From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Heat
θερμόν
thermonThermon, used substantivally, is “the hot.” It can identify a quality, a causal power, or something proposed as an elemental constituent.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThermon, used substantivally, is “the hot.” It can identify a quality, a causal power, or something proposed as an elemental constituent.
- In StobaeusThe brief notice on Strato assigns elemental status to hot and cold.
- In this edition“The hot” retains the substantivized adjective when the classification matters; “heat” is appropriate when the discussion concerns the quality or its action.
- A place to beginStrato’s opposed elemental principles are hot and cold.
- English renderings
- hot; heat
Meaning
Thermon, used substantivally, is “the hot.” It can identify a quality, a causal power, or something proposed as an elemental constituent. It need not name a separately bounded body.
Use in the book
The brief notice on Strato assigns elemental status to hot and cold. The Aristotelian account makes a more explicit distinction: hot, cold, moist, and dry are elemental powers, while the familiar elements are the substances in which those powers occur. Keeping the distinction visible prevents a list of qualities from becoming an additional list of bodies.
Places to read
- I.10.12.9Strato’s opposed elemental principles are hot and cold.
- I.10.16a.3The hot is a power of elemental bodies.
Translation in this edition
“The hot” retains the substantivized adjective when the classification matters; “heat” is appropriate when the discussion concerns the quality or its action.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 124, 128. “The hot” is supplied by Wachsmuth in the short Strato notice.
From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Heat
τοῦ θερμοῦ (tou thermou); θερμότητος (thermotētos); calor
To thermon is the hot or heat; thermotēs is hotness.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordTo thermon is the hot or heat; thermotēs is hotness.
- In this workHeat operates at several explanatory levels.
- In this editionModern temperature, energy, and combustion are different analytical concepts.
- A place to readUses buried fires to explain water acquiring heat.
Meaning
To thermon is the hot or heat; thermotēs is hotness. The Latin calor appears in Censorinus' reproductive account. Heat is related to fire across these notices, but the witnesses also use it as a quality, condition, or causal factor rather than always as a simple synonym for the fiery root.
Use in the book
Heat operates at several explanatory levels. Underground fires heat water in A68, while heat promotes moisture-loss and stone formation in A69. Terrestrial heat supports plant growth in A702; internal heat drives a phase of breathing in A74 and enables growth in A77. In A73, excessive heat explains why fiery animals seek water, making moderation rather than maximization important. Reproductive accounts at A8123 assign sex and likeness variously to womb temperature and to the relative heat of parental seeds. A85 connects the loss of blood's heat with sleep and death. These relations should not be standardized into a single quantitative law. They involve heating, retaining heat, cooling, and compensating for excess, with different witnesses and objects. The physiology also exposes why an ancient “more heat means more life” summary would be inadequate: too much heat may drive a creature toward a contrary environment, while proportion and location can matter as much as mere presence.
Places to read
- A 68 (testimony)Seneca, Natural Questions. Uses buried fires to explain water acquiring heat.
- A 73 (testimony)Aristotle, On Respiration; Theophrastus, On the Causes of Plants. Report excessive internal heat as the reason for seeking moisture.
- A 74 (testimony)Aëtius. Makes innate heat a moving cause in respiration.
- A 77 (testimony)Aëtius. Names heat as the condition of growth.
- A 81 (testimony)23Aristotle, On the Generation of Animals; Censorinus, On the Birthday. Preserve distinct thermal accounts of sex and likeness.
- A 85 (testimony)Aëtius. Connects cooling of blood's heat to sleep and death.
Translation in this edition
Modern temperature, energy, and combustion are different analytical concepts. The testimonies do not consistently distinguish their ancient counterparts, and the entry should not supply that precision retrospectively.