From the book
Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGēthosynē is gladness or joyfulness.
- In EmpedoclesB172 asks the addressee to behold Love with the mind, then explains that mortals already acknowledge her within their limbs.
- In this editionThe English capitalizes Gladness because the word is functioning as a name.
- A place to readGladness and Aphrodite are the names mortals use for Love within bodily life.
Meaning
Gēthosynē is gladness or joyfulness. The word is a name used for the power inborn in mortal limbs, explicitly paired with Aphrodite in B172. Its pleasurable colouring is part of how the power is recognized in human life.
Use in the book
B172 asks the addressee to behold Love with the mind, then explains that mortals already acknowledge her within their limbs. Through her they think friendly thoughts and perform works of joining, calling her Gladness and Aphrodite. The step from familiar experience to cosmic recognition is important: an existing human name for the power is recruited to explain its wider activity among the constituents.
This does not make Gladness an additional independent force. Nor should it be read as a promise that all mixture is pleasant to the resulting creature. The local point is about the familiar names and effects of Love, while other passages describe mortal pleasure and pain more broadly. Preserving “Gladness” keeps the poem's affective route into physical understanding audible.
Places to read
- B 17.20–262Gladness and Aphrodite are the names mortals use for Love within bodily life.
Translation in this edition
The English capitalizes Gladness because the word is functioning as a name. It is not a separate occurrence of the verb for the Sphere’s rejoicing in B27–282.