Page 12 - GALIET THE RIVERING WATERS: Heraclitus IV

principle it contains,”19 says Heraclitus. The soul is boundless, yet what is this profound principle that sustains it? Is it the river of logos or mythos, the phosphorescent river of immanence or transcendence?20 Is it the nymph-stream or Lethe’s? Is it Oceanus’ or dark Acheron’s, seducing Stygion’s or boiling Pyriphlegethon’s? What heaven and starry universe is not reflected upon the waters of a river, what green fields do not beam their face upon it, what fates do not enter it, what Muses do not swim in Parnassus’ streams? The streams of logos (for all is logos to Heraclitus) flow as if they moved all things. In it, flowing changes and opposites are reconciled, becoming one with being and one with the waters and experiencing capaciousness of being, for rivers reflect the light and darkness of the cosmos. In its waters, the cosmos gathers and celebrates how nature interacts with the beautiful forms of logos: a logos that is made sonnet whose octave and sestet form a harmonious unity of being. Were we to step out of the same rivers, we would cease to be. “Water is the source of soul,” says Heraclitus, “and earth is source of water.”21 There is a cyclical relationship among earth, soul and water. “Death for souls is the birth of water, death for water is the birth of earth.”22 When souls perish, water comes to be, that is, the soul gives way to
19 F 48 Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 9.7.6-8 Long. 44
20 This certainly requires deep pondering and study, beyond the time limitation of this examination essay. These ponderings are conjectures that need to be substantiated with further research and by analysing and interpreting different translations.
21 F 44 Clement. Miscellanies 6.17.2 Stahlin/Fruchtel. 44
22 F 44 Clement. Miscellanies 6.17.2 Stahlin/Fruchtel. 44
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