieces of money that he had in his pocket, defaced them quite, and made them run into a lump. Upon this he went to a philosopher, a Pythagorean, that sojourned in the town, and asked the reason; the philosopher directed him to some expiating rites, and advised him to consider seriously with himself, and go to prayers. And I have been told, that lightning falling upon a sentinel at Rome, as he stood to guard the temple, burned the latchet of his shoe, and did no other harm; and several silver candlesticks lying in wooden boxes, the silver was melted while the boxes lay untouched. These stories you may believe or not as you please. But that which is most wonderful, and which everybody knows, is this,—the bodies of those that are killed by lightning never putrefy. For many neither burn nor bury such bodies, but let them lie above ground with a fence about them, so that every one may see they remain uncorrupted, confuting by this Euripides’s Clymene, who says thus of Phaëton,

My best beloved, but now he lies

And putrefies in some dark vale.

And I believe brimstone is called θεῖον ( divine), because its smell is like that fiery offensive scent which rises from bodies that are thunderstruck. And I suppose that, because of this scent, dogs and birds will not prey on such carcasses. Thus far have I gone; let him proceed, since he hath been applauded for his discourse of mushrooms, lest the same jest might be put upon us that was upon Androcydes the painter. For when in his landscape of Scylla he painted fish the best and most to the life of any thing in the whole draught, he was said to use his appetite more than his art, for he naturally loved fish. So some may say that we philosophize about mushrooms, the cause of whose production is confessedly doubtful, for the pleasure we take in eating them....

[4] And when I put in my advice, saying that it was as seasonable to discourse of thunder and lightning amidst our cups as it would be in a comedy to bring in engines to throw out lightning, the company agreed to set aside all other questions relating to the subject, and desired me only to proceed on this head, Why are men asleep never blasted with lightning? And I, though I knew I should get no great credit by proposing a cause whose reason was common to other things, said thus: Lightning is wonderfully piercing and subtile, partly because it rises from a very pure substance, and partly because by the swiftness of its motion it purges itself and throws off all gross earthy particles that are mixed with it. Nothing, says Democritus, is blasted with lightning, that cannot resist and stop the motion of the pure flame. Thus the close bodies, as brass, silver, and the like, which stop it, feel its force and are melted, because they resist; whilst rare, thin bodies, and such as are full of pores, are passed through and not hurted, as clothes or dry wood. It blasts green wood or grass, the moisture within them being seized and kindled by the flame. Now, if it is true that men asleep are never killed by lightning, from what we have proposed, and not from any thing else, we must endeavor to draw the cause. Now the bodies of those that are awake are stiffer and more apt to resist, all the parts being full of spirits; which as it were in a harp, distending and screwing up the organs of sense, makes the body of the animal firm, close, and compacted. But when men are asleep, the organs are let down, and the body becomes rare, lax, and loose; and the spirits failing, it hath abundance of pores, through which small sounds and smells do flow insensibly. For in that case, there is nothing that can resist, and by this resistance receive any sensible impression from any objects that are presented, much less from such as are so subtile and move so swiftly as lightning. Things that are weak Nature shields from harm, fencing them about with some hard thick covering; but those things that cannot be resisted do less harm to the bodies that yield than to those that oppose their force. Besides, those that are asleep are not startled at the thunder; they have no consternation upon them, which kills a great many that are no otherwise hurt, and we know that thousands die with the very fear of being killed. Even shepherds teach their sheep to run together into a flock when it thunders, for whilst they lie scattered they die with fear; and we see thousands fall, which have no marks of any stroke or fire about them, their souls (as it seems), like birds, flying out of their bodies at the fright. For many, as Euripides says,

A clap hath killed, yet ne’er drew drop of blood.

For certainly the hearing is a sense that is soonest and most vigorously wrought upon, and the fear that is caused by any astonishing noise raiseth the greatest commotion and disturbance in the body; from all which men asleep, because insensible, are secure. But those that are awake are oftentimes killed with fear before they are touched; and fear contracts and condenses the body, so that the stroke must be strong, because there is so considerable a resistance.

Notes on the current edition

Συμποσιακῶν προβλημάτων βιβλία

1. ἥλῳ X: ἡλίῳ

2. προάγειν] subiectum est τὸν ὄμβρον

3. *: διοσημείων

4. παρομοιώδης mei

5. ὑιαίνης iidem

6. τῶν ἰστῶν Reichardtius

7. νεφῶν Turnebus: 3 Vd 7 E

8. πικρὰς φαίνωμαι?

9. ἢ om. mei

10. em. Emperius: ἐξαιρεῖ

11. συνεκπονεῖ *: συνεκπίνει cf. Xen. Cyr. 1, 2, 16: ἐκπονοῦντες τὸ ὑγρόν

12. τὸ μάλιστα aut μάλιστα R

13. R: ἐμποιεῖν

14. ἀρχομένοις mei

15. τα *

16. ἂν ἐπερείσῃ] περ ἄν ὕσῃ W

17. *: ἱερεῖς αὐτὰ ( ἐρίσκηπτα Salmasius); ἰρισκηπτα enim vocari debent ligna οἷς ἂν ἡ ἷρις ἐπισκήπτῃ

18. πολλῷ *: πολλῶν δὲ nam hinc incipit apodosis ad ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ κεράσεων κἑ (vid. lin. 2)

19. post ὑγρότητες dat 3 litt. lac. unus Vd quae nulla esse vid. propter marg.

