Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether

Use in the book

At 981b the Athenian says, “according to the likely account,” that there are five solid bodies out of which the finest and best things can be molded. The express list at 981c is fire, water, third air, fourth earth, fifth ether. This is a fivefold account. Substituting the familiar quartet of earth, water, air, and fire would remove a premise required by the later five kinds of living beings.

The list's order is not yet a descending theological hierarchy. Earth is fourth in the bodily enumeration but the earthly living kind is introduced first; fire is first in that enumeration but the fiery living kind is introduced second. At 984b–d2 the account then descends from the visible stellar gods through ether, air, and water toward earthly human beings. The numerical labels have to be read with their local objects. They cannot all be copied into a single column as if the passage maintained one uninterrupted ordinal list.

Predominance, rather than unmixed purity, determines the bodily character of each living kind. The earthly beings are made from all the kinds but chiefly from earth and solid nature. The stellar beings consist chiefly of fire but also contain earth, air, and small parts of all the others. The ethereal beings similarly contain chiefly ether, with smaller portions from the other kinds for a bond. At 982a the fiery kind is described in compressed terms as “wholly of fire,” qualified by “as it would seem.” This does not cancel the immediately preceding explicit account of admixture.

The source's comparison with the Timaeus is a guard against careless assimilation. Its note recalls that four regular solids there are assigned to the four elements, while the fifth figure is used for the whole; ether is there a particularly clear kind of air. The Epinomis instead explicitly gives ether the status of a fifth body. The present text neither repeats the Timaeus' entire construction nor names a regular polyhedron for each of its five bodies. A reader should not silently insert an ether–dodecahedron identification as an attested sentence here.

The qualification “likely account” also matters. The enumeration is proposed as an appropriate cosmological account, then used to classify life. It is not accompanied by an experimental isolation of five materials. The interest is explanatory and theological: every bodily kind can be used by soul, and the fullness of life in heaven reflects the range of material resources. The classification therefore bridges cosmology and religious hierarchy while retaining distinctions that the hierarchy alone cannot explain.

Places to read

1. 981bΣτερεὰ δὲ σώματα … πέντε — The bodies are expressly five
2. 981bκατὰ τὸν εἰκότα λόγον — Their enumeration is presented as a likely account
3. 981cπῦρ … καὶ ὕδωρ … καὶ τρίτον ἀέρα — Fire, water, and third air
4. 981cτέταρτον δὲ γῆν, πέμπτον δὲ αἰθέρα — Earth is fourth, ether fifth in this bodily list
5. 981cτούτων δ’ ἐν ἡγεμονίαις — The bodies determine predominant constitutions
6. 981dπάντα μὲν ἐξ ἁπάντων — The earthly kind is nevertheless mixed
7. 984cτὰ δὲ σμικρότερα συνδέσμου χάριν — Minor constituents supply a bond in the ethereal constitution

Translation in this edition

“Solid bodies” does not mean that every named body is solid in the modern opposition to liquid and gas. “Ether” is consistently separate from “air.” The Timaeus references, 55c–56b and 58d, are supplied comparisons, not alternative readings of this passage. The text itself controls the number and the actual sequence.

Third named body — ἀήρ (aēr)

ἀήρ (aēr)

Third named body. Air is third in the five-body enumeration and is distinct from ether. Its ordinal here must be distinguished from the aerial living kind’s position in the hierarchy. Attested: ἀέρα (981c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Five bodily kinds — σῶμα (sōma)

σῶμα (sōma)

Five bodily kinds. The solid bodies number five. The explicit inclusion of ether prevents substitution of a four-element scheme. Attested: σώματα (981b). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Function of minor constituents — σύνδεσμος (syndesmos)

σύνδεσμος (syndesmos)

Function of minor constituents. Smaller shares of other bodies are included in an ethereal being for a bond. The material mixture contributes to unity even though one constituent predominates. Attested: συνδέσμου (984c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Fourth named body — γῆ (gē)

γῆ (gē)

Fourth named body. Earth is fourth in the material list, although earthly living beings are first in the subsequent exposition. Attested: γῆν (981c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Fifth body — αἰθήρ (aithēr)

αἰθήρ (aithēr)

Fifth body. Ether is expressly the fifth body and must not be merged into air. The supplied Timaeus comparison highlights rather than removes this difference. Attested: αἰθέρα (981c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Ether in the bodily list — πέμπτος (pemptos)

πέμπτος (pemptos)

Ether in the bodily list. Fifth here identifies ether, the last body named after fire, water, air, and earth. Attested: πέμπτον (981c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

First body in the list — πῦρ (pyr)

πῦρ (pyr)

First body in the list. Fire is named first among the five bodies, but the fiery living kind is introduced second after earthly life. Attested: πῦρ (981c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Material and living classification — γένος (genos)

γένος (genos)

Material and living classification. The earthly beings are made from all the bodily kinds. Genos here supplies a classificatory term without implying modern biological species. Attested: γενῶν (981d). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

A fitting cosmological account — εἰκός (eikos)

εἰκός (eikos)

A fitting cosmological account. The adjective qualifies the account according to which the bodies are five. The phrase marks a proposed fitting explanation rather than a reported experimental isolation of substances. Attested: εἰκότα (981b). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Bodily leadership — ἡγεμονία (hēgemonia)

ἡγεμονία (hēgemonia)

Bodily leadership. The bodies lead in the constitutions of the living kinds. The phrase explains why a class can be called earthy or fiery despite including portions of all the other bodies. Attested: ἡγεμονίαις (981c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Corporeal bodies — στερεός (stereos)

στερεός (stereos)

Corporeal bodies. Solid qualifies the five bodies, including fire, water, air, earth, and ether. It must not be restricted to the modern solid state opposed to liquid and gas. Attested: Στερεὰ (981b). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

A distinct body — ὕδωρ (hydōr)

ὕδωρ (hydōr)

A distinct body. Water is one of five bodies in the explicit enumeration. It later supplies a middle living kind rather than merely the ordinary animals that happen to swim. Attested: ὕδωρ (981c). Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

According to the likely account (contextual phrase)

κατὰ τὸν εἰκότα λόγον πέντε (981b)

The numeral five is explicitly framed by a likely account. The qualification belongs to the cosmological proposal, not to a permission to replace five with the more familiar four. The following list makes the content precise even though its manner of explanation remains qualified. Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

One kind made from all (contextual phrase)

πάντα μὲν ἐξ ἁπάντων ταῦτ’ ἔστιν τῶν γενῶν (981d)

All earthly beings are made from all the bodily kinds. The following clause singles out earth as predominant. The apparent paradox of one kind and all kinds is resolved by distinguishing a living class from its material constituents; it does not imply unmixed elemental bodies. Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.

Small admixtures for a bond (contextual phrase)

τὰ δὲ σμικρότερα συνδέσμου χάριν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων γενῶν (984c)

Minor constituents of an ethereal living being come from the other bodies for the sake of a bond. The purpose phrase explains why predominance leaves room for mixture. It does not identify the bond as a sixth material kind. Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether.