Fragments 31–40
Original Ancient Greek
31 πυρὸς τροπαὶ πρῶτον θάλασσα, θαλάσσης δὲ τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ γῆ, τὸ δὲ ἥμισυ πρηστήρ. (δυνάμει γὰρ λέγει ὅτι τὸ πῦρ ὑπὸ τοῦ διοικοῦντος λόγου καὶ θεοῦ τὰ σύμπαντα δι’ ἀέρος τρέπεται εἰς ὑγρὸν τὸ ὡς σπέρμα τῆς διακοσμήσεως, ὃ καλεῖ) θάλασσαν, (ἐκ δὲ τούτου αὖθις γίνεται γῆ καὶ οὐρανὸς καὶ τὰ ἐμπεριεχόμενα. ὅπως δὲ πάλιν ἀναλαμβάνεται καὶ ἐκπυροῦται, σαφῶς διὰ τούτων δηλοῖ·) θάλασσα διαχέεται καὶ μετρέεται εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον, ὁκοῖος πρόσθεν ἦν ἢ γενέσθαι γῆ.
32 ἓν τὸ σοφὸν μοῦνον λέγεσθαι οὐκ ἐθέλει καὶ ἐθέλει Ζηνὸς ὄνομα.
33 νόμος καὶ βουλῆι πείθεσθαι ἑνός.
34 ἀξύνετοι ἀκούσαντες κωφοῖσιν ἐοίκασι· φάτις αὐτοῖσιν μαρτυρεῖ παρεόντας ἀπεῖναι.
35 χρὴ γὰρ εὖ μάλα πολλῶν ἵστορας φιλοσόφους ἄνδρας εἶναι.
36 ψυχῆισιν θάνατος ὕδωρ γενέσθαι, ὕδατι δὲ θάνατος γῆν γενέσθαι, ἐκ γῆς δὲ ὕδωρ γίνεται, ἐξ ὕδατος δὲ ψυχή.
37 sues caeno, cohortales aves pulvere vel cinere lavari.
38 (Θαλῆς δοκεῖ κατά τινας) πρῶτος ἀστρολογῆσαι (… μαρτυρεῖ δ’ αὐτῶι καὶ Ἡ. καὶ Δημόκριτος).
39 ἐν Πριήνηι Βίας ἐγένετο ὁ Τευτάμεω, οὗ πλείων λόγος ἢ τῶν ἄλλων.
40 πολυμαθίη νόον ἔχειν οὐ διδάσκει· Ἡσίοδον γὰρ ἂν ἐδίδαξε καὶ Πυθαγόρην αὖτίς τε Ξενοφάνεά τε καὶ Ἑκαταῖον.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation of all 130 genuine fragments in Hermann Diels’s Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (4th ed., 1922), made directly from the Ionic Greek and Latin and checked against the printed page. Words of the ancient authors who quote Heraclitus stand in round parentheses.
31 Fire’s turnings: first sea; of sea, half earth, half fiery storm. (For in effect he says that fire, under the Logos and god governing all things, turns through air into moisture, the seed, as it were, of the ordering of the world, which he calls) sea, (and from this, earth and heaven and all they contain come into being again. How it is taken up again and kindled into fire he makes clear in these words:) Sea pours out and is measured by the same measure as before it became earth.
32 The wise, one alone, is unwilling and willing to bear the name of Zeus.
33 It is law, too, to obey the counsel of one.
34 Hearing without understanding, they are like the deaf; the saying bears witness to them: present, they are absent.
35 For lovers of wisdom must indeed be inquirers into very many things.
36 For souls it is death to become water; for water, death to become earth. From earth comes water, from water soul.
37 Pigs bathe in mud, barnyard birds in dust or ash.
38 (Thales is thought by some to have been) the first to study the stars (… Heraclitus and Democritus also bear him witness).
39 In Priene lived Bias, son of Teutamas, held in higher account than the rest.
40 Much learning does not teach understanding. Otherwise it would have taught Hesiod and Pythagoras, and Xenophanes and Hecataeus too.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same 130 fragments. Words of the ancient authors who quote Heraclitus stand in round parentheses.
31 Fire’s changes: first sea; of sea, half earth and half fiery whirlwind. (For he means that fire is changed by the Logos and god that govern everything, passing through air into moisture, which is like the seed of the world-order and which he calls) sea. (From this, earth and sky and everything they contain come into being in turn. How it is taken back again and set on fire he makes clear in these words:) Sea spreads out and is measured in the same proportion as before it became earth.
32 The wise, the one and only, both refuses and accepts the name of Zeus.
33 Law also means obeying the will of one.
34 People who hear without understanding are like the deaf. The saying describes them: “Present, yet absent.”
35 For those who love wisdom must investigate a great many things.
36 For souls, becoming water is death. For water, becoming earth is death. But water comes from earth, and soul comes from water.
37 Pigs bathe in mud, barnyard birds in dust or ashes.
38 (Thales seems, to some people, to have been) the first to study the stars (… Heraclitus and Democritus also bear witness for him).
39 In Priene lived Bias, son of Teutamas. He had a greater reputation than the others.
40 Learning many things does not teach understanding. If it did, it would have taught Hesiod and Pythagoras, and also Xenophanes and Hecataeus.
About this section
Fragments 31–40 is part of Fragments by Heraclitus. This page sets the Ancient Greek original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 4 of 13 in the work, which is kept in the Greek tradition.
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