Phorcys

Although they give no proof, we must believe them as is customary.

They tell us that Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven; that Phorcys, Cronus, and Rhea came in the next generation, and were followed by Zeus and Hera, whose brothers and children are known to everybody.

When all of them, both those who show themselves in the sky and those who retire from view, had come into being, the Creator addressed them thus: Gods, sons of gods, my works, if I will, are indissoluble; that which is bound may be dissolved, but only an evil being would dissolve that which is harmonious and happy.

And although you are not immortal, you shall not die, for I will hold you together.

Mankind, with hardly an exception, have not remarked the periods of the other stars, and they have no name for them, and do not measure them against one another by the help of number, and hence they can scarcely be said to know that their wanderings, being infinite in number and admirable for their variety, make up time.

And yet there is no difficulty in seeing that the perfect number of time fulfils the perfect year when all the eight revolutions, having their relative degrees of swiftness, are accomplished together and attain their completion at the same time.

measured by the rotation of the same and equally moving after this manner and for these reasons came into being such of the stars as in their heavenly progress received reversals of motion to the end that the created heaven might imitate the eternal nature and be as like as possible to the perfect and intelligible animal thus far and until the birth of time the created universe was made in the likeness of the original but inasmuch as all animals were not yet comprehended therein it was still unlike what remained the creator then proceeded to fashion after the nature of the pattern now as in the ideal animal the mind perceives ideas or species of a certain nature and number he thought that this created animal ought to have species of a like nature and number there are four such one of them is the heavenly race of the gods another the race of birds whose way is in the air the third the watery species and the fourth the pedestrian and land creatures of the heavenly and divine he created the greater part out of fire that they might be the brightest of all things and fairest to behold and he fashioned them after the likeness of the universe in the figure of a circle and made them follow the intelligent motion of the supreme distributing them over the whole circumference of heaven which was to be a true cosmos or glorious world spangled with them all over and he gave to each of them two movements the first a movement on the same spot after the same manner whereby they ever continue to think consistently the same thoughts about the same things the second a forward movement in which they are controlled by the revolution of the same and alike but by the other five motions they were unaffected in order that each of them might attain the highest perfection and for this reason the fixed stars were created to be divine and eternal animals ever abiding and revolving after the same manner and on the same spot and the other stars which reverse their motion and are subject to deviations of this kind were created in the manner already described the earth which is our nurse clinging or circling around the pole which is extended through the universe he framed to be the guardian and artificer of night and day first and eldest of gods that are in the interior of heaven vain would be the attempt to tell all the figures of them circling as in dance and their juxtapositions and the return of them in their revolutions upon themselves and their approximations and to say which of these deities in their conjunctions meet and which of them are in opposition and in what order they get behind and before one another and when they are severally eclipsed to our sight and again reappear sending terrors and intimations of the future to those who cannot calculate their movements to attempt to tell of all this without a visible representation of the heavenly system would be labour in vain enough on this head and now let what we have said about the nature of the created and visible gods have an end end of part two part three of Timaeus this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anna Simon Timaeus by Plato translated by Benjamin Jowett part three Timaeus continues to know or tell the origin of the other divinities is beyond us and we must accept the traditions of the men of old time who affirm themselves to be the offspring of the gods that is what they say and they must surely have known their own ancestors how can we doubt the word of the children of the gods although they give no probable or certain proofs still as they declare that they are speaking of what took place in their own family we must conform to custom and believe them in this manner then according to them the genealogy of these gods is to be received and set forth Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven and from these sprang Phorcys and Cronos and Rhea and all that generation and from Cronos and Rhea sprang Zeus and Hera and all those who are said to be their brethren and others who are the children of these now when all of them both those who visibly appear in their revolutions as well as those other gods who are of a more retiring nature had come into being the creator of the universe addressed them in these words gods children of gods who are my works and of who I am the artificer and father my creations are indissoluble if so I will all that is bound may be undone but only an evil being would wish to undo that which is harmonious and happy wherefore since ye are but creatures ye are not altogether immortal and indissoluble but ye shall certainly not be dissolved nor be liable to the fate of death having in my will a greater and mightier bond than those with which ye were bound at the time of your birth and now listen to my instructions three tribes of mortal beings remain to be created without them the universe will be incomplete for it will not contain every kind of animal which it ought to contain if it is to be perfect on the other hand if they were created by me and received life at my hands they would be on an equality with the gods in order then that they may be mortal and that this universe may be truly universal do ye according to your natures betake yourselves to the formation of animals imitating the power which was shown by me in creating you the part of them worthy of the name immortal which is called divine and is the guiding principle of those who are willing to follow justice and you Of that divine part I will myself sow the seed; and having made a beginning, I will hand the work over to you.

