Fragments 51–60
Original Ancient Greek
51 οὐ ξυνιᾶσιν ὅκως διαφερόμενον ἑωυτῶι ὁμολογέει· παλίντροπος ἁρμονίη ὅκωσπερ τόξου καὶ λύρης.
52 αἰὼν παῖς ἐστι παίζων, πεσσεύων· παιδὸς ἡ βασιληίη.
53 Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους.
54 ἁρμονίη ἀφανὴς φανερῆς κρείττων.
55 ὅσων ὄψις ἀκοὴ μάθησις, ταῦτα ἐγὼ προτιμέω.
56 ἐξηπάτηνται, (φησίν,) οἱ ἄνθρωποι πρὸς τὴν γνῶσιν τῶν φανερῶν παραπλησίως Ὁμήρωι, ὃς ἐγένετο τῶν Ἑλλήνων σοφώτερος πάντων. ἐκεῖνόν τε γὰρ παῖδες φθεῖρας κατακτείνοντες ἐξηπάτησαν εἰπόντες· ὅσα εἴδομεν καὶ ἐλάβομεν, ταῦτα ἀπολείπομεν, ὅσα δὲ οὔτε εἴδομεν οὔτ’ ἐλάβομεν, ταῦτα φέρομεν.
57 διδάσκαλος δὲ πλείστων Ἡσίοδος· τοῦτον ἐπίστανται πλεῖστα εἰδέναι, ὅστις ἡμέρην καὶ εὐφρόνην οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν· ἔστι γὰρ ἕν.
58 καὶ ἀγαθὸν καὶ κακόν [ἕν ἐστιν]. οἱ γοῦν ἰατροί, (φησὶν ὁ Ἡ.,) τέμνοντες, καίοντες πάντη, βασανίζοντες κακῶς τοὺς ἀρρωστοῦντας, ἐπαιτέονται μηδὲν ἄξιοι μισθὸν λαμβάνειν παρὰ τῶν ἀρρωστούντων, ταὐτὰ ἐργαζόμενοι, (τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ τὰς νόσους).
59 γναφείωι ὁδὸς εὐθεῖα καὶ σκολιὴ (ἡ τοῦ ὀργάνου τοῦ καλουμένου κοχλίου ἐν τῶι γναφείωι περιστροφὴ εὐθεῖα καὶ σκολιή· ἄνω γὰρ ὁμοῦ καὶ κύκλωι περιέρχεται) μία ἐστί, (φησί,) καὶ ἡ αὐτή.
60 ὁδὸς ἄνω κάτω μία καὶ ὡυτή.
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.
51 They do not understand how what pulls apart agrees with itself: a harmony turning back, like that of bow and lyre.
52 Time is a child at play, moving pieces on a board; the kingship is a child’s.
53 War is father of all and king of all: some he has shown as gods, others as humans; some he has made slaves, others free.
54 Unseen harmony is stronger than seen.
55 What sight, hearing, and learning reveal—this I prize.
56 People are deceived (he says) in their knowledge of what lies in plain sight, much as Homer was, who was wiser than all the Greeks. For boys killing lice deceived him when they said: “What we saw and caught, we leave behind; what we neither saw nor caught, we carry.”
57 Teacher to most is Hesiod. They are certain he knows the most—he who did not know day and night: they are one.
58 Both good and evil [are one]. Doctors, for instance (Heraclitus says), cut, burn, torture the sick cruelly in every way, and demand a fee from the sick, though they deserve none, producing the same things (benefits and diseases).
59 In the fuller’s shop the straight and crooked path (the turning of the instrument called the screw in the fuller’s shop is straight and crooked, for it moves at once upward and around) is one (he says) and the same.
60 The road up and down is one and the same.
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.
51 They do not understand how something at odds with itself agrees with itself. It is a harmony that turns back on itself, like that of the bow and the lyre.
52 A lifetime is a child at play, moving pieces on a board. The kingship belongs to a child.
53 War is the father of all and the king of all. It has shown some to be gods and others humans; it has made some slaves and others free.
54 Hidden harmony is stronger than visible harmony.
55 I prefer things that can be seen, heard, and learned.
56 People are deceived (he says) in their knowledge of visible things, just as Homer was, the wisest of all the Greeks. Children killing lice tricked him by saying: “What we saw and caught, we leave behind. What we neither saw nor caught, we carry with us.”
57 Hesiod is the teacher of most people. They are sure he knows the most, yet he did not understand day and night. For they are one.
58 Good and evil [are one]. Doctors, at any rate, (Heraclitus says,) cut and burn all over, cruelly torturing the sick. They demand payment from the sick, though they deserve none, since they produce the same things (good things and diseases).
59 In a cloth-cleaner’s workshop, the straight and crooked path (the tool called a screw in the workshop turns in a straight and crooked path, since it moves both upward and in a circle at once) is one (he says) and the same.
60 The path up and the path down are one and the same.
About this section
Fragments 51–60 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 6 of 13 in the work, which is kept in the Greek tradition.
Open the work page for the full contents, every edition, and the download links, or go back to Explore to browse other complete works in the Greek tradition. The reader keeps your place when you are signed in and lets you compare the original with each translation, one edition at a time.