From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Liver
ἧπαρ
hēparHēpar is the liver, a bodily organ that can also serve as a location for psychic activities in philosophical physiology.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordHēpar is the liver, a bodily organ that can also serve as a location for psychic activities in philosophical physiology.
- In StobaeusThe inquiry into soul’s unity lists head, chest, and liver as bodily sites through which different activities occur.
- In this edition“Liver” is precise; keep an activity occurring through an organ distinct from soul being that organ.
- A place to beginThe liver helps illustrate the bodily distribution of psychic activities.
- English renderings
- liver
Meaning
Hēpar is the liver, a bodily organ that can also serve as a location for psychic activities in philosophical physiology.
Use in the book
The inquiry into soul’s unity lists head, chest, and liver as bodily sites through which different activities occur. It insists that soul itself does not possess these organs. Bodily distribution explains why division is attributed to soul without requiring soul in itself to have quantitative parts.
Places to read
- I.49.25a.9The liver helps illustrate the bodily distribution of psychic activities.
Translation in this edition
“Liver” is precise; keep an activity occurring through an organ distinct from soul being that organ.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 353. The words immediately before liver are corrupt, but the anatomical item and the general contrast remain recoverable.
From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Liver
τὸ ἧπαρ (to hēpar); ἐμφύεσθαι (emphyesthai)
Hēpar is the liver.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordHēpar is the liver.
- In this workSoranus says that Empedocles thinks the umbilical vessels are implanted into the liver, while Phaedrus places them in the heart.
- In this editionThe edition calls the liver claim nearly right.
- A place to readAttributes implantation of the umbilical vessels into the liver to Empedocles and contrasts Phaedrus' heart destination.
Meaning
Hēpar is the liver. Emphyesthai means to grow into, be implanted in, or become attached within. The verb concerns the destination of the vessels under discussion, rather than a general claim that every vital function resides in the liver.
Use in the book
Soranus says that Empedocles thinks the umbilical vessels are implanted into the liver, while Phaedrus places them in the heart. This is the specifically named Empedoclean proposition in a passage otherwise introduced through Soranus' medical description of fetal nourishment. The difference in destinations is anatomically consequential, but the report does not show how Empedocles inferred it or whether he had observed a particular dissection. It also does not contradict the distinct testimony that the heart forms first: a claim about vessel insertion and a claim about developmental priority answer different questions. The liver entry should therefore remain narrow enough to preserve the attribution's actual scope.
Places to read
- A 79 (testimony)Soranus, Gynaecology. Attributes implantation of the umbilical vessels into the liver to Empedocles and contrasts Phaedrus' heart destination.
- A 84 (testimony)Censorinus, On the Birthday. Gives the separate claim that the heart develops before other parts.
Translation in this edition
The edition calls the liver claim nearly right. That modern evaluation is not required to understand its historical role, and it does not verify the four-vessel count in the surrounding description as Empedoclean.