Quaestiones physicae

Theophylactus Simocatta, from the Prefects, dialogue concerning various physical problems and their solutions. The discourse of the dialogue. I have heard that swallows are taught the song among them by their mothers musically; for a mother swallow does not endure hearing a child of uneducated offspring. Therefore those mothers teach their young to settle in cities, to sing to men, and to chirp around chambers a harmonious song. Come then, come, most musical assembly, grant eloquence to a child, and teach me to sing to the theater and to chirp an Attic song, as I am just now learning to enter musical chambers. And if I should fall outside the rhythmic measures, sing back to me generously the missing parts, like the cicada, fellow worker in melody, for Eunomus of Locri. It seemed good to Teucer also to go on campaign, to love trophies, and to yearn for a battle line. Therefore, by the projection of the shield, Ajax fortified, and Teucer was a most accurate archer; for Ajax was the foundation of the excellence. Bear with me, bear with me, men teachers, like a shield your goodwill, and let applause be arms for me today. And I know I shall be victorious, even if I have not set foot on barbarian land. And if I have not yet been allotted a mother art, yet I have a race from which you come; and I have words as a fatherland, and the things of Greece are ours. The chapters of the dialogue. 1. For what reason is the adamant unburnable and without share in the nature of fire? 2. For what reason do the feathers of eagles, when placed upon the feathers of other animals, produce destruction for them? 3. For what reason do elephants not drink before they have muddied the water? 4.

By what reasoning does the torpedo fish transmit its characteristic condition through the lines, so that the hands of the fishermen become numb? 5. By what reasoning do deer, after shedding their antlers, flee their customary haunts? 6. By what reasoning is rue hostile to snakes? 7. By what reasoning does oil poured upon the sea produce calm? 8. By what reasoning do vultures gestate for three years? 9. By what reasoning does the octopus shun the Pontic Sea? 10. By what reasoning does goat’s blood soften adamant? 11. By what reasoning does superfetation occur in hares? 12. By what reasoning do crows not drink in summer? 13. By what reasoning does diarrhea occur in crows? 14. By what reasoning is the female cicada naturally devoid of song? 15. By what reasoning do the eggs of ibises most readily produce basilisks? 16. By what reasoning does the charadrius shun those suffering from jaundice? 17. By what reasoning does the almond tree, when it bears abundantly, also signify abundance of the other fruits? 18. By what reasoning are waters that have been boiled more stable than other waters, while those from rain disappear more quickly? 19. By what reasoning are frogs in Seriphos voiceless? 20. By what reasoning does no fly settle upon Attic honey? The characters of the dialogue: Antisthenes and Polycrates. Antisthenes, or the Labyrinth. {ANT.} I have not seen Aristagoras son of Timocles for a long time, Polycrates. Where in the world is he? Has he perhaps set out for Sicily to see the fire-breathing craters, or is he sailing around the Indian gulf in order to acquire some knowledge of philosophy?

11 {POLYCRATES} Is it not the case, Antisthenes, that Apollogenes the Corinthian, who came to us yesterday from Athens, said he saw Aristagoras near the Painted Stoa, and reported that he had seen Ariston the natural philosopher and Sosistratus the son of Hermogenes at the Leocorium, having arrived that very day? {ANTISTHENES} From where, then, Polycrates? {POLYCRATES} They had sailed into the Euxine gulf and, after spending time in many and very great labors, brought back to us a cargo of exquisite theories, as if it were some golden fleece; for a certain love of knowledge struck them and goaded them both, and drove them to a Bacchic frenzy for the acquisition of history. For they eagerly desired to see the Maeotian Lake, whether it is round in shape, and whether indeed nine thousand stades encompass its boundaries, as geographers proclaim, presenting us with a credible demonstration. And they say that Pericles the Corinthian met them on the Bosporus and raised some questions in natural philosophy. From this, discourses and theories surge throughout the city, and everyone philosophizes, seeking to speak something acute, and one vies with another in the elegance of doctrine. The Peripatos competes with the Stoa, the Stoa intertwines with the Pythagoreans, Academic discourse does not make peace with the Epicureans, and a bloodless war has been stirred up throughout Greece. {ANTISTHENES} Come then, my good man, tell us about this; for as you see, my mind is winged for theory, and I seek to see the veins of knowledge, like some miners when they perceive the passages of a most precious material.

