From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordΠλανῆται are wanderers, here the planets contrasted with fixed stars.
- In this workAëtius at A54 says that fixed stars are bound to the crystal but planets go free.
- In this editionTranslate the physical contrast without importing modern concepts of independent orbits.
- A place to readContrasts planets left free with fixed stars bound to the crystal.
Meaning
Πλανῆται are wanderers, here the planets contrasted with fixed stars. Ἀνεῖσθαι means to be released or left free. The phrase characterizes their relation to a surrounding structure, not freedom from every physical cause.
Use in the book
Aëtius at A54 says that fixed stars are bound to the crystal but planets go free. This is a minimal yet substantive distinction between kinds of celestial motion or attachment. It presupposes the crystalline setting associated with the heaven in A51 without providing a detailed account of paths, speeds or causes.
The report should not be expanded into a fully specified planetary system. It does not list the planets, assign distances, or explain why their wandering occurs. Achilles’ A55 mentions Kronos in an account of competing celestial orders, but that passage surveys opinions before attaching an Empedoclean verse to a lunar claim. The generic ordering there cannot automatically be made Empedocles’ own.
The entry consequently retains the precise content of the notice: release from the binding that fixes the other stars. Anything more elaborate requires evidence that the excerpt does not furnish.
Places to read
- A 54 (testimony)Aëtius II 13,11 (D. 342). Contrasts planets left free with fixed stars bound to the crystal.
Translation in this edition
Translate the physical contrast without importing modern concepts of independent orbits. The surrounding cosmological reports are too compressed to settle the exact mechanism of planetary freedom.