From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordChymos and chylos are related terms for juice or flavour; this dossier uses forms from both families.
- In this workAristotle introduces water's apparent lack of flavour, then presents an alternative he attributes to Empedocles: water contains kinds of flavour that escape perception through their smallness.
- In this editionThe Greek at §19 prints χυλῶν; A94 prints χυμῶν.
- A place to readContrasts apparently flavourless water with flavours imperceptible through smallness.
Meaning
Chymos and chylos are related terms for juice or flavour; this dossier uses forms from both families. Achymos means without flavour. The variation should be preserved rather than silently standardized into one alleged Empedoclean headword.
Use in the book
Aristotle introduces water's apparent lack of flavour, then presents an alternative he attributes to Empedocles: water contains kinds of flavour that escape perception through their smallness. The claim distinguishes what is present from what a perceiver can detect. The excerpt breaks off before the competing explanation is given, so its argumentative setting remains partial.
Theophrastus's sensory-neutrality objection gives flavour a different role. A taste-organ already carrying flavours is less able to judge new ones, just as an ear ringing internally hears less well. This challenges an unqualified interpretation of like judging like; it does not establish a doctrine that every flavour must be expelled before any tasting is possible. Both passages show why the sensible object and the activity of sensing it require distinct entries.
Places to read
- A 94 (testimony)Aristotle, On Sense and Sense-Objects. Contrasts apparently flavourless water with flavours imperceptible through smallness.
- A 86 §§ 18–19 (polemical)Theophrastus, On the Senses 19. Treats flavours already present in tasting as an obstacle to discrimination.
Translation in this edition
The Greek at §19 prints χυλῶν; A94 prints χυμῶν. These are attested witness forms, not evidence that Empedocles himself maintained a technical distinction between two flavour substances.