Plutarch, Aquane an ignis sit utilior, Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator), 13

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[13] And, to be sure, will not that be the most advantageous of which each of the senses has the greatest proportion? Do you not perceive, then, that there is no one of the senses which uses moisture by itself without an admixture of air or fire; and that every sense partakes of fire inasmuch as it supplies the vital energy; and especially that sight, the keenest of the physical senses,¹ is an ignited mass of fire² and is that which has made us believe³ in the gods? And further, through sight, as Plato⁴ says, we are able to conform our souls to the movements of the celestial bodies.

Aquane an ignis sit utilior. Plutarch. Harold Cherniss (Translator), William C. Helmbold (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1957.

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Current edition Perseus

Whether fire or water is most useful (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. XII. Cherniss, Harold, and Helmbold, William C., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1957 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ πότερον ὕδωρ ἢ πῦρ χρησιμώτερον Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. VI. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1895.) — 13 focus

[13] καὶ μήν, οὗ πλείστου κρᾶσις τῆς τῶν αἰσθήσεων μετείληφεν, οὐκ ἂν εἴη λυσιτελέστατον; οὐχ 5 ὁρᾷς οὖν, ὡς τῇ μὲν ὑγρᾷ φύσει οὐδεμία τῶν αἰσθήσεων κατʼ αὑτὴν προσχρῆται χωρὶς πνεύματος ἢ πυρὸς ἐγκεκραμένου, τοῦ δὲ πυρὸς ἅπασα μὲν αἴσθησις, οἷον τὸ ζωτικὸν ἐνεργαζομένου, μετείληφεν, ἐξαιρέτως δʼ ἡ ὄψις, ἣτις ὀξυτάτη τῶν διὰ 10 σώματός ἐστιν αἰσθήσεων, πυρὸς ἔξαμμα οὖσα καὶ ὅτι θεῶν πίστιν παρέσχηκεν ἔτι τε, Πλάτων φησί, δυνάμεθα κατασχηματίζειν πρὸς τὰς τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ κινήσεις τὴν ψυχὴν διὰ τῆς ὄψεως;

Translations (1)

Whether water or fire be most useful. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Fetherston, F., translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1874.) — 13 focus

[13] Lastly, that is to be thought most profitable, of which the temperament of the senses participates most. Now do you find that there is any of the senses, which of itself makes use of moisture without an intermixture of air and fire? But every sense partakes of fire, as being that which quickens the vital faculty; more especially the sight, which is the most acute of all the senses in the body, being a certain fiery efflux, that gave us our first light into the belief of a Deity, and by virtue of which we are able, as Plato says, to conform our souls to the motions of the celestial bodies.

Notes on the current edition

Whether fire or water is most useful

1. Cf. Plato, Phaedrus, 250 d; cf. Mor. 654 d-e, 681 e.

2. Cf. von Arnim, S.V.F. ii, pp. 196, 199; but Post believes the words may mean a chain of fire linking the eye with its object.

3. It is the visible heavens and their fire that make us believe by declaring the glory of the celestial gods. See A. S. Pease, Caeli Enarrant, Harvard Theological Review, xxxiv (1941), pp. 163-200.

4. Timaeus, 47 a-b.

Plutarch Aquane an ignis sit utilior 13

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

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