{Polycrates} It is no small matter that tongues, arguments, and theories attack and are attacked; for a kind of adamantine war has been armed, and they unfold the mysteries of nature. For they say that Pericles said: why then has nature created adamant, which is unburnable and higher than the all-devouring fire? This, my friend, disturbs the chorus of philosophers and has prepared them to be inspired for the investigation of the ineffable; for the Corinthian, binding us with such bonds, as if in some mythical labyrinth, having shut us in the impenetrability of the theory, departed. {Antisthenes} I will tell you a work of nature, Polycrates, since I perceive you to be an ambitious lover of musical words; for I would keep nothing beautiful unknown to a friend, persuaded by the Cyrenaic. {Polycrates} Then lead on, lead on, Antisthenes; let the argument guide us, by which we are accustomed to share our purpose with one another. {Antisthenes} Some very fine pores exist in adamant due to its extreme density; therefore iron is weak against adamant; for it is incapable of being engraved or cut because of its very great compactness. Hence it does not perceive flame, as if the pores were blocking it, and simply opposing the nature of fire from entering the stone. Therefore, things that are unmixed are also separated, and there is no relation between things that are separated, and adamant is uncombined with fire; thus it is unburnable and alienated from the nature of fire due to its density. Iron and gold, at any rate, admit the nature of fire, whence such things are melted or softened. Indeed, also because it is more dry, adamant is naturally unburnable; for everything that is meltable must necessarily partake of a great deal of moisture. {Polycrates} Well said!

with adamantine words you have variegated the theories concerning adamant; yes by heaven, and something higher than adamant: for truth is stronger to us than adamant. But come, let us examine that much-talked-of and famous problem of the Corinthian; for he was exceedingly proud and puffed up about this. {ANT.} Ask whatever you wish. {POL.} He used to say that the feathers of eagles, when placed and interwoven in some way with the feathers of other animals, destroy them, just as here the eagle, wishing to be tyrant of the other birds, and being stripped of its plumage, nonetheless attempts to mount a royal dominion. What is the account, Antisthenes? Tell me the works of nature. {ANT.} Oh, the Corinthian, how worthy a sophist of some mystic science! But at any rate I shall tell you something, Polycrates; and you, apply a quiet ear to me, and you will hear a Sirenian voice, like some Ithacan come upon those high-cycnean melodies. {POL.} Speak then, O Best One. {ANT.} The eagle is a most foul-smelling bird; hence indeed it would never again approach the remains of its own prey, nor would it chance upon yesterday's prey, my friend; and they are inedible to other animals as well; for they have vanished on the same day, like the remnants of some Phineus's and Harpy's dinner.

they come to be. For this reason, the feathers of eagles are somehow destructive. They partake of a certain putrefactive nature. And no other feathers could be preserved if they come near the feathers of eagles; for they perish more quickly. {POLYCRATES} Very sensibly spoken, my friend. But look, Antisthenes, at the paintings of Apelles; I have admired the orderliness of the painting, sir. Behold this Indian animal, how the creator of the painting has adorned it most excellently. There is a story that an elephant does not drink before it has first muddied the waters with its trunk. {ANTISTHENES} What is said is not fabricated; the elephant is terrified by its own shadow when it sees it in the water. For this reason, they say that the Indians wait for a moonless night when they transport this animal across waters. Let the mythical Narcissus learn from the elephant to turn away from his own shadow and to abstain from unnatural loves. {POLYCRATES} I am delighted by the power of your observation, how cleverly you pursue the discourses on nature. But come now, philosophize for me concerning the torpedo fish; and let the proud tongue of the Corinthian grow numb over the problems concerning the torpedo fish that it boasts of. He used to say that those who work at sea, if ever a torpedo fish is caught in the fish-trap, their hands immediately suffer when they draw up the trap by the ropes. How then, my friend, does the animal defend itself against the hunters through the ropes? {ANTISTHENES} Pericles has set his tongue in motion toward the sea of wonders. Restrain your mind within the bounds of knowledge, as you yearn to explore an Atlantic sea of speculation. But I, Polycrates, will gratify your desire with a few small words. {POLYCRATES} Speak, noble one.

