From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Black
μέλας
melasMelas denotes black or darkness, depending on what is being described.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMelas denotes black or darkness, depending on what is being described.
- In StobaeusThe report about the Pythagoreans places black among the main kinds of color.
- In this edition“Black” suits the classifications; use “dark” only when the broader context calls for it.
- A place to beginBlack is listed among the kinds of color.
- English renderings
- black; dark
Meaning
Melas denotes black or darkness, depending on what is being described.
Use in the book
The report about the Pythagoreans places black among the main kinds of color. Plato’s quoted mixture account gives it several roles, including the combination with white that yields gray and the darkening of other mixtures. Black therefore functions as a differentiated color term within the explanation, not simply as the absence of every visible property.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
“Black” suits the classifications; use “dark” only when the broader context calls for it.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 148, 151. The passages preserve different reports and should not be merged into a single school’s theory of color.
From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Black
μέλαν (melan); τὰ μέλανα (ta melana)
Melas means black or dark.
Orientation
At a Glance
Meaning
Melas means black or dark. The neuter singular designates black as a colour; the plural may designate dark objects, and in the eye-colour testimony it describes eyes. Those uses should not be merged without attending to their referents.
Use in the book
Theophrastus connects black with water at A69a and with water-passages in his report of vision. Recognition is thus explained by the same affinity and fit assigned to white and fire. Aëtius retains black in a four-colour list which includes red and yellow as well.
Theophrastus's criticism asks why, if likes strengthen likes, black should not be seen best by everybody at night. He instead appeals to the general effectiveness of daylight vision. This argument should be kept separate from Aristotle's report that dark eyes contain more water than fire and therefore see poorly at night. A black object and a dark eye occupy different positions in the model: one is perceived, the other is the perceiving structure. Their shared colour-word does not make their causal roles identical.
Places to read
- A 69a (testimony)Theophrastus, On the Senses. Assigns black to water.
- A 86 §§ 7–8 (testimony)2Theophrastus, On the Senses 7. Connects recognition of black objects with water-passages.
- A 86 §§ 18–19 (polemical)Theophrastus, On the Senses 18. Challenges the predicted nighttime advantage for black objects.
- A 91 (polemical)Aristotle, On the Generation of Animals. Reports the watery constitution of dark eyes.
Translation in this edition
A91 has textual variants ranging from “dark” to compounds referring to dark or large eyes. The printed reading supports the colour contrast, but the transmission should not be concealed.