library_books Bookstacks

Section 109

"First," he said, "I am persuaded that if the earth is spherical and in the middle of the heavens, it needs neither air nor any other such necessity to keep from falling. The uniformity of the heavens themselves in every direction, and the equilibrium of the earth itself, are sufficient to hold it. A thing in equilibrium situated in the middle of a uniform medium will have no reason to incline more or less in any direction; being uniform, it will remain without inclining. This is the first thing I am persuaded of." "And rightly so," said Simmias. "Further," he said, "I believe it is very large, and that we who live between the Pillars of Heracles and the Phasis river dwell in only a small part of it, living around the sea like ants or frogs around a pond. Many other people live in many other such regions. For there are many hollows all over the earth, of various shapes and sizes, into which water, mist, and air have flowed together. But the earth itself is pure and lies in the pure heavens, where the stars are, which those who discuss such things call the aether. What flows together into the hollows of the earth is merely the sediment of the aether. We are unaware that we are living in the hollows of the earth and think we live on its upper surface. It is as if someone living at the bottom of the sea thought he was living on the surface, and seeing the sun and stars through the water, thought the sea was the sky. Because he is sluggish and weak, he has never reached the top of the sea, nor lifted his head above the water to see how much purer and more beautiful our region is than his, nor has he heard it from anyone who has seen it. This is exactly what has happened to us. We live in a hollow of the earth, yet assume we live on the top of it. We call the air 'heaven', as though it were the heaven through which the stars run. The truth is the same: because of our weakness and sluggishness, we cannot travel to the upper limit of the air. If someone could reach the top, or grow wings and fly up, he would peek over—just as fish popping their heads out of the sea look upon our world—and he would look upon the world there. If his nature could endure the sight, he would know that it is the true heaven, the true light, and the true earth. For this earth of ours, its stones, and the entire region here are corrupted and eaten away, just as things in the sea are by the salt water. Nothing worth mentioning grows in the sea, nor is there anything perfect; there are only caves, sand, immeasurable mud, and mire wherever there is earth—none of it worthy of comparison with our beautiful things. But the things there would appear to far surpass the things we have here. If it is right to tell a story, Simmias, it is worth hearing what the things on the true earth beneath the heavens are really like." "Indeed, Socrates," said Simmias, "we would gladly hear this story."