CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY, MIDDLE AGES II 



lived has been so variously stated that the dates differ by centuries. It is 

 most generally assumed, hov^ever, that he lived between 650 and 580 b.c. 

 Historians agree in declaring that he .left no writings; perhaps he was not 

 even able to write. He was probably of Phoenician origin — some assert that 

 he immigrated from Phoenicia. At any rate it is clear that he had educated 

 himself by travelling and studying in the East. He was very rich and of high 

 standing and collected around him a number of disciples. Of his philosophy 

 it is mentioned that he regarded water as the cause of all things. The earth 

 floated like a disk on a vast sea which surrounded it on all sides. The details 

 of his philosophy are unknown, but the assumption mentioned above is to 

 a certain extent reminiscent of the story of the creation in Genesis, with 

 its definite assertion of "waters which were under the firmament" and 

 "waters which were above the firmament." That we are here dealing with 

 a theory of oriental origin seems beyond all doubt. That Thales was the 

 pioneer of the Greek natural philosophy is undeniable; he is unanimously 

 acclaimed as such by the thinkers of antiquity. The very name of philosopher 

 and philosophy probably originates from him. Once asked whether he was 

 a wise man (cto^os in Greek), he modestly replied that he could not call 

 himself one; he was merely a lover of wisdom (0tX6o-o<^os) . 



A younger fellow-countryman of Thales, and in all probability a disciple 

 of his, was Anaximander, who lived approximately between the years 611 

 and 546 B.C. Concerning his life and personality about as little is known 

 as of that of Thales. On the other hand, it is known that he described 

 the results of his scientific researches in a poem On Nature (jrepi (i>v(Ttb:s), 

 which is quoted by several later philosophers. Even Aristotle declares that 

 he had read it, but it seems to have been lost as early as the later classical 

 period; the people of antiquity had not such great respect for "classical" 

 authors as we have in our time. Through quotations and references in the 

 writings of later authors, however, it is possible to form some idea of this, 

 the first work on natural science ever written. Just as for Thales, the most 

 important question for him is: What is the material cause of the universe? 

 As mentioned above, Thales held that water was the causal principle; 

 Anaximander conceives it to be "apeiron" (aireipov), from which he 

 supposed the things on earth to develop themselves and into which he 

 supposed them to return. What he actually meant by this "apeiron" it is 

 difficult to say, but the word probably means " the quality-less, the indeter- 

 minate." Out of this primordial cause have arisen heat and cold, from these 

 water, and from that again earth, air, and fire, which last surrounds the 

 atmosphere and is radiated through the stars. The earth came into being 

 through a kind of condensation of water; it was originally composed of 

 pristine mud and then became solid and floats as such on the water, in form 

 like a spherical segment — that is, very much like a loaf. He is said to have 



