Stephanus 48

48a then, was the birth of this world, begotten of necessity joined with the ordering of intelligence. And intelligence ruling over necessity—persuading her to lead most of the things that come to be toward what is best—in this way, and by necessity thus conquered under wise persuasion, this all was put together at the beginning. If, then, anyone is to tell how it truly came to be on these terms, he must mix in also the kind of the wandering cause, and how it is its nature to carry things along. So here again we must 48b turn back, and, taking up another beginning suited to these things, begin once more from the start, as we did before with the things of that time, so now with these. We must look, then, upon the nature of fire and water and air and earth as it was before the birth of the heaven, and its affections before that time; for no one has yet shown their birth, but we speak as if we knew what fire is and what each of the others is, laying them down as beginnings, the elements, of the whole—a likeness that not even one who has but a little understanding would rightly draw, not even so far as the forms 48c within a syllable. Let it stand thus with us now, then: of the first principle of all things—whether one calls it one or many, or in whatever way one thinks of them—the present account must not speak; not for any other reason, but because it is hard, in the manner of the present account, to set forth what seems true to me. So do not think I ought to speak of it; nor could I persuade myself that I was setting my hand rightly 48d to so great a task. But keeping to what was said at the outset—the power of likely accounts—I shall try to speak of each thing and of all no less likely than before, and indeed more likely, from the beginning. And now, at the start of what is to be said, calling upon the god to be our savior and keep us 48e true to the doctrine of the likely through an account strange and out of the common way, let us once more begin to speak.

And let the beginning again about the whole be divided more greatly than the one before: then we distinguished two kinds; now a third, another kind, must be made plain to us.

Timaeus: Those two were enough for what was said before: one, laid down as the form of the model, intelligible and ever the same; and the copy

48a came to be as a blend, from necessity and the ordering of intelligence together. Intelligence ruled over necessity by persuading it to lead most of the things that come to be toward what is best. In this way, with necessity beaten by wise persuasion, this whole was put together at the beginning. So if anyone is to tell how it truly came to be, he must mix in as well the kind of cause that wanders, the kind by which things are naturally carried along. 48b So here we must turn back again, and, taking for these very things another beginning that fits them, we must again begin from the start about them, as we did back then about the things of that time. We must look at the nature of fire, water, air, and earth before the birth of the sky, and at their states before that time. For no one has yet shown their birth; but we speak of fire and of each of the others as if we knew what fire is, setting them down as the beginnings of the whole, its elements; yet even to compare them to the shapes within a syllable 48c would not be fitting for anyone with even a little sense. But now let our position be this: what we think about the beginning or beginnings of all things, or in whatever way seems right about them, must not be said now—not for any other reason, but because it is hard, in the present way of going through the subject, to make clear what we think. So do not think that I must speak of it; and I could not persuade myself that I would be setting my hand rightly 48d on so great a work. But keeping what was said at the start—the power of likely accounts—I will try to speak in likely terms no less than before about each thing and about all; indeed, from the start onward, more than before. So now again, at the start of what we say, we call on the god to save us from a strange and unaccustomed story and to carry us through to the belief in likely things, and 48e let us begin again to speak.

This new beginning about the whole must be divided more finely than the last one. For then we divided two kinds; now a third other kind must be shown.

Timaeus: The two kinds were enough for what was said before: one was the form taken as the model, intelligible and always the same; and the copy

48a For, in truth, this Cosmos in its origin was generated as a compound, from the combination of Necessity and Reason. And inasmuch as Reason was controlling Necessity by persuading her to conduct to the best end the most part of the things coming into existence, thus and thereby it came about, through Necessity yielding to intelligent persuasion, that this Universe of ours was being in this wise constructed at the beginning. Wherefore if one is to declare how it actually came into being on this wise, he must include also the form of the Errant Cause, in the way that it really acts. To this point, therefore, we must return, 48b and taking once again a fresh starting point suitable to the matter we must make a fresh start in dealing therewith, just as we did with our previous subjects. We must gain a view of the real nature of fire and water, air and earth, as it was before the birth of Heaven, and the properties they had before that time; for at present no one has as yet declared their generation, but we assume that men know what fire is, and each of these things, and we call them principles and presume that they are elements of the Universe, although in truth they do not so much as deserve to be likened with any likelihood, 48c by the man who has even a grain of sense, to the class of syllables. For the present, however, let our procedure be as follows. We shall not now expound the principle of all things—or their principles, or whatever term we use concerning them; and that solely for this reason, that it is difficult for us to explain our views while keeping to our present method of exposition. You, therefore, ought not to suppose that I should expound them, while as for me—I should never be able to convince myself that I should be right in attempting to undertake so great a task. Strictly adhering, then, 48d to what we previously affirmed, the import of the likely account, I will essay (as I did before) to give as likely an exposition as any other (nay, more so), regarding both particular things and the totality of things from the very beginning. And as before, so now, at the commencement of our account, we must call upon God the Saviour to bring us safe through a novel and unwonted exposition 48e to a conclusion based on likelihood, and thus begin our account once more.

We must, however, in beginning our fresh account of the Universe make more distinctions than we did before; for whereas then we distinguished two Forms, we must now declare another third kind.

Timaeus: For our former exposition those two were sufficient, one of them being assumed as a Model Form, intelligible and ever uniformly existent,