From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordOnyches are nails or claws; the notice refers to animals generally.
- In this workAëtius derives nails from sinews chilled where they meet the air.
- In this editionThe English “nails” should retain the broader animal context.
- A place to readMakes nails arise from sinews chilled at their meeting with air.
Meaning
Onyches are nails or claws; the notice refers to animals generally. Peripsychthentōn describes the sinews as cooled or chilled around the relevant point. This is a process word attached to a material change.
Use in the book
Aëtius derives nails from sinews chilled where they meet the air. The explanation differs from a new independent list of elemental proportions: it begins with an already compounded bodily material and alters it through contact and cooling. That distinction is important for understanding how far a mixture theory can extend. An organ or tissue need not always be described directly from the four constituents; it may be explained through an intermediate product. The report nevertheless does not supply a layer-by-layer anatomy, the mechanism of continued nail growth, or a distinction between human nails and animal claws. It is a short causal attribution, not evidence that ancient sinew corresponds exactly to any modern structure from which a nail might form.
Places to read
- A 78 (testimony)2Aëtius. Makes nails arise from sinews chilled at their meeting with air.
- A 78 (testimony)2Aëtius, preceding clause. Gives the mixed composition of the sinew that functions as the initial material.
Translation in this edition
The English “nails” should retain the broader animal context. Since the adjoining sinew formula is textually repaired, the apparent continuity of a perfectly preserved recipe-to-process explanation is partly an editorial presentation.