From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThourious and Syrakousas are the inflected place-names Thurii and Syracuse; Syrakosion means Syracusan.
- In this workApollodorus quotes Glaucus for a visit to Thurii when the city was newly founded.
- In this editionThe text gives the relative expression “newly founded” for Thurii.
- A place to readReports the Thurii visit and disputes the Syracuse war story.
Meaning
Thourious and Syrakousas are the inflected place-names Thurii and Syracuse; Syrakosion means Syracusan. The two cities enter the Life chiefly as tests of proposed movements and chronology.
Use in the book
Apollodorus quotes Glaucus for a visit to Thurii when the city was newly founded. He then rejects the story that Empedocles fled home to Syracuse and fought with its people against the Athenians. The juxtaposition does not authorize a reconstructed itinerary joining both journeys: the first is reported, the second challenged. Syracuse returns in Timaeus’ attack on Heraclides’ disappearance story. Peisianax, the supposed host of the sacrificial gathering near Acragas, is said instead to be a Syracusan without an Acragantine estate. That is a geographical objection to a particular narrative location, not a universal proof that no encounter with Peisianax could have occurred. Place-names here function as checks on biography rather than ornamental scenery.
Places to read
- A 1 §§ 51–52 (biography)Diogenes Laertius VIII 52, reporting Apollodorus and Glaucus. Reports the Thurii visit and disputes the Syracuse war story.
- A 1 §§ 71–72 (biography)Diogenes Laertius VIII 71–72, reporting Timaeus. Makes the host’s Syracusan identity an objection to the proposed estate at Acragas.
Translation in this edition
The text gives the relative expression “newly founded” for Thurii. A precise arrival year should not be supplied as if directly attested. Timaeus’ geographical rebuttal is itself mediated by Diogenes.