From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordChymoi can denote juices or flavours; this passage concerns their differences.
- In this workAëtius explains differences among plant flavours through variations in the manifold earth and through different modes of uptake by plants.
- In this editionThe apparatus supplies words meaning “through” and “earth” in the sentence on variation.
- A place to readConnects flavour differences with varied earth and differential drawing of like-parted materials.
Meaning
Chymoi can denote juices or flavours; this passage concerns their differences. Homoiomereiai, rendered “like-parted stuffs,” is the doxographic expression for the materials plants draw from their nourishment. It should not automatically be treated as Empedocles' own technical vocabulary.
Use in the book
Aëtius explains differences among plant flavours through variations in the manifold earth and through different modes of uptake by plants. The account gives both the source material and the plant's drawing activity a role, though the ensuing example stresses the soil's decisive contribution to good wine. This should not be flattened into a claim that all flavour differences originate in the plant alone or in an undifferentiated ground. The term translated “like-parted” is especially delicate because it belongs to a wider ancient classificatory vocabulary associated with discussions of material composition. Its presence in a doxographical sentence does not replace Empedocles' four constituents with an indefinitely large set of independent ingredients. The report lacks enough detail to settle precisely how soil composition, affinity, and selective uptake interact.
Places to read
- A 70 (testimony)2Aëtius. Connects flavour differences with varied earth and differential drawing of like-parted materials.
- A 70 (testimony)2Plutarch, Table Talk. Describes plants drawing suitable water from their surroundings without sensation.
Translation in this edition
The apparatus supplies words meaning “through” and “earth” in the sentence on variation. The fluid/flavour range of chymos is likewise contextual; the English title should not conceal the translated passage's explicit concern with taste.