Chapter 4 Heraclitus on Principles: A Stoic Lemma in Aëtius?
In: Received Opinions: Doxography in Antiquity and the Islamic WorldSearch for other papers by Max Bergamo in
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Abstract
The present paper focuses on the analysis of a particular Heraclitean testimony preserved by Aëtius, i.e. the lemma I.3.11 in the chapter On Principles. This lemma deals with the ascription to Heraclitus of the tenet according to which the principle of everything is fire. In addition, it discusses his alleged theory of the elements against a background which sees its culmination in the conflagration of the world (ekpyrôsis). The first aim of this paper is to show that the main philosophical elements of the lemma can be traced back to a number of key concepts of the physics and, in particular, of the cosmogony of the Stoics. In light of this result, I claim that the Aëtian doxa has to be considered as a predominantly Stoic lemma and that it constitutes a crucial testimony of the influence exerted by Stoic doctrines on the Placita tradition. Finally, I adopt a diachronic perspective on the Heraclitean lemma in order to suggest that the differences between the text preserved by Ps.-Plutarch and Stobaeus and the version provided by Theodoret point to the extensive reworking of an earlier lemma into an eminently Stoic one. The paper also includes an overview and a thematic classification of all the Heraclitean lemmata which are to be found in Aëtius.