These arguments seem to me both urbane and beneficial to the people. I shall not abandon you today, by my best love. {ANSWER.} Air has received a most sensitive nature by allotment; for it is naturally resonant, transparent, and permeable to odors. For divine concerns have so best crafted it, that sympathies and activities might occur through it throughout this terrestrial region. This, then, is the cause of many affections and activities. For how is it that those who suffer from their eyes often make those who look at them partners in their affliction? Indeed, because the surrounding air exists as a middle ground of strength and weakness within us. Therefore, through the air that is present, even the torpedo fish knows how to produce a certain affection in those who approach it, even if they do not touch it. I will also tell you this proof. The magnet, which they also call Heraclean stone, is separate from the iron, and yet we see the stone projecting its activity through the intervening air. And the sympathy that occurs concerning the palm tree—what mind does it not astonish? What ear has it not filled with wonder? In the case of the palm tree, the female and male kinds are distinguished differently. Then, when the male and female are near each other, you would see the female letting down its branches like a lover's hair, yearning for the male and desiring union. But since sometimes its branches do not reach the male, the cultivators contrive a clever device for it regarding this love.

For they bind her with ropes to the male, and thus the female comes to perceive the pleasure, rises from her curvature, and brings her branches back to their proper shape, as if through the ropes she had obtained union with the male. So it is not at all absurd for them to do this, and for the hunters to experience numbness through the ropes. {POLYCRATES.} Good heavens, what a speech! You seem to me, Antisthenes, quite a brother of nature. But the discourse desires to pass from the sea to the land and hastens to transfer the inquiry to the continent. The Corinthian was not mistaken about the deer: when they lose their antlers, they flee their customary haunts, as if ashamed of the disfigurement that has befallen them. {ANTISTHENES.} One might perhaps think that Pericles is joking, Polycrates, or that he is somehow Corybantic and mad, putting forward this perplexity as nonsense. But I have admired the man and honor the love of beauty in his knowledge. But if you agree, shall we sit a while under this plane tree? For the plane tree is broad-spreading, and the height of the chaste tree and its deep shade are very fine. {POLYCRATES.} Lead on, then. {ANTISTHENES.} Do you really think, O son of Sossius, that the deer loses its antlers? {POLYCRATES.} I certainly do; I have seen this countless times, when I was a boy in age and rather rustic in mind, when the huntsman’s pursuits seemed so absorbing to me, when I admired glens and hillocks, and the high-crested mountains were my haunts. {ANTISTHENES.} Then I too shall tell why deer, as if they had cut off their antlers, flee their customary haunts.

Sensation exists even in irrational animals, Polycrates, by which they have received the discernment of their own preservation. The cuttlefish knows the trick of its own ink and has often placed invisibility of capture upon hunters. The birds of prey know their strength through their talons. The hare knows how to repel the plots of the hunter through running and the swiftness of its feet. The deer, having shed its antlers, knows that its nature is weaker to defend against those who have harmed it. Therefore it hides itself like some unarmed soldier, afraid to join battle and wishing to be far away from the fight. In addition to these things, the animal suffers terribly in its head. Nature understands these things, and philosophy is initiated into them. {POL.} Like a good hunter, my friend, who has captured some great understanding for the discussion. Now musical breezes blow around us under a beautiful plane tree, whence it is splendid to draw forth a discourse. Come then, guide me to the marvels of Libya. For there the Corinthian said he saw something extraordinary, that snakes flee from rue, as if some power were scaring them away. What is the meaning? Answer your Polycrates, as if making responses from some Pythian tripod. {ANT.} You are exceedingly fond of inquiry, Polycrates. As for me, by Prudence, it had escaped my notice. But since this too is desirable to you for contemplation, you will not find us careless regarding this argument as well. The snake has received a nature that is very cold, and also dry and sinewy. Let this be a proof of the truth for you.

In winter, as if in some caves, the serpent desires its lairs and dwells in the depths of the earth, since in winter these are warmer and provide a suitable abode for warmth. But again, when summer comes, it rises to the surface of the earth and greets the terrestrial surface. And the serpent knows the changes of the seasons, not having been taught astronomy or the sophistries of the Chaldeans. Libyan rue, then, is extremely dry and immediately causes serpents to faint, as if providing a kind of hangover and dizziness through the excesses of its dryness. {POLYCRATES} Your account is very well put, presenting images of truth. But I again have a desire to travel to the sea. For whenever my mind looks upon the wonders of the land, it wishes to flee to the sea; and whenever it sails to the craftsmanship of the sea, it desires to release the wonders from the depths and receives the sights on the continent. {ANTISTHENES} If, then, there is need again for words, Polycrates, tell me, tell me, how does your contemplation sail? {POLYCRATES} I hear that sailors use oil to calm the sea, pouring it in, as if contriving that the sea will become gentle from this when it is swelling. This is also what fishermen do around their catches of fish. Convey me, Antisthenes, to this contemplation, as if on some skiff. {ANTISTHENES} The wind is very fine, Polycrates; but oil is viscous due to its smoothness. The wind, then, slipping because of the smoothness, is unable to produce a swell in the waters.

