Ριζωματα – four foundations of the universe

Abstract

Empedocles believed that everything in the world could be explained by four “roots” and two acting forces. Since Aristotle's time, these four “roots” have been called “elements,” which has greatly distorted the perception of Empedocles' philosophy. Let us ask ourselves - can we really attribute to Empedocles the idea of “roots” as material particles endowed with definite and clearly defined characteristics? A careful reading of the surviving fragments of Empedocles' poem confronts us rather with uncertainty. Empedocles resorts to various ways of representing them, thus confusing the listener. One has the feeling that, with the numerous epithets and names inherent in the roots,

he himself was only trying to find the best way of understanding them. In this article we turn to a large number of fragments in which names, epithets, characteristics, or metaphorical descriptions of roots are mentioned. After carefully analyzing them and offering our own translations into Russian, we come to the conclusion that the understanding of the roots cannot be reduced to simple elements. They are described as gods, as natural elements, as the smallest particles, from the mixture of which everything in the world can be composed. This study shows once again that Empedocles was an outstanding and original thinker, whose ideas cannot be reduced to simple and comprehensible forms.