From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Hemisphere
ἡμισφαίριον
hēmisphairionHēmisphairion is half of a sphere.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordHēmisphairion is half of a sphere.
- In StobaeusThe report about Empedocles locates original solar fire in one hemisphere and its visible reflection in the other, associated with heated air.
- In this edition“Hemisphere” is exact, provided the sphere being divided is identified as the world.
- A place to beginOpposed hemispheres contain the original fire and the visible solar reflection.
- English renderings
- hemisphere; half-sphere
Meaning
Hēmisphairion is half of a sphere. Its cosmological use divides the world into regions whose opposed contents or functions matter to an explanation.
Use in the book
The report about Empedocles locates original solar fire in one hemisphere and its visible reflection in the other, associated with heated air. The distinction organizes an account of the sun’s appearance and movement. It does not refer simply to the modern division of earth into northern and southern halves.
Places to read
- I.25.3e.1Opposed hemispheres contain the original fire and the visible solar reflection.
Translation in this edition
“Hemisphere” is exact, provided the sphere being divided is identified as the world.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 210. The reflecting arrangement is compressed and difficult; “crystal-like sun” follows the printed wording rather than an unprinted correction to heaven.
From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Hemispheres
ἡμισφαίρια (hēmisphairia); ἡμισφαιρίων (hēmisphairiōn)
The word denotes half-spheres.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe word denotes half-spheres.
- In this workPs.-Plutarch at A30 describes two hemispheres moving around earth, one wholly fiery and the other composed of air with a little fire; the mixed one is identified with night.
- In this editionA30’s Greek is incomplete and reordered in English.
- A place to readDescribes a fiery hemisphere and an air-with-fire hemisphere, associating the latter with night.
Meaning
The word denotes half-spheres. In these reports it describes complementary cosmic regions or masses carried round the earth. It should not be confused with modern terrestrial northern and southern hemispheres.
Use in the book
Ps.-Plutarch at A30 describes two hemispheres moving around earth, one wholly fiery and the other composed of air with a little fire; the mixed one is identified with night. A51’s Aëtius notice describes the solid heaven as containing the fiery and airy in each of the hemispheres, a formulation that should be preserved rather than silently simplified into the earlier division.
The two-sun account at A56 again depends on hemispheres: an archetypal fire fills one, while the apparent reflection occupies the other, filled with air mixed with heat. The relation between the hemispheric fire, earth’s reflection and the crystalline sun is obscure even in the edition’s apparatus. The repeated geometry gives a family resemblance among the reports but not an unambiguous single diagram.
The headword allows the reader to trace that shared structure while noticing differences in what each half contains and how light or night is explained. It does not claim that every witness offers independent confirmation of one fully reconstructed model.
Places to read
- A 30 (testimony)Ps.-Plutarch, Stromateis, in Eusebius P.E. I 8,10. Describes a fiery hemisphere and an air-with-fire hemisphere, associating the latter with night.
- A 51 (testimony)Aëtius II 11,2. Places fiery and airy contents in relation to each hemisphere of a solid heaven.
- A 56 (testimony)Aëtius II 20,13 (D. 350). Uses the hemispheres to distinguish archetypal fire from the visible solar reflection.
Translation in this edition
A30’s Greek is incomplete and reordered in English. Agreement in the word “hemisphere” does not remove the textual and conceptual difficulties of the solar reflection account.