From this the sea smiles with calm, as if with some kindly oil it soothes its own fury. {POLYCRATES} I will detain you still and would not let you go, Antisthenes; for I am insatiable with pleasure and have not had my fill. The Corinthian marvels that vultures are pregnant for a period of three years, and this seems to me a strange thing, foreign to the laws of nature. For I have never heard of such a dramatic invention. {ANTISTHENES} Many kinds of birds, Polycrates, have no need of the union of males for conception. But while in other cases wind-eggs are barren, the laws of nature command vultures to give birth without pairing. Therefore one cannot see a male vulture, but the female nature has claimed the entire gender for itself. Knowing this and fearing the desolation of their offspring, the whole species marshals itself for reproduction, like the Lemnian women watching the departure of the heroes' fleet. Then the vultures perform a clever stratagem: they fly head-on into the south wind. But if there is no south wind, they spread their wings to the kindred east wind; then they open their beaks and are filled with the inrushing wind, and give birth to living creatures, not wind-eggs. Therefore nature requires a very long time for the completion of a living being, Polycrates; for it is difficult and very laborious for nature to substantialize the wind and to mold the most rarefied substance into the completion of a living creature. {POLYCRATES} I thought the Corinthian was telling marvels, Antisthenes. But we have been caught and are leaping into the net of truth. So is this to be the limit of my school of philosophy? No, no indeed; for I will not depart having acquired only a half-finished knowledge.

In the Pontus they say that fish dwell, but that the octopus is not found around the northern gulf. {ANTISTHENES} And quite reasonably, Polycrates; for the Pontus is bereft of the octopus. For fish, at least those that also pursue fresh waters, need cold; but the octopus loves heat and turns back towards the sea, for this is warmer than other waters. The octopus, then, is hostile to the Pontic sea; for the northern sea is naturally colder, and also sweeter than the rest of the sea, since it is fed by many and great rivers. Both cold and sweetness are contrary to the octopus. And I will tell you something sufficient for proof. When an octopus clings to a rock, it holds on tenaciously; therefore those skilled in hunting pour sweet water on the rock. And they obtain the sought-after prey, while the octopus withdraws from its own base. Beginning of the second dialogue. The Dionysus of Semele, or rather the Dionysus of Zeus—for the birth of Dionysus was double from Zeus—the Dionysus of Zeus, then, when the woman had miscarried the half-formed child, and the mythical god was a half-finished boy, the father completed the offspring in his thigh; and again the Dionysus of Semele was gestated. Complete for me the half-finished words, teachers, in whom perfection resides; for you do not endure unfulfilled rational labors. Eros belonged to Pan. And Pan loved himself, and the desired echo was a voice, even if the sophism escaped Pan. He spoke and perceived his beloved, he ceased his song, and the desired one was invisible. I too will sing.

The gathering will, I know, resound in response, and I shall perceive the longed-for applause, even if the praise is beyond the worth of what is said. {POLYCRATES} Inquisitive souls know no satiety of knowledge. So let the discourse proceed to the goal, Antisthenes; for my ears are more insatiable than my eyes. The Corinthian said that diamond is softened by goat's blood. And this seems to be a divine and ineffable thing. Come, then, let this be the beginning and end of our meeting. Let the discussions concerning diamond be our subject. {ANTISTHENES} Already, Polycrates, we have posited the nature of diamond as something dry, cold, and without moisture; hence diamond is reasonably subject to opposites. But the nature of blood is something hot and moist; therefore the dry and moistureless is subdued by the moist, and the cold is softened by heat. {POLYCRATES} And why then is diamond not subject to every blood? {ANTISTHENES} Goat's blood is the hottest; from this, in some way, it prevails even over diamond. And some already soften diamond with lion's blood, overcoming its implacability by the excesses of heat. {POLYCRATES} There is, then, some difference even among

