Stephanus 33

33a parts.

Timaeus: And one thing more: no part of these elements was left over, out of which anything else of the kind could come to be; and further, he meant it to be ageless and free of sickness, seeing how things that assail a body from without—hot and cold and all that have strong powers—fall upon it out of season, break it up, and bring disease and age, and so make it waste away. For this cause and on this reckoning he fashioned it one whole of wholes, complete out of all, 33b ageless and free of sickness. And he gave it the shape that befitted it, the shape akin to it: for the living creature meant to embrace within itself all living things, the fitting shape would be that which embraces within itself all shapes there are; and so he turned it round, spherical, from its center keeping an equal distance everywhere to its edges, a circle, the most complete of shapes and most like itself of all shapes—judging the like ten thousand times more beautiful than the unlike. And he made its outer face everywhere smooth, all around, for many reasons. 33c It had no need of eyes, for nothing visible was left outside it; none of hearing, for there was nothing to hear; and no surrounding air stood about it, needing breath; nor had it need of any organ to receive food into itself and send away again what had been spent and drained. For nothing went out of it, nor did anything come into it from anywhere—there was nowhere such a place—since it provided for itself its own food as its own decay, and all within it it felt and did by its own power, a thing made by art; 33d for its maker judged it better to be self-sufficient than in want of others. And hands, which had no use for taking hold or for defense against another, he thought it needless to attach, and feet as well, and in general the whole apparatus that belongs to a base

33a parts.

Timaeus: And there is one thing more. Nothing was left over from which another thing like it could have been made. And it was to be without old age and without sickness. He saw that a body put together has hot and cold, and all the things with strong powers, standing around it outside. They fall on it at the wrong time. They break it apart, bring disease and old age, and make it waste away. Because of this cause and this reasoning, he made it one, complete out of all wholes, without age and without sickness. 33b And he gave it the shape that was fitting and akin to it. The living thing was to hold all living things within itself. For such a thing the fitting shape would be the one that takes in within itself all the shapes there are. So he made it round, shaped like a sphere, and turned it smooth, as on a lathe. From its center to its edges it stands at equal distance in every direction. Of all shapes it is the most complete, and the most like itself. He judged that like is ten thousand times more beautiful than unlike. And for many reasons he made its whole outside, all around, perfectly smooth. 33c It had no need of eyes. Nothing visible was left outside it. It had no need of hearing. Nothing audible was left. There was no air around it that needed to breathe. Nor did it need any organ to take food into itself, or to send out again what had before been dried up. Nothing went out of it, and nothing came to it from anywhere, for there was nothing else. It fed itself on its own decay. All things were felt and done within it and by it. By craft it came to be. 33d The one who put it together judged that it would be better self-sufficient than in need of anything else. And he did not think it needful to attach hands, for no use. It had no use for taking hold, nor for striking back at anyone. Nor did he attach feet. Nor, in general, the service that goes with

33a inasmuch as there was nothing left over out of which another like Creature might come into existence; and further, that it might be secure from age and ailment, since He perceived that when heat and cold, and all things which have violent potencies, surround a composite body from without and collide with it they dissolve it unduly and make it to waste away by bringing upon it ailments and age. Wherefore, because of this reasoning, He fashioned it to be One single Whole, compounded of all wholes, perfect and ageless and unailing. 33b And he bestowed on it the shape which was befitting and akin. Now for that Living Creature which is designed to embrace within itself all living creatures the fitting shape will be that which comprises within itself all the shapes there are; wherefore He wrought it into a round, in the shape of a sphere, equidistant in all directions from the center to the extremities, which of all shapes is the most perfect and the most self-similar, since He deemed that the similar is infinitely fairer than the dissimilar. And on the outside round about, it was all made smooth with great exactness, and that for many reasons. 33c For of eyes it had no need, since outside of it there was nothing visible left over; nor yet of hearing, since neither was there anything audible; nor was there any air surrounding it which called for respiration; nor, again, did it need any organ whereby it might receive the food that entered and evacuate what remained undigested. For nothing went out from it or came into it from any side, since nothing existed; for it was so designed as to supply its own wastage as food for itself, 33d and to experience by its own agency and within itself all actions and passions, since He that had constructed it deemed that it would be better if it were self-sufficing rather than in need of other things. Hands, too, He thought He ought not to attach unto it uselessly, seeing they were not required either for grasping or for repelling anyone; nor yet feet, nor any instruments of locomotion whatsoever.