From the book
Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThe phrase names five springs and enduring or unwearying bronze.
- In EmpedoclesB143 is preserved by Theon of Smyrna.
- In this editionThe angle-bracketed “into” is not secure transmitted wording.
- A place to readFive springs and bronze occur in a broken phrase with a supplemented preposition.
Meaning
The phrase names five springs and enduring or unwearying bronze. Krēnai are springs or sources; the Greek participle tamont’ belongs to the language of cutting, though the English renders the action as drawing from the springs. The quotation breaks off before its full setting becomes clear.
Use in the book
B143 is preserved by Theon of Smyrna. In this edition the English has someone drawing from five springs into bronze, but the preposition translated “into” is an editorial supplement. The object drawn or cut is not identified in the surviving phrase. Neither the number five nor the metal supplies enough evidence to reconstruct the operation.
It would be possible to imagine bodily openings, senses, streams, or ritual liquids behind the springs, but the fragment as printed names none of them. Its position among the Purifications does not settle the question, since the section assignments are editorial. The safest lexical record preserves the concrete combination of multiple sources and bronze while leaving the action's domain open. This is an instructive limit-case for a lexicon: registering a meaningful image need not pretend to solve it.
Places to read
- B 143Five springs and bronze occur in a broken phrase with a supplemented preposition.
Translation in this edition
The angle-bracketed “into” is not secure transmitted wording. The difference between the printed Greek participle and the flowing English “drawn” is worth retaining rather than silently using the translation to invent a definite vessel or ritual.