And do ye then interweave the mortal with the immortal, and make and beget living creatures, and give them food, and make them to grow, and receive them again in death.

Although they give no proof, we must believe them as is customary.

They tell us that Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven; that Phorcys, Cronus, and Rhea came in the next generation, and were followed by Zeus and Hera, whose brothers and children are known to everybody.

When all of them, both those who show themselves in the sky and those who retire from view, had come into being, the Creator addressed them thus: 'Gods, sons of gods, my works, if I will, are indissoluble.

That which is bound may be dissolved, but only an evil being would dissolve that which is harmonious and happy.

How can we doubt the word of the children of the gods? Although they give no probable or certain proofs, still, as they declare that they are speaking of what took place in their own family, we must conform to custom and believe them.

In this manner, then, according to them, the genealogy of these gods is to be received and set forth.

Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven, and from these sprang Phorcys and Cronos and Rhea and all that generation; and from Cronos and Rhea sprang Zeus and Here, and all those who are said to be their brethren, and others who were the children of these.

Now when all of them, both those who visibly appear in their revolutions as well as those other gods who are of a more retiring nature, had come into being, the creator of the universe addressed them in these words: Gods, children of gods, who are my works, and of who I am the artificer and father, my creations are indissoluble, if so I will.

The horrid births of night does Phoebus, beauty's friend, drive out of sight to caverns, or he binds them fast."

Phorkyas appears on the threshold between the doorposts.

"Much my experience, although tresses youthfully clustering wave on my temples.

Many the terrible things I have witnessed, warriors lamenting Ilion's night when it fell.

Saw I, or was it but dread of the mind that fashioned forms so frightening? Never can justly I say it, yet that I her, horrible, here with eyes behold, is to me known and certain.

Even to my hand were palpable, did not the terror restrain me, holding me back from the danger.

Which one of Phorkyas's daughters then art thou, since I compare thee unto that family? Art thou perchance of the Graiae, one of the dreaded gray-born, one eye and tooth only owning alternately? Darest thou, monster, here beside beauty unto high Phoebus's vision display thee? Step thou forth notwithstanding, for the ugly beholds he not, even as his hallowed glances never beheld the shadow.

Yet a sorrowful adverse fate us mortals compelleth, alas, to endure the unspeakable eye-pain which she, the accursed, reprehensible, provokes in the lovers of beauty.

Although they give no proof, we must believe them as is customary.

They tell us that Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven; that Phorcys, Cronus, and Rhea came in the next generation, and were followed by Zeus and Hera, whose brothers and children are known to everybody.

When all of them, both those who show themselves in the sky and those who retire from view, had come into being, the Creator addressed them thus: 'Gods, sons of gods, my works, if I will, are indissoluble.

That which is bound may be dissolved, but only an evil being would dissolve that which is harmonious and happy.

One of them is the heavenly race of the gods, another the race of birds whose way is in the air, the third the watery species, and the fourth the pedestrian and land creatures.

Of the heavenly and divine he created the greater part out of fire, that they might be the brightest of all things and fairest to behold, and he fashioned them after the likeness of the universe in the figure of a circle, and made them follow the intelligent motion of the supreme, distributing them over the whole circumference of heaven, which was to be a true cosmos or glorious world spangled with them all over.