...with blood. {ANT.} Absolutely; deer's blood has a certain property, and bull's blood has a distinct effect. 28 {POLY.} Your argument is compelling, Antisthenes. But look at Ariston's son for me, how vigorously the young man is riding. Indeed, as you see, he is even dragging along a pair of hunting dogs. His horse, high-necked, its mane adorned with some golden necklaces, seems to prance and rear in its gait, as if luxuriating in its pride. The boy, mounted, holding the reins in his right hand, urges the horse on with his feet and has set his course toward the city. And the young man seems delighted; for he has not encountered any lack of game. Look how large a hare is suspended for him. And from this, a certain observation has occurred to me. I once heard a man say—one in whose company there is no boast of mythical fictions—that hares are in the process of giving birth to some of their offspring, have already given birth to others, and still carry some incomplete in the womb. {ANT.} The nature of hares is extremely prolific, Polycrates. A single instance is sufficient to demonstrate what is said. A hare's rennet, placed in a childless woman, quickly made her pregnant and grants a suckling child to a barren woman. Conception, then, is not separated in hares, but while the offspring are still being brought to term, a superfetation, as it were, occurs in them. Therefore, some the hare has given birth to, some it is in the process of giving birth to, and some it still carries incomplete in the womb. Poets sing of Aegyptus and Danaus as having very many children, but the hare surpasses them, as the Abderite said, though believing it is harmless. {POLY.} You have convinced me with natural necessities, Antisthenes, by relating something firm to me about hares.

But the discussion has somehow flown off to the race of crows and become lofty; for I perceive that they are as if prevented from drawing water in the summer season. 30 {ANT.} Crows suffer a certain affliction in the summer season; and the affliction is a flux of the stomach, Polycrates. Hence rivers, springs, and lakes are of no use to crows in summer, lest the moisture give increase to the flux of the stomach. So crows know a regimen of diet, not having learned from Hippocrates, nor having been instructed in the remedies of Machaon or Chiron. At any rate, crows see Arethusa in the summer season, and they also see the streams of the Ister, and indeed the Nile flooding Egypt; but nevertheless it is not possible for them to drink, but like Tantaluses they are punished, exacting this most severe penalty. {POLY.} Good for you and your knowledge; well done for the plane tree, how sweetly the cicadas perched on the newly sprouted branches chirp for me. And from this a discourse about cicadas has entered into me; it is permitted for me to extol the works of nature. A female cicada is altogether voiceless by nature, as if ashamed of loquacity by modesty. Do you not see this cicada sitting decorously on the branch, quite silently, as if taught the teachings of Pythagoras? {ANT.} Cicadas are cold in nature. Therefore they begin their song after the solstices, and when the sun begins they emit their own chirping, and at midday cicadas are more melodious. So a female cicada is much colder than the male, and nature commands silence to her, imposing an increase of coldness.

Therefore, the chattering cicada has no female, but like some Theano keeping silent about unspeakable things, as if obeying Homer, who seems to me to teach that "a story will concern men." {POL.} I was pleased by the argument. But come now, move on; the argument will speak. For just now my contemplation arrived from Egypt, bearing a not unmusical account. They say that the Egyptians plot against the eggs of the ibises, so that their offspring might not bring forth some evil. For the Egyptians noisily proclaim that some terrible creature somehow has its origin from these. Is this some nonsense or a mythologem? {ANT.} It does not seem so to me. For the invention is truly wise and Egyptian. And if you desire to hear the account, I have something to tell you, my friend. This bird delights in feeding on foul things. It especially rejoices in the capture of venomous creatures, being very voracious. But the ibis is also hostile to snakes, just as the basilisk is. Therefore, the feathers of ibises are hostile to snakes. It gorges itself on the flesh of snakes and scorpions and rejoices in this hunt. So then, just as from some putrid generation a terrible evil, the Basilisk, sprouted. Therefore, the Egyptians destroy the eggs of ibises whenever they see them, as if cutting off in advance a future harm to themselves. If then Priam had emulated the Egyptians, or Laius had killed Oedipus, Troy would not have been captured, nor would the incestuous union in Thebes have occurred. {POL.} I would have great gratitude to Pericles, Antisthenes; for he has become the cause of very great knowledge for us.

Since the account impersonates the Egyptian Proteus for us, having recently slipped into theories about crows, at other times about adamant, then having moved to theories about ibises, it now lurks in the pastures of the charadrius. Come then, change the conversation. They say that those suffering from jaundice are immediately freed from the affliction if a charadrius looks at them. The spiteful charadrius therefore closes the pupils of its eyes, as if it had an envious disposition regarding the transmission of health. {ANT.} Away with this absurdity, Polycrates, away. For irrational animals have no share in spite; nor is Prometheus punished among them for giving some good, namely fire, to humans. The charadrius closes its eye because the affliction is transferred and the disease immediately passes to the bird. {POL.} The greatest thing, wisdom, resides in human nature for the smallest thing. Come now, let us spend a little time on this almond tree, my friend, since something sweet whispers to me, and some moderate breezes blow around it. {ANT.} See the almond tree laden with fruit and almost bent over and bowing to the ground with the burden of its offspring. Therefore, Polycrates, it is a very great sign of a good season. {POL.} How so, my good man? {ANT.} This plant welcomes a temperate climate, and it flourishes in fruitfulness when this earthly abode enjoys a peaceful season. Hence the almond tree becomes a herald of a good season, not announcing the onset of winter or the influx of rains. {POL.} But if you agree, let us go quickly to this portico.

