Plutarch, De primo frigido, Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator), 11

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[11] Moreover, freezing, which is the most extreme and violent effect of cold in bodies, is a condition of water, but a function of air. For water of itself is fluid, uncongealed and not cohesive; but when it is compressed by air because of its cold state, it becomes taut and compact. This is the reason for the saying¹

If Southwind challenges North, instantly snow will appear.

For after the Southwind has collected the moisture as raw material, the Boreal air takes over and congeals it. This is particularly evident in snowfields: when they have discharged a preliminary exhalation of air that is thin and cold, they melt.² Aristotle³ also declares that whetstones of lead will melt and become fluid in the wintertime through excess of cold when no water is anywhere near them; it seems probable that the air with its coldness forces the bodies together until it crushes and breaks them.⁴

De primo frigido. Plutarch. Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1957.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

On the Principle of Cold (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. XII. Cherniss, Harold and William C. Helmbold, translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1957 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ πρώτως ψυχροῦ Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol V. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.) — 11 focus

[11] καὶ μὴν ἁπάντων γε τῶν γιγνομένων ὑπὸ ψυχρότητος ἐν τοῖς σώμασι σφοδρότατον καὶ. βιαιότατον ἡ πῆξις οὖσα πάθος μέν ἐστιν ὕδατος; ἔργον δʼ ἀέρος·ʼ αὐτὸ μὲν γὰρ καθʼ ἑαυτὸ τὸ ὕδωρ εὐδιάχυτον 10 καὶ ἀπαγὲς καὶ ἀσύστατόν ἐστιν, ἐντείνεται δὲ καὶ συνάγεται τῷ ἀέρι σφιγγόμενον ὑπὸ ψυχρότητος διὸ καὶ λέλεκται

εἰ δὲ νότος βορέην προκαλέσσεται, αὐτίκα νίψει.

τοῦ γὰρ νότου καθάπερ ὕλην τὴν ὑγρότητα παρασκευάσαντος, 15 949c ὁ βόρειος ἀὴρ ὑπολαβὼν ἔπηξε. καὶ δῆλόν ἐστι μάλιστα περὶ τὰς χιόνας· ἀέρα γὰρ μεθεῖσαι καὶ προαναπνεύσασαι λεπτὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν οὕτω ῥέουσιν· Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ καὶ τὰς ἀκόνας τοῦ μολίβδου τήκεσθαί φησι καὶ ῥεῖν ὑπὸ κρύους καὶ 20 χειμῶνος, ὕδατος μόνου πλησιάζοντος αὐταῖς· ὁ δʼ ἀήρ, ὡς ἔοικε, συνελαύνων τὰ σώματα τῇ ψυχρότητι καταθραύει καὶ ῥήγνυσιν.

Translations (1)

Concerning the First Principle of Cold Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Fetherstone, F., translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 11 focus

[11] Then again, congelation, which is the most forcible and violent of all things that befall our bodies by reason of cold, is the affection of water, but the action of air. For water of itself is easily diffused, loose in its parts, and not readily congealed together; but it is thickened and compressed by the air, by reason of the coldness of it. Which is the reason of the proverb:

But if the southern wind provoke the north,

Snow straight will cover all the earth.

For the southern wind preparing the moisture as matter, presently the north wind receives and congeals it. And this is manifest from the consideration of snow; for ere it falls, you shall observe a thin and sharp cold air breathing before it. Aristotle also tells us, that whetstones of lead [?] will melt and run in the winter through excess of freezing cold, merely upon the setting of the water near them. For it is probable that the air compresses and gripes the bodies so close together, that at length it breaks and crumbles them in pieces.

Notes on the current edition

On the Principle of Cold

1. Included without authority among Callimachus’s fragments (787 = anon. 384) by Schneider, but rejected by Pfeiffer.

2. Cf. Mor. 691 f and Hubert’s references ad loc.

3. Frag. 212, ed. Rose and cf. Mor. 695 d.

4. There is here probably a confusion of lead and tin, for both of which the term stannum is used in Latin. Tin is reduced to powder by severe cold, owing to transformation to its allotrope. In [Aristotle], De Mir. Ausc. 50 (p. 257, L.C.L.) the more nearly correct statement appears that tin melts in severe cold. This note is due to the suggestion of O. T. Benfey of Haverford College.

Plutarch De primo frigido 11

Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator)

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