New Writings by Empedocles Discovered

The ideas of 5th Century BCE philosopher Empedocles have reached us only through paraphrases or fragmentary quotes of his work by later authors—until now. Last month, researchers announced they had discovered an ancient papyrus containing thirty previously unknown verses reportedly “written in Empedocles’ own words”. Papyrologist Nathan Carlig (University of Liège), while doing research at the the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, identified a papyrus as a previously unknown fragment of Empedocles’ poem, On Nature (Physica). An announcement by the University of Liège states: The text that has come to light deals with the theory of particle effluvia and sensory perceptions, particularly vision. Analysis of the text has revealed unexpected connections, including the probable direct source of a passage by Plutarch (2nd century), as well as a dialogue by Plato and a text by Theophrastus, a disciple of Aristotle, both from the 4th century BCE. Unnoticed echoes of Empedocles have also been detected in the comic poet Aristophanes and in the Latin philosopher Lucretius. The study further suggests that Empedocles could be regarded as a precursor of the atomist* philosophers, foremost among whom is Democritus of Abdera… The publication of this research opens up new perspectives on understanding Empedocles’ doctrine and, more broadly, his work, in order to better situate the philosopher within the history of Greek philosophy and to better define his relationship with his predecessors and successors. Some further details are available here. The fragments have recently been published in the book, L’Empédocle du Caire, edited by Nathan Carlig, Alain Martin and Olivier Primavesi. The post New Writings by Empedocles Discovered first appeared on Daily Nous.