“The sun is a fiery body, and its light is the brightness of the fire that surrounds the cosmos.”
— EmpedoclesParaphrase of Empedocles' doctrine of the sun in later doxography; not verbatim
Commentary
This paraphrase describes the sun as a body of fire, a claim that places celestial light within the four-root physics and treats it as an element in the cosmic mixture. Such accounts were common among the early Greek natural philosophers, and Empedocles' version is recorded in later doxography. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield note that the testimonia on the sun are mostly late and must be read critically. Daniel Graham argues that Empedocles' treatment of the heavens was subordinate to his theory of mixture, so that the sun's fire is one manifestation of the roots. Richard Wright discusses the doxographical evidence and its limits. Jean Bollack treats the cosmological material as a reconstruction. The sentence should be labelled as a paraphrase, and the primary witnesses consulted before any quotation.
Commentary
This paraphrase describes the sun as a body of fire, a claim that places celestial light within the four-root physics and treats it as an element in the cosmic mixture. Such accounts were common among the early Greek natural philosophers, and Empedocles' version is recorded in later doxography. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield note that the testimonia on the sun are mostly late and must be read critically. Daniel Graham argues that Empedocles' treatment of the heavens was subordinate to his theory of mixture, so that the sun's fire is one manifestation of the roots. Richard Wright discusses the doxographical evidence and its limits. Jean Bollack treats the cosmological material as a reconstruction. The sentence should be labelled as a paraphrase, and the primary witnesses consulted before any quotation.