20. φυτῷ Exemplum Turnebi: 3-4 Vd 7 E τῷ

21. ἀβλαστὲς idem: 6-7 Vd 9 E

22. ἐστι Vulcobius: ἔτι

23. σύστασιν Ex. Turnebi: τὴν στάσιν

24. θειότης mei

25. em. Turnebus: ὑπεζωσμένους τὸ νόμισμα idem: τονο 3-4 Vd 7-8 E μα

26. δὲ] δὴ Herwerdenus. Abesse malim ut προσελθόντα (fort. add. τινὰ) ab οἶδα pendeat

27. τὰ W

28. δρᾶν Doehnerus: ὁρᾶν

29. κυλιχνίων Basileensis: λυχνίων

30. eadem: ἐγκειμένοις

31. ib. τὸ μὲν mei

32. Nauck. p. 612

33. ἄλουτος Musgravius: ἀλλ’ οὗτος ib. φάραξι mei

34. em. R: παρατετάχθω

35. παρακαλῶμεν] add. ἐπιμετρεῖν R

36. Ἀνδροκύδους] cf. Athen. p. 341 a

37. Anonymus: ἐνεργέστερα

38. καὶ μάλιστα mei

39. τέχνῃ] τῇ τέχνῃ R

40. em. Ex. Turnebi: φησί

41. φιλοσοφήσαντας] φιλοσοφῆσαι τὰ W

42. lac. 3 Vd 4 P

43. lac. 2-3 solus Vd. Fort. supplendum ὡς ὁρᾷς: ἐν δὲ τούτοις ὑποκειμένης τῷ λόγῳ τῆς εὐπαθείας καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν (sc. τῆς εὐπαθείας) ἐᾶν πρόδηλόν πως εἶναι πειθούσης

44. fort. ἐμοῦ δὲ παρακελευομένοις λέγοντος ἄκαιρον cett.

45. ἐμβάλλοντα mei

46. πάρεισι iidem

47. περὶ τὴν] τὴν M: περιττὴν R

48. Δημόκριτος] Mullach. 1 p. 359

49. lac. 5 Vd 8 E

50. lac. 4-5 Vd 6 E. Supplet ὃ μὴ τὸ παρ’ αἰθ στέγει σέλας W. Malim οἶον μὴ τὸ π. αἰ. στέγειν λαμπρὸν (vel simile quid) σέλας

51. σίδηρος Turnebus: 5-7 Vd 7 E

52. χρυσὸς] idem: 5 Vd 6 E

53. ἀντερείδειν Basileensis: 2-3 Vd. 7 E τερείδειν

54. em. X: καθαριματίων

55. καὶ μανὸν] malim μανὸν ὂν

56. ἀνώμαλον] ἀμαλὸν vel ἁπαλόν ἐστι R. Potius ἀνειμένον, nam adiectivum requiritur cui oppositum sit συνεχὲς

57. em. Turnebus: διισταμένοις Malim διαπταμένοις

58. προσέλαβε mei

59. οὔτι μικρὰν *: ἔτι μικρὰν cf. οὔτι μικρῷ p. 784 d

60. malim θανεῖν

61. πνεῦμʼ] τραῦμʼ Theo Expos. rerum math p. 48, 3. πλῆγμʼ F. G. Schmidtius. Malim πῦρ quod cum πμʼ facile confundi potuit cf. Nauck. p. 677

62. γάρ] δὲ Theo

63. ἄλλους mei

Plutarch Quaestiones Convivales 4.2

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

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Διὰ τί τὰ ὕδνα δοκεῖ τῇ βροντῇ γίγνεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τί τοὺς καθεύδοντας οἴονται μὴ κεραυνοῦσθαι.

Current edition Perseus

Question II.
WHY MUSHROOMS ARE THOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED BY THUNDER, AND WHY IT IS BELIEVED THAT MEN ASLEEP ARE NEVER THUNDERSTRUCK.
AGEMACHUS, PLUTARCH, DOROTHEUS.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Διὰ τί τὰ ὕδνα δοκεῖ τῇ βροντῇ γίγνεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τί τοὺς καθεύδοντας οἴονται μὴ κεραυνοῦσθαι.

Current edition Perseus

Question II. WHY MUSHROOMS ARE THOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED BY THUNDER, AND WHY IT IS BELIEVED THAT MEN ASLEEP ARE NEVER THUNDERSTRUCK. AGEMACHUS, PLUTARCH, DOROTHEUS.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Question II.
WHY MUSHROOMS ARE THOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED BY THUNDER, AND WHY IT IS BELIEVED THAT MEN ASLEEP ARE NEVER THUNDERSTRUCK.
AGEMACHUS, PLUTARCH, DOROTHEUS.