As you see, it begins to drizzle and threatens the presence of rain; I perceive the movements of the winds. And there has also been some benefit to me for recollection of meteorology. {ANT.} How great would the undertaking be? {POL.} Liquids boiled by fire are more resistant to putrefaction in their nature, as if the earthy substance in them has been consumed. Therefore, it would be necessary, indeed necessary, that waters coming to us from rains should be somehow more resistant to putrefaction than other waters, since the sun filters and draws up the most subtle part. But the very opposite is to be observed: waters produced from rains putrefy more quickly. {ANT.} The nature of rains is very mixed, my friend; for the sun draws up from all moistures. Therefore, the unevenness is easily moved and proceeds more quickly toward some corruption; for it is most pleasing to discordant elements to be separated. Moreover, the heaviest part of what is drawn up is brought down again, since the heavy has been allotted the inclination toward the downward direction. For the most subtle part of the exhalation became the nature of winds. {POL.} Very well indeed. But you will free me from the charge of perplexity, Antisthenes, by completing for me the discourses concerning nature. Lysimachus the son of Phalaris said he saw the frogs in Seriphos voiceless. {ANT.} The nature of the waters is the cause of their voicelessness, Polycrates, because of their excessive coldness. Hence, if one were to transfer the animal to other waters, it would immediately become talkative and be transferred to its proper nature, as if released from the bonds of Circe. The bitter water of Cyrene renders the frog voiceless. {POL.} Very scientifically, my friend. What has happened to us?

In Attica somewhere I seem to stand all together and to recall somehow the symposium of Theagenes; for Theagenes the Salaminian entertained both me and Dositheus the son of Cleinias. He provided us with dishes and honey-cake. I, then, having bid farewell to the drinking, rolled myself over to some discussions ambitiously, as it seems, and indeed Theagenes said to me: Do you not see, Polycrates, how it is not possible for a fly to plunder the labors of the Attic bee? And I marveled at what was said; for the comprehension was very difficult for us. {ANT.} It is possible to see Attica blooming with thyme, on which Attic bees settle rather frequently. Hence the honey also has a sharper scent. Therefore, just as with some Attic sacred thing, a fly does not settle upon the honey. But buzzing around, they are nevertheless prevented from plundering the labors of the Attic bee. Where is Darius, who armed himself against Greece? Let a fly teach the arrogance of Xerxes, that it is not lawful to set foot upon the land of Attica. {POL.} You have entertained me very ambitiously, Antisthenes, relating to me as a dessert Attic bee-keeping in your theory. Is the comprehension of these things spontaneous for you? {ANT.} Not at all, Polycrates; already long ago many and famous discourses and works have been laid down by the ancients, on which settling with the mind like bees, we have collected them toward one most comprehensive hypothesis, having gone through the argument more elaborately as was possible. For I will not appropriate the labors of Democritus, nor will I attach to myself the glory of Aristotle, nor will I steal anything of Plato's.

nor would I leave Iamblichus uncrowned, nor Proclus, nor Galen, the refined in knowledge, nor Plotinus, nor Sotion, nor Alexander, nor Theophrastus, the sea of learning, nor Bolus, nor Aelian, nor Plutarch, the wealth of knowledge, nor Ambron, nor Imbrasius, nor Damascius, nor Hierocles the son of Timagenes. And why should I set before you the catalogue of the rest, from whom, having gathered certain propositions and principles, we have produced for you, as it were, a synopsis, as best we could, since you are fond of inquiry? For it is not lawful, Polycrates, to pride oneself on another's adornment, like some mythical jackdaw. For there is nothing that has not been accomplished by the ancients. But to happen upon it most readily is not at all easy. {POLYCRATES} May I enjoy your knowledge, Antisthenes, and I depart rejoicing. For I have received a fortunate windfall, a favorable acquisition of the knowledge of arguments that are hard to come by.