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However, all the mouths of the Nile, with the single exception of that at
Canopus, are obviously artificial and not natural. And Egypt was nothing
more than what is called Thebes, as Homer, too, shows, modern though he is
in relation to such changes. For Thebes is the place that he mentions; which
implies that Memphis did not yet exist, or at any rate was not as important as
it is now. That this should be so is natural, since the lower land came to be
inhabited later than that which lay higher. For the parts that lie nearer to the
place where the river is depositing the silt are necessarily marshy for a longer
time since the water always lies most in the newly formed land. But in time
this land changes its character, and in its turn enjoys a period of prosperity.
For these places dry up and come to be in good condition while the places that
were formerly well-tempered some day grow excessively dry and deteriorate.
This happened to the land of Argos and Mycenae in Greece. In the time of the
Trojan wars the Argive land was marshy and could only support a small
population, whereas the land of Mycenae was in good condition (and for this
reason Mycenae was the superior). But now the opposite is the case, for the
reason we have mentioned: the land of Mycenae has become completely dry
and barren, while the Argive land that was formerly barren owing to the water
has now become fruitful. Now the same process that has taken place in this
small district must be supposed to be going on over whole countries and on a
large scale.
Men whose outlook is narrow suppose the cause of such events to be
change in the universe, in the sense of a coming to be of the world as a whole.
Hence they say that the sea being dried up and is growing less, because this is
observed to have happened in more places now than formerly. But this is only
partially true. It is true that many places are now dry, that formerly were
covered with water. But the opposite is true too: for if they look they will find
that there are many places where the sea has invaded the land. But we must
not suppose that the cause of this is that the world is in process of becoming.
For it is absurd to make the universe to be in process because of small and
trifling changes, when the bulk and size of the earth are surely as nothing in
comparison with the whole world. Rather we must take the cause of all these
changes to be that, just as winter occurs in the seasons of the year, so in
determined periods there comes a great winter of a great year and with it
excess of rain. But this excess does not always occur in the same place. The
deluge in the time of Deucalion, for instance, took place chiefly in the Greek
world and in it especially about ancient Hellas, the country about Dodona and
the Achelous, a river which has often changed its course. Here the Selli dwelt
and those who were formerly called Graeci and now Hellenes. When,
therefore, such an excess of rain occurs we must suppose that it suffices for a
long time. We have seen that some say that the size of the subterranean
730
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Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156