Greek Texts & Translations

All things happen by virtue of necessity, the vortex being the cause of the creation of all things, and this he calls necessity. The end of action is tranquillity, which is not identical with pleasure, as some by a false interpretation have understood, but a state in which the soul continues calm and strong, undisturbed by any fear or superstition or any other emotion. This he calls well-being and many other names. The qualities of things exist merely by convention ; in nature there is nothing but atoms and void space. These, then, are his opinions.

Of his works Thrasylus has made an ordered catalogue, arranging them in fours, as he also arranged Plato's works.

The ethical works are the following :

I. Pythagoras.

Of the Disposition of the Wise Man.

Of those in Hades.

Tritogeneia (so called because three things, on which all mortal life depends, come from her).

II. Of Manly Excellence, or Of Virtue. Amalthea's Horn (the Horn of Plenty). Of Tranquillity.

Ethical Commentaries : the work on Wellbeing is not to be found.

So much for the ethical works.

The physical works are these :

III. The Great Diacosmos (which the school of Theophrastus attribute to Leucippus).

The Lesser Diacosmos.

Description of the World.

On the Planets.

IV. Of Nature, one book.

Of the Nature of Man, or Of Flesh, a second book on Nature.

Of Reason.

Of the Senses (some editors combine these two under the title Of the Soul).

V. Of Flavours.

Of Colours.

Of the Different Shapes (of Atoms).

Of Changes of Shape.

VI. Confirmations (summaries of the aforesaid works).

On Images, or On Foreknowledge of the Future.

On Logic, or Criterion of Thought, three books.

Problems.

So much for the physical works.

The following fall under no head :

Causes of Celestial Phenomena.

Causes of Phenomena in the Air.

Causes on the Earth's Surface.

Causes concerned with Fire and Things in Fire. Causes concerned with Sounds.

Causes concerned with Seeds, Plants and Fruits.

Causes concerned with Animals, three books.

Miscellaneous Causes.

Concerning the Magnet.

These works have not been arranged.

The mathematical works are these :

VII. On a Difference in an Angle, or On Contact with the Circle or the Sphere.

On Geometry.

Geometrica.

Numbers.

VIII. On Irrational Lines and Solids, two books.

Extensions ^note (Projections).

The Great Year, or Astronomy, Calendar.

Contention of the Water-clock [and the Heaven].

IX. Description of the Heaven.

Geography.

Description of the Pole.

Description of Rays of Light.

These are the mathematical works.

The literary and musical works are these :

X. On Rhythms and Harmony.

On Poetry.

On Beauty of Verses.

On Euphonious and Cacophonous Letters.

XI. Concerning Homer, or On Correct Epic Diction, and On Glosses.

Of Song.

On Words.

A Vocabulary.

So much for the works on literature and music.

The works on the arts are these :

XII. Prognostication.

Of Diet, or Diaetetics.

Medical Regimen.

Causes concerned with Things Seasonable and Unseasonable.

XIII. Of Agriculture, or Concerning Land Measurements.

Of Painting.

Treatise on Tactics, and

On Fighting in Armour.

So much for these works.

Some include as separate items in the list the following works taken from his notes :

Of the Sacred Writings in Babylon.

Of those in Meroë.

A Voyage round the Ocean.

Of [the Right Use of] History.

A Chaldaean Treatise.

A Phrygian Treatise.

Concerning Fever and those whose Malady makes them Cough.

Legal Causes and Effects.

Problems wrought by Hand. ^note

The other works which some attribute to Democritus are either compilations from his writings or admittedly not genuine. So much for the books that he wrote and their number.

The name of Democritus has been borne by six persons : (1) our philosopher ; (2) a contemporary of his, a musician of Chios ; (3) a sculptor, mentioned by Antigonus ; (4) an author who wrote on the temple at Ephesus and the state of Samothrace ; (5) an epigrammatist whose style is lucid and ornate ; (6) a native of Pergamum who made his mark by rhetorical speeches.