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Body and living things

Long-lived gods

θεοὶ δολιχαίωνες (theoi dolichaiōnes); θεοὺς δολιχαίωνας (theous dolichaiōnas); θεῶν μακάρων (theōn makarōn)

The phrase dolichaiōnes theoi describes gods of long duration or long life.

From the book

Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I

Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordThe phrase dolichaiōnes theoi describes gods of long duration or long life.
  • In EmpedoclesB212 includes long-lived gods among everything arising from the constituents, beside plants, human beings, beasts, birds, and fish.
  • In this edition“Long-lived” is more exact than silently substituting “eternally indestructible.”
  • A place to readLong-lived gods occur among beings formed from the constituents.

Meaning

The phrase dolichaiōnes theoi describes gods of long duration or long life. The qualifier matters: it is not the same grammatical claim as declaring the four roots ungenerated. The verses also use “immortal” and “blessed” in divine contexts, so their local wording must be read carefully rather than normalized to one definition.

Use in the book

B212 includes long-lived gods among everything arising from the constituents, beside plants, human beings, beasts, birds, and fish. B232 repeats that inventory within the painters' analogy. The gods are thus not excluded from the explanatory range of mixture merely because they receive the highest honours. The texts leave unspecified which familiar gods are included in this class.

B1152 similarly describes daimones with a long allotment of life, but does not simply identify every daimon with every god of B212. B146 announces that beings at the final human stage grow up as gods highest in honours; its formula links release to divine standing. B147 describes sharing the life of other immortals. These passages make divine status, endurance, and honour central, while leaving their exact relation to the cosmic extremes unresolved.

This range also prevents a facile claim that Empedocles either rejects all gods or treats every divine name in exactly the same way. The roots bear divine names; Love acts under divine names; compound gods are long-lived; the speaker can claim divine standing. The surviving uses have to be distinguished before they can be reconciled.

Places to read

  1. B 21.9–142Long-lived gods occur among beings formed from the constituents.
  2. B 23.5–8The painter analogy repeats their inclusion among represented kinds.
  3. B 115.5–8Daimones have long-duration lives.
  4. B 146A last stage of human lives issues in gods of highest honour.
  5. B 147The released share hearth and table with other immortals.

Translation in this edition

“Long-lived” is more exact than silently substituting “eternally indestructible.” The edition's description of physical mortality and divine longevity is not a complete resolution of their relation to the eternal roots.