Dialogue Text

Timaios (Continued) The gods, in accordance with the overall form, connected the two divine movements into a spherical body, which we now call the head. The head is the most divine part of us and governs everything. The gods gathered the entire body together and brought it to the head, because they understood that the head would be subjected to all kinds of movement. Therefore, so that it could roll over uneven ground, both high and low, and not be unable to pass or escape in certain places, the gods made this a vehicle and provided it with ease of movement.

Timaios (Continued). Therefore, the god devised a way for movement and created limbs that are long and flexible. By grasping and supporting themselves with these, they were able to move in all places. The limbs carry the dwelling place of what is most sacred and revered above us. In this way, legs and arms have been given to all of us. The gods consider the front more important than the back, considering it the directing side, and therefore determined that the majority of human movement should be forward.

Timaios (Continued) In the human body, it was necessary to distinguish and differentiate the front from other parts. Therefore, first, the face was placed around the depression of the head, and all consideration for the soul was directed there, connecting the organs. And this place, which naturally becomes the front, was designated as the part that governs. Among the organs, the eyes, which bring light, were created first for the following reason: The gods devised a body from a part of fire that would not burn and would only give gentle light appropriate for each day.

Timaios (Continued) Our inner fire is of the same kind as that fire. The gods allowed pure fire to flow smoothly from the eyes. This fire is dense throughout, but especially compresses the center of the eye, allowing only this fire to pass through cleanly while blocking all other parts. Therefore, when daylight surrounds the visual stream, what flows out from the eye encounters its like and coalesces into a single entity that aligns with the eye's gaze. It becomes such in places where what is pushed out from within can lean against what it meets from without.

Timaios (Continued): Thus, since everything possesses the same nature through similarity, what touches the eyes and the movement of that thing to another thing it touches is transmitted throughout the body, all the way to the soul, creating what we call sensation. However, at night, when the kindred fire departs, the flow of vision is cut off. When it goes out into different things, that fire changes and disappears, becoming one with the surrounding air which has no fire.

Timaios (Continued). Therefore, one stops seeing, and drowsiness sets in. The eyelids, devised by the gods to protect sight, when closed, contain the power of fire within. That power is dispersed, calming the internal movement. When the movement subsides, stillness arises, and when that stillness is sufficiently filled, a brief sleep with dreams arrives.