Dialogue Text

Timaios (Continued) As long as they remained within their own being, their children understood and followed the order of their father. They received the principle of immortality into mortal beings, and imitating their creator, borrowed from the universe portions of fire, earth, water, and air, to return them later. They combined these borrowed elements, not by bonds that held them together like themselves, but by small, tightly-fitting, invisible rivets, fusing everything into a single body. And then they joined the immortal soul's movement to a body with an inflow and outflow.

Timaios (Continued) In this way, the movement of souls intertwined with a larger flow, which could neither be controlled nor dominated. It moved under the influence of forces and exerted its own force. Consequently, the entire living being moved while lacking order or reason, advancing without setting a destination. It wandered and moved in all six directions: forward, backward, left, right, up, and down.

Timaios (Continued): Because there was a stream that provided nourishment, overflowing and pouring forth in abundance, the stimuli affecting each one caused even greater confusion. When the body encountered foreign fire from outside, or touched solid masses of earth or flowing water, or was struck by violent winds carried through the air, all these movements were transmitted to the soul. These movements are therefore what we call sensations, and they continue to be called that even now.

Timaios (Continued) And at this time, sensation produced the greatest and strongest movement, agitating the soul's course as it flowed along a constantly moving channel. Sensation opposed the flow of identity, completely binding, dominating, and stopping its progress. On the other hand, it agitated the flow of difference, twisting intervals belonging to ratios of two to one and three to one, as well as intermediate terms and combinations within ratios such as two-thirds, three-fourths, and eight-ninths. These were things that could only be completely resolved by someone who was bound to them.

Timaios (Continued): In this way, reversing as many rotations as possible and creating all kinds of divisions and ruptures in the rings. Therefore, while they are finally brought together, they are carried without reason, sometimes backwards, sometimes diagonally, and sometimes upside down. For example, imagine a person lying on their back, with their head touching the ground and their feet hooked onto something above them. In this position, both the person and those watching would see right as left, and left as right.