Simplicius : on Aristotle on the heavens 2.10-14

200 Pages·2005·1.14 MB·English

by  Simplicius & Ian Mueller

SIMPLICIUS
On Aristotle
On the Heavens 2.10-14
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SIMPLICIUS
On Aristotle
On the Heavens 2.10-14
Translated by
Ian Mueller
Duckworth
Ancient Commentators on Aristotle
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Acknowledgements
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The present translations have been made possible by generous and
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Attaché of the Greek Embassy in London. The editor wishes
to thank A. Bowen, G. Guldentops, S. Leggatt, and D. Furley for
their comments, John Sellars and Inna Kupreeva for preparing the
volume for press, and Deborah Blake who has been Duckworth’s
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Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
Translation 9
2.10 The speeds and distances of the stars 11
2.11 That the stars are spherical 17
2.12 Why the sun and moon have fewer motions than the other
five planets; why the sphere of the fixed stars contains so
many stars whereas the other heavenly spheres contain no
more than one. (Simplicius has a long excursus on planetary
theory in his commentary on this chapter) 20
2.13 Discussion of people’s views on the position, motion or rest,
shape, and size of the earth 50
2.14 That the earth is a relatively small sphere at rest in the
centre of the cosmos 80
Notes 99
Appendix: [Alexander] on Metaphysics 12.8, 1073a17-1074a15 123
Bibliography 129
Textual Questions 135
English-Greek Glossary 139
Greek-English Index 147
Index of Passages 176
Index of Names 179
Subject Index 187
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Preface
The first draft of this translation of Simplicius’ commentary on Book 2
of Aristotle’s De Caelo was finished in 1998-99 when I was an exchange
fellow at the Centre d’Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes
et Médiévales (CHSPAM) at the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris.
I would like to thank the personnel, staff, and associates of CHSPAM
for their assistance, intellectual and personal, in making my year in
Paris profitable and pleasurable, with particular thanks to the then
director, Roshdi Rashed and to Tony Lévy, Régis Morelon, Pierre Pelle-
grin, Muriel Rouabah, and Bernard Vitrac for their interest and
kindness. I also thank the University of Chicago and the CNRS for
choosing me as an exchange fellow for that year.
Completion of the translation was set back by two years because of
administrative duties at the University of Chicago. I am grateful to the
readers of the translation for their comments and suggestions, which I
have followed more often than not. The names of most of them are not
known to me, but I am in a position to mention and especially thank
Alan Bowen and David Furley. John Sellars has done admirable edito-
rial work, making many improvements, including the elimination of all
too many mistakes. For the all too many that remain I am, of course,
fully responsible.
My deepest debt is, as always, to my wife Janel Mueller, who, while
pursuing an academic and administrative career of her own, provided
me with more support and encouragement than anyone is entitled to.
Details concerning the text translated and some of my translational
practices can be found in the Introduction.
Chicago Ian Mueller
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Abbreviations
CAG = Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca, Berlin: G. Reimer, 1882-
1909.
DK = Diels, Hermann, and Kranz, Walther (ed. and trans.), Die Frag-
mente der Vorsokratiker, 6th edn, Berlin: Weidmann, 1954.
DSB = Gillispie, Charles Coulston (ed.), The Dictionary of Scientific
Biography, 16 vols, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970-80.
El. = Euclid’s Elements, vols 1-4 in Heiberg, J.L. and Menge, Hermann
(ed. and trans.), Euclidis Opera Omnia, Leipzig: Teubner, 1883-1916.
FGrH = Jacoby, Felix (ed.), Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker,
Berlin: Weidmann, 1923-.
Guthrie = Guthrie, W.K.C. (ed. and trans.), Aristotle, On the Heavens,
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, and London: William
Heinemann, 1939.
Heiberg = CAG, vol. 7.
Karsten = Karsten, Simon (ed.), Simplicii Commentarius in IV Libros
Aristotelis De Caelo, Utrecht: Kemink and Son, 1865.
Leggatt = Leggatt, Stuart (ed. and trans.), Aristotle, On the Heavens I
& II, Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1995.
LSJ = Liddell, George Henry, and Scott, Robert, A Greek-English Lexi-
con, Oxford: Clarendon Press, and New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996.
Moraux = Moraux, Paul (ed. and trans.), Aristote: du Ciel, texte établi
et traduit par Paul Moraux, Paris: Belles Lettres, 1965.
Oeuv. Comp. = Platon, Oeuvres Complètes, 27 vols, Paris: Belles Lettres,
1920-64.
PW = Paulys Realencyclopaedie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft,
51 vols, Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, 1893-1997.