TIMAEU [8]
and last, and the first and last both becoming means,
they will all of them of necessity come to be the same, and having
become the same with one another will be all one. If the universal
frame had been created a surface only and having no depth, a single
mean would have sufficed to bind together itself and the other
terms; but now, as the world must be solid, and solid bodies are
always compacted not by one mean but by two, God placed water and
air in the mean between fire and earth, and made them to have the same
proportion so far as was possible (as fire is to air so is air to
water, and as air is to water so is water to earth); and thus he bound
and put together a visible and tangible heaven. And for these reasons,
and out of such elements which are in number four, the body of the
world was created, and it was harmonised by proportion, and
therefore has the spirit of friendship; and having been reconciled
to itself, it was indissoluble by the hand of any other than the
framer.
Now the creation took up the whole of each of the four elements; for
the Creator compounded the world out of all the fire and all the water
and all the air and all the earth, leaving no part of any of them
nor any power of them outside. His intention was, in the first
place, that the animal should be as far as possible a perfect whole
and of perfect parts: secondly, that it should be one, leaving no
remnants out of which another such world might be created: and also
that it should be free from old age and unaffected by disease.
Considering that if heat and cold and other powerful forces which
unite bodies surround and attack them from without when they are
unprepared, they decompose them, and by bringing diseases and old
age upon them, make them waste away-for this cause and on these
grounds he made the world one whole, having every part entire, and
being therefore perfect and not liable to old age and disease. And
he gave to the world the figure which was suitable and also natural.
Now to the animal which was to comprehend all animals, that figure was
suitable which comprehends within itself all other figures.
Wherefore he made the world in the form of a globe, round as from a
lathe, having its extremes in every direction equidistant from the
centre, the most perfect and the most like itself of all figures;
for he considered that the like is infinitely fairer than the
unlike. This he finished off, making the surface smooth all around for
many reasons; in the first place, because the living being had no need
of eyes when there was nothing remaining outside him to be seen; nor
of ears when there was nothing to be heard; and there was no
surrounding atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any
use of organs by the help of which he might receive his food or get
rid of what he had already digested, since there was nothing which
went from him or came into him: for there was nothing beside him. Of
design he was created thus, his own waste providing his own food,
and all that he did or suffered taking place in and by himself. For
the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would
be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had
no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the
Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had
he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the
movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of
all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence;
and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot,
within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions
were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their
deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the
universe was created without legs and without feet.
Such was the whole plan of the eternal God about the god that was to
be, to whom for this reason he gave a body,
they will all of them of necessity come to be the same, and having
become the same with one another will be all one. If the universal
frame had been created a surface only and having no depth, a single
mean would have sufficed to bind together itself and the other
terms; but now, as the world must be solid, and solid bodies are
always compacted not by one mean but by two, God placed water and
air in the mean between fire and earth, and made them to have the same
proportion so far as was possible (as fire is to air so is air to
water, and as air is to water so is water to earth); and thus he bound
and put together a visible and tangible heaven. And for these reasons,
and out of such elements which are in number four, the body of the
world was created, and it was harmonised by proportion, and
therefore has the spirit of friendship; and having been reconciled
to itself, it was indissoluble by the hand of any other than the
framer.
Now the creation took up the whole of each of the four elements; for
the Creator compounded the world out of all the fire and all the water
and all the air and all the earth, leaving no part of any of them
nor any power of them outside. His intention was, in the first
place, that the animal should be as far as possible a perfect whole
and of perfect parts: secondly, that it should be one, leaving no
remnants out of which another such world might be created: and also
that it should be free from old age and unaffected by disease.
Considering that if heat and cold and other powerful forces which
unite bodies surround and attack them from without when they are
unprepared, they decompose them, and by bringing diseases and old
age upon them, make them waste away-for this cause and on these
grounds he made the world one whole, having every part entire, and
being therefore perfect and not liable to old age and disease. And
he gave to the world the figure which was suitable and also natural.
Now to the animal which was to comprehend all animals, that figure was
suitable which comprehends within itself all other figures.
Wherefore he made the world in the form of a globe, round as from a
lathe, having its extremes in every direction equidistant from the
centre, the most perfect and the most like itself of all figures;
for he considered that the like is infinitely fairer than the
unlike. This he finished off, making the surface smooth all around for
many reasons; in the first place, because the living being had no need
of eyes when there was nothing remaining outside him to be seen; nor
of ears when there was nothing to be heard; and there was no
surrounding atmosphere to be breathed; nor would there have been any
use of organs by the help of which he might receive his food or get
rid of what he had already digested, since there was nothing which
went from him or came into him: for there was nothing beside him. Of
design he was created thus, his own waste providing his own food,
and all that he did or suffered taking place in and by himself. For
the Creator conceived that a being which was self-sufficient would
be far more excellent than one which lacked anything; and, as he had
no need to take anything or defend himself against any one, the
Creator did not think it necessary to bestow upon him hands: nor had
he any need of feet, nor of the whole apparatus of walking; but the
movement suited to his spherical form was assigned to him, being of
all the seven that which is most appropriate to mind and intelligence;
and he was made to move in the same manner and on the same spot,
within his own limits revolving in a circle. All the other six motions
were taken away from him, and he was made not to partake of their
deviations. And as this circular movement required no feet, the
universe was created without legs and without feet.
Such was the whole plan of the eternal God about the god that was to
be, to whom for this reason he gave a body,