And he gave to each of them two movements the first a movement on the same spot after the same manner whereby they ever continue to think consistently the same thoughts about the same things the second a forward movement in which they are controlled by the revolution of the same and alike but by the other five motions they were unaffected in order that each of them might attain the highest perfection and for this reason the fixed stars were created to be divine and eternal animals ever abiding and revolving after the same manner and on the same spot and the other stars which reverse their motion and are subject to deviations of this kind were created in the manner already described the earth which is our nurse clinging or circling around the pole which is extended through the universe he framed to be the guardian and artificer of night and day first and eldest of gods that are in the interior of heaven vain would be the attempt to tell all the figures of them circling as in dance and their juxtapositions and the return of them in their revolutions upon themselves and their approximations and to say which of these deities in their conjunctions meet and which of them are in opposition and in what order they get behind and before one another and when they are severally eclipsed to our sight and again reappear sending terrors and intimations of the future to those who cannot calculate their movements to attempt to tell of all this without a visible representation of the heavenly system would be labour in vain enough on this head and now let what we have said about the nature of the created and visible gods have an end end of part two part three of Timaeus this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anna Simon Timaeus by Plato translated by Benjamin Jowett part three Timaeus continues to know or tell the origin of the other divinities is beyond us and we must accept the traditions of the men of old time who affirm themselves to be the offspring of the gods that is what they say and they must surely have known their own ancestors how can we doubt the word of the children of the gods although they give no probable or certain proofs still as they declare that they are speaking of what took place in their own family we must conform to custom and believe them in this manner then according to them the genealogy of these gods is to be received and set forth Oceanus and Tethys were the children of Earth and Heaven and from these sprang Phorcys and Kronos and Rhea and all that generation and from Kronos and Rhea sprang Zeus and Here and all those who are said to be their brethren and others who are the children of these now when all of them both those who visibly appear in their revolutions as well as those other gods who are of a more retiring nature had come into being the creator of the universe addressed them in these words gods children of gods who are my works and of who I am the artificer and father my creations are indissoluble if so I will all that is bound may be undone but only an evil being would wish to undo that which is harmonious and happy wherefore since ye are but creatures ye are not altogether immortal and indissoluble but ye shall certainly not be dissolved nor be liable to the fate of death having in my will a greater and mightier bond than those with which ye were bound at the time of your birth and now listen to my instructions three tribes of mortal beings remain to be created without them the universe will be incomplete for it will not contain every kind of animal which it ought to contain if it is to be perfect on the other hand if they were created by me and received life at my hands they would be on an equality with the gods in order then that they may be mortal and that this universe may be truly universal do ye according to your natures betake yourselves to the formation of animals imitating the power which was shown by me in creating you the part of them worthy of the name immortal which is called divine and is the guiding principle of those who are willing to follow justice and you of that divine part I will myself sow the seed and having made a beginning I will hand the work over to you and do ye then interweave the mortal with the immortal and make and beget living creatures and give them food and make them to grow and receive them again in death thus he spake and once more into the cup in which he had previously mingled the soul of the universe he poured the remains of the elements and mingled them in much the same manner they were not however pure as before but diluted to the second and third degree and having made it he divided the whole mixture into souls equal in number to the stars and assigned each soul to a star and having there placed them as in a chariot he showed them the nature of the universe and declared to them the laws of destiny according to which their first birth would be one and the same for all no one should suffer a disadvantage at his hands they were to be sown in the instruments of time severally adapted to them and to come forth the most religious of animals and as human nature was of two kinds the superior race would hereafter be called man now when they should be implanted in bodies by necessity and be always gaining or losing some part of their bodily substance then in the first place it would be necessary that they should all have in them one and the same faculty of sensation arising out of irresistible impressions In the second place, they must have love, in which pleasure and pain mingle, also fear and anger, and the feelings which are akin or opposite to them.

If they conquered these, they would live righteously, and if they were conquered by them, unrighteously.

Gaia also produced the mountains, and Pontus the sea.

She united herself with the latter, and their offspring were the sea deities Nereus, Thaumus, Phorcus, Ceto, and Eurybia.

Coexistent with Uranus and Gaia were two mighty powers who were also the offspring of Chaos, These were Erebus, darkness, and Nix, night, who formed a striking contrast to this cheerful light of heaven and the bright smiles of earth.

Erebus reigned in that mysterious world below, where no ray of sunshine, no gleam of daylight, nor vestige of health-giving terrestrial life ever appeared.

The horrid births of night, does Phoebus, beauty's friend, drive out of sight to caverns, or he binds them fast.

Phorkyas appears on the threshold between the doorposts.

Much may experience all although the tresses youthfully clustering wave on my temples, many the terrible things I have witnessed, warriors lamenting Ilion's night when it fell.

Through the beclouded, dusty, and maddened throngs of the combatants heard I the gods then terribly calling, heard I the iron accents of discord clanging through the field citywards.

Saw I, or was it but dread of the mind that fashioned forms so frightening? Never can justly I say it, yet that I her, horrible, here with eyes behold, is to me known and certain.

Even to my hand were palpable, did not the terror restrain me, holding me back from the danger.

Which one of Phorkyas's daughters then art thou, since I compare thee unto that family? Art thou perchance of the Graiae, one of the dreaded grayborn, one eye and tooth only owning alternately? Darest thou, monster, here beside beauty unto high Phoebus's vision display thee? Step thou forth notwithstanding, for the ugly beholds he not, even as his hallowed glances never beheld the shadow.

Yet a sorrowful adverse fate us mortals compelleth, alas!

You, sir, take no heed of this, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy, did he not propitiate you with many a burnt sacrifice? Why then should you keep on being so angry with him?' And Jove said, My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget Ulysses, than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having blinded an eye of Polyphemus, king of the Cyclops.

Polyphemus is son to Neptune by the nymph Thuosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys.

Therefore, though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by preventing him from getting home.

Still, let us lay our heads together and see how we can help him to return.