Anaxagoras
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Anaxagoras is famous for introducing the [[cosmological]] concept of [[Nous]] (mind), as an ordering force. He regarded material substance as an infinite multitude of imperishable primary [[Classical element|elements]], referring all generation and disappearance to mixture and separation respectively. | Anaxagoras is famous for introducing the [[cosmological]] concept of [[Nous]] (mind), as an ordering force. He regarded material substance as an infinite multitude of imperishable primary [[Classical element|elements]], referring all generation and disappearance to mixture and separation respectively. | ||
+ | ==Literary references== | ||
+ | In a quote chosen to begin [[Nathanael West]]'s first book "[[The Dream Life of Balso Snell]]", [[Marcel Proust]]'s character Bergotte says, "After all, my dear fellow, life, Anaxagoras has said, is a journey." | ||
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+ | Anaxagoras appears as a character in ''The Ionia Sanction'', by [[Gary Corby]]. | ||
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+ | Anaxagoras is referred to and admired by Cyrus Spitama, the hero and narrator of ''[[Creation (novel)|Creation]]'', by [[Gore Vidal]]. The book contains this passage, explaining how Anaxagoras became influential: | ||
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+ | :[According to Anaxagoras] One of the largest things is a hot stone that we call the sun. When Anaxagoras was very young, he predicted that sooner or later a piece of the sun would break off and fall to earth. Twenty years ago, he was proved right. The whole world saw a fragment of the sun fall in a fiery arc through the sky, landing near Aegospotami in Thrace. When the fiery fragment cooled, it proved to be nothing more than a chunk of brown rock. Overnight Anaxagoras was famous. Today his book is read everywhere. You can buy a secondhand copy in the Agora for a drachma. | ||
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+ | William H. Gass begins his novel, The Tunnel (1995), with a quote from Anaxagoras: "The descent to hell is the same from every place." | ||
==See also== | ==See also== |
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Anaxagoras ("lord of the assembly"; c. 500 BC – 428 BC) was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Born in Clazomenae in Asia Minor, Anaxagoras was the first philosopher to bring philosophy from Ionia to Athens. He attempted to give a scientific account of eclipses, meteors, rainbows, and the sun, which he described as a fiery mass larger than the Peloponnese. He was accused of contravening the established religion and was forced to flee to Lampsacus.
Anaxagoras is famous for introducing the cosmological concept of Nous (mind), as an ordering force. He regarded material substance as an infinite multitude of imperishable primary elements, referring all generation and disappearance to mixture and separation respectively.
Literary references
In a quote chosen to begin Nathanael West's first book "The Dream Life of Balso Snell", Marcel Proust's character Bergotte says, "After all, my dear fellow, life, Anaxagoras has said, is a journey."
Anaxagoras appears as a character in The Ionia Sanction, by Gary Corby.
Anaxagoras is referred to and admired by Cyrus Spitama, the hero and narrator of Creation, by Gore Vidal. The book contains this passage, explaining how Anaxagoras became influential:
- [According to Anaxagoras] One of the largest things is a hot stone that we call the sun. When Anaxagoras was very young, he predicted that sooner or later a piece of the sun would break off and fall to earth. Twenty years ago, he was proved right. The whole world saw a fragment of the sun fall in a fiery arc through the sky, landing near Aegospotami in Thrace. When the fiery fragment cooled, it proved to be nothing more than a chunk of brown rock. Overnight Anaxagoras was famous. Today his book is read everywhere. You can buy a secondhand copy in the Agora for a drachma.
William H. Gass begins his novel, The Tunnel (1995), with a quote from Anaxagoras: "The descent to hell is the same from every place."
See also
- Anaxagoras (crater) on the Moon
- Squaring the circle