Philo Judaeus, De Aeternitate Mundi, ed. Siegfried Reiter, ed. Leopold Cohn, 98

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[98] ἄλλως τε τῶν ὄντων οὐδὲν ἐκ μόνου σπέρματος δίχα τῆς οἰκείας τροφῆς ἀποτελεῖται· σπέρμα γὰρ ἔοικεν ἀρχῇ, ἀρχὴ δὲ καθ’ αὑτὴν οὐ τελειογονεῖ.
μὴ γὰρ αὖ νομίσῃς τὸν στάχυν ἐκ μόνου τοῦ καταβληθέντος ὑπὸ ¹²³ γεωργῶν εἰς τὰς ἀρούρας βλαστάνειν πυροῦ, τὸ δὲ πλεῖστον εἰς αὔξησιν αὐτοῦ συνεργεῖν ὑγράν τε καὶ ξηρὰν διττὴν ἐκ γῆς τροφήν· καὶ τὰ ἐν μήτραις μέντοι διαπλαττόμενα πέφυκεν οὐκ ἐκ μόνου ζῳογονεῖσθαι σπέρματος ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἔξωθεν ἀρδομένης τροφῆς, ἣν ἡ κύουσα προσφέρεται.

De Aeternitate Mundi. Philo Judaeus. ed. Siegfried Reiter, ed. Leopold Cohn. Germany. 2014.

Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.

Current edition First1KGreek

De Aeternitate Mundi (Greek) (Philo Judaeus. Opera quae supersunt, Volume 6. Cohn, Leonard; Reiter, Siegfried, editors. Berlin: Reimer, 1915.)

Translations (1)

On the Incorruptibility of the World First1KGreek (The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus, volume 4. Yonge, C. D., translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855.) — 98 focus

[98] And besides, there is no single existing thing which is brought to perfection by seed alone without its appropriate nourishment. For seed resembles the beginning, and the beginning by itself does not make perfect; for beware of imagining that the ear of corn blossoms and ripens solely from the seed, which is cast by the husbandman on the ploughed field; for in truth, dryness and moisture, the twofold moisture which is derived from the earth, co-operate in the greatest degree towards its growth. And so the creature which is fashioned in the womb is not permitted by nature to be brought to life and perfection by the seed alone, but also by the nourishment shed upon it from without, which the woman who has conceived supplies.

Notes on the current edition

De aeternitate mundi

1.
1 ἀνάλωσις M
5 φυτόν, ὡς ἔοικεν Diels: φυτῶ ἔοικεν codd.
6 ἢ ζῶον M: ἢ ζώω UP, ἢ κόσμω H καὶ post εἴτε om. U
8 σπέρματος MU: σώματος HP (Turn.)
9 γέννησιν L (Turn.) ἡμέρων HP: ἡμερῶν U, ἡμέραι M
10 τῆς ante γῆς om. Turn.
11 τὸ ὄχευμα Bernays: τὸ ὄχημα UHP, τῶ ὄχημα M: τό σπέρμα coni. Mang.
12 ἀφαυανθὲν Mang.: ἀφ . . ανθὲν M, ἀφαανθὲν U, ἀφανισθὲν HP ἢ add. Cumont
13 εἰς σπέρματα U ἔλαβε ν
15 τελευτήσει U οὐδαμῶς οὐδαμῶς U
16 σπέρμα] σπόριμα coni. Mang.
17 τῆς ψυχῆς U 17.
18 τελευτήσαντα UP: τελευτῆσαν MH (Turn.)
18 ὅλῳ v (Turn.): ὅλον codd. (Cumont) οὔτι ζωῆς MU: ζωῆς οὔτι HP (v) ἄλλως] ὅλως coni. Diels
20 ἀρχῇ] ἡ ἀρχὴ U καθ’ αὑτὴν ΜΗΡ: καθ’ ἑαυτὴν U ν)
21 αὖ] σὺ coni. Mang.

2.
1 Ocell. Luc. I
13 . . . οἱ δὲ καρποὶ καὶ τὰ πλείστα τῶν ῥιζοφύτων ἀπὸ σπερμάτων ἀνέλαβον τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς γενέσεως, καρπωθέντα δὲ καὶ τελεσφορήσαντα πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸ σπέρμα τὴν ἀνάλυσιν ποιεῖται.
2 sq. Diog. La. VII 142 . . . ὅτι δὲ καὶ ζῷον ὁ κόσμος καὶ λογικὸν καὶ ἔμψυχον καὶ νοερόν, καὶ Χρύσιππός φησιν ἐν πρώτῳ Περὶ προνοίας καὶ Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν τῇ Φυσικῇ καὶ Ποσεδώνιος (Chrysippi frg. 633 Arnim).

3.
16 cf. Doxogr. p. 390. 5. 410, 25. Diog. La. VII 157.

Philo Judaeus De Aeternitate Mundi 98

ed. Siegfried Reiter, ed. Leopold Cohn

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition First1KGreek

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers