Editing Empedocles (section)

===Cosmogony===
[[File:Empedocles_four_elements.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Empedocles' theory four elements (fire, air, water and earth), woodcut from a 1472 edition of Lucretius' [[De rerum natura|''De rerum natura'']]]]

Empedocles established four ultimate [[classical element|elements]] which make all the structures in the world—[[Fire (classical element)|fire]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Water (classical element)|water]], [[Earth (classical element)|earth]].{{sfn|Wallace|1911}}{{efn|Frag. B17 ([[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]], ''Physics'', 157–159)}} Empedocles called these four elements "roots",<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ströker |first=E. |date=September 1968 |title=Element and Compound. On the Scientific History of Two Fundamental Chemical Concepts |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.196807181 |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English |language=en |volume=7 |issue=9 |pages=718–724 |doi=10.1002/anie.196807181 |issn=0570-0833}}</ref> which he also identified with the mythical names of [[Zeus]], [[Hera]], [[Persephone|Nestis]], and [[Aidoneus]]{{efn|Frag. B6 (Sextus Empiricus, ''Against the Mathematicians'', x, 315)}} (e.g., "Now hear the fourfold roots of everything: enlivening Hera, Hades, shining Zeus. And Nestis, moistening mortal springs with tears").{{sfn|Kingsley|1995}} Empedocles never used the term "element" ({{lang|grc|στοιχεῖον}}, ''stoicheion''), which seems to have been first used by [[Plato]].{{efn|Plato, ''Timaeus'', 48b–c}}{{better source needed|date=September 2022}} According to the different proportions in which these four indestructible and unchangeable elements are combined with each other the difference of the structure is produced.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} It is in the aggregation and segregation of elements thus arising, that Empedocles, like the atomists, found the real process which corresponds to what is popularly termed growth, increase or decrease. One interpreter describes his philosophy as asserting that "Nothing new comes or can come into being; the only change that can occur is a change in the juxtaposition of element with element."{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} This theory of the four elements became the standard [[dogma]] for the next two thousand years.

The four elements, however, are simple, eternal, and unalterable, and as change is the consequence of their mixture and separation, it was also necessary to suppose the existence of moving powers that bring about mixture and separation. The four elements are both eternally brought into union and parted from one another by two divine powers, [[Love]] and [[Wikt:strife|Strife]] (''[[Philotes (mythology)|Philotes]]'' and ''[[Neikea|Neikos]]'').{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} Love ({{lang|grc|φιλότης}}) is responsible for the attraction of different forms of what we now call [[matter]], and Strife ({{lang|grc|νεῖκος}}) is the cause of their separation.{{efn|Frag. B35, B26 (Simplicius, ''Physics'', 31–34)}} If the four elements make up the universe, then Love and Strife explain their variation and harmony. Love and Strife are attractive and repulsive forces, respectively, which are plainly observable in human behavior, but also pervade the universe. The two forces wax and wane in their dominance, but neither force ever wholly escapes the imposition of the other.

[[File:Empedocles cosmic cycle concept map.svg|upright=1.75<!--format for readability of diagram text-->|left|thumb|Empedocles' cosmic cycle is based on the conflict between love and strife.]]

As the best and original state, there was a time when the pure elements and the two powers co-existed in a condition of rest and inertness in the form of a sphere.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} The elements existed together in their purity, without mixture and separation, and the uniting power of Love predominated in the sphere: the separating power of Strife guarded the extreme edges of the sphere.{{efn|Frag. B35 (Simplicius, ''Physics'', 31–34; ''On the Heavens'', 528–530)}} Since that time, strife gained more sway{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} and the bond which kept the pure elementary substances together in the [[sphere]] was dissolved. The elements became the world of phenomena we see today, full of contrasts and oppositions, operated on by both Love and Strife.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} Empedocles assumed a cyclical universe whereby the elements return and prepare the formation of the sphere for the next period of the universe.

Empedocles attempted to explain the separation of elements, the formation of earth and sea, of Sun and Moon, of atmosphere.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} He also dealt with the first origin of plants and animals, and with the [[physiology]] of humans.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} As the elements entered into combinations, there appeared strange results—heads without necks, arms without shoulders.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}}{{efn|Frag. B57 (Simplicius, ''On the Heavens'', 586)}} Then as these fragmentary structures met, there were seen horned heads on human bodies, bodies of oxen with human heads, and figures of [[intersexuality|double sex]].{{sfn|Wallace|1911}}{{efn|Frag. B61 (Aelian, ''On Animals'', xvi 29)}} But most of these products of natural forces disappeared as suddenly as they arose; only in those rare cases where the parts were found to be adapted to each other did the complex structures last.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} Thus the organic universe sprang from spontaneous aggregations that suited each other as if this had been intended.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}} Soon various influences reduced creatures of double sex to a male and a female, and the world was replenished with organic life.{{sfn|Wallace|1911}}