EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHERS IN ITALY 



"Another of his theories was that the air around 

 the earth was immovable and pregnant with disease, 

 and that everything in it was mortal ; but that the up- 

 per air was in perpetual motion, and pure and salubri- 

 ous, and that everything in that was immortal, and 

 on that account divine. And that the sun and the 

 moon and the stars were all gods ; for in them the warm 

 principle predominates which is the cause of life. And 

 that the moon derives its light from the sun. And 

 that there is a relationship between men and the gods, 

 because men partake of the divine principle ; on which 

 account, also, God exercises his providence for our ad- 

 vantage. Also, that Fate is the cause of the arrange- 

 ment of the world both generally and particularly. 

 Moreover, that a ray from the sun penetrated both the 

 cold aether and the dense aether; and they call the air 

 the cold (ether, and the sea and moisture they call the 

 dense (Ether. And this ray descends into the depths, 

 and in this way vivifies everything. And everything 

 which partakes of the principle of heat lives, on which 

 account, also, plants are animated beings ; but that all 

 living things have not necessarily souls. And that 

 the soul is a something torn off from the aether, both 

 warm and cold, from its partaking of the cold aether. 

 And that the soul is something different from life. 

 Also, that it is immortal, because that from which it 

 has been detached is immortal. 



"Also, that animals are born from one another by 

 seeds, and that it is impossible for there to be any 

 spontaneous production by the earth. And that seed 

 is a drop from the brain which contains in itself a 

 warm vapor; and that when this is applied to the 



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