WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:09.759 You see Something's going to happen? What? 2 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:26.320 What's going to happen? What? Welcome to the Occult Rejects. 3 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.760 In this episode, I got myself and I got the 4 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:33.000 Mad Scientist occult reject Lisa with me. We will be 5 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:37.640 covering compedicles and if you enjoy this episode, we're sure 6 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:40.560 you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects. 7 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.560 In fact, we have a curated playlist on occult topics 8 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:49.280 like Grimore's Esoteric Concepts and Phenomena, Occult history analyzing true 9 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:52.840 crime and cults with an occult lens, parapolitics, and occultism 10 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:56.520 in music. 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Stream yard is about eight hundred, 19 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:28.439 the website is about two hundred and Spreaker is about 20 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:33.239 another five hundred, not including equipment or the hours spent researching, recording, 21 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:38.359 and editing content for each episode. If you're considering supporting 22 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:41.959 our work, please do so on cash app, Venmo, Patreon, 23 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:47.760 or buy me a coffee. Thank you and enjoy the episode. 24 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.640 And now I'll hand it over to Lisa. 25 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:55.280 So, when we started looking at occultists and scientists of 26 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:58.599 the ancient and historical world, we notice that some of 27 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:02.920 the most influential works were inspired by Empedocles. In fact, 28 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:06.719 some of these highly regarded occult as, scientists, philosophers, you 29 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:12.080 name it, like Kepler, Galen, Aristotle, Plato, all of their 30 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:15.639 impactful theories stemmed from theories that were first brought to 31 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:17.639 light by Empedocles. 32 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:21.360 Also, Empedocles was the first to talk about how the 33 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:24.560 eyes worked. He was also the first, if not the 34 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:27.280 only one at the time, who made the analogy between 35 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:32.080 the eyes and aphrodite as well what we see being 36 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:37.000 the result of vision originating within and projecting outward. After 37 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:39.840 looking into his work, we noticed how influential he seemed 38 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:41.840 to be in Croley's work, which we will touch on 39 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:45.759 as well. And here I just wanted to include at 40 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:47.879 the beginning I quote by him that I really liked 41 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:52.960 nourished in the seas of black, springing back springing blood 42 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:57.280 where above all is located what humans call thought, for 43 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.840 the blood around the heart is for humans their thought. 44 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:07.080 Pedocles was a Greek pre socratic philosopher for Macragus, a 45 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:11.879 Greek city located in the region of Sicily. His contributions 46 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:17.039 to philosophy are particularly well known for originating the influential cosmochony. 47 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:19.919 Screwed it up again? How do you say that word? 48 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:25.560 Cosmogonicy theory of the four classical elements For those who 49 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:29.639 may not be familiar with the term, cosmogony, said that right. 50 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:34.240 It refers to any theoretical model or explanation concerning the 51 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.560 origin and development of the cosmos or the universe as 52 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:42.280 a whole. The classical elements, according to Empedocles, typically referred 53 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:48.639 to the elements used in rich craft and occultism today earth, water, air, 54 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.680 and fire, which he believed were the building blocks of 55 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:56.520 all matter. He referred to them as the four roots, 56 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:01.639 indicating their fundamental nature. Additionally, Impedically undertook experiments that led 57 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:05.319 him to assert at least to his own liking that 58 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.919 air was indeed a distinct substance. He made this observation 59 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:13.360 through a very simple demonstration. When a bucket was inverted 60 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:17.000 in water, it did not fill completely with water, as 61 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:21.240 a pocket of air remained trapped inside, illustrating that air 62 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:26.000 occupies space and exists separately from water. Empedocles was the 63 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.199 first philosopher to propose the concept of the four classical 64 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:34.120 elements as a cohesive set fire, earth, air, and water. 65 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:39.199 Pedoicles was well known for his philosophical stance against the 66 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:43.040 practice of animal sacrifice, as well as the killing of 67 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.600 animals for the purpose of food consumption. He also had 68 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.160 a distinctive doctrine of reincarnation, which was quite unique for 69 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:53.519 his time. He is generally regarded as the last Greek 70 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:57.800 philosopher who chose to record his profound ideas in verse form, 71 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:01.199 which was rather different for the times. Luckily, a portion 72 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.920 of his work survived, offering some insights into his thinking. 73 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:08.839 So, if I may, we're going to take you on 74 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.319 a little tangent of this whole thing about verse. So 75 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.360 bear with us. But I think it's extremely and it 76 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:20.720 ties in really really interestingly. Okay, So I want to 77 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:22.519 expand a little bit more on the style of writing 78 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:27.439 in terms of delivering it in the verse form. Empedicallys 79 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:32.519 during the fifth century BC E wrote his philosophical programs 80 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:36.360 and ideas in hexameter verse. This would include his most 81 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:40.279 influential four part Theory of Roots and Love and Strife principles, 82 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:43.079 which is going to go on to be highly influential 83 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:48.959 and pretty much foundational to philosophy, mysticism, medicine, cosmology, and religion. 84 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:53.240 He also wrote in verse form for his work on purifications, 85 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.600 which was Impedicle's poem of Ritual Cleansing, which was also 86 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:01.639 written in hexmeter verse, and also transmit in which this 87 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:06.920 hexameter verse form used gives such a spectacular effect to 88 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:11.680 what empedically is. This equation of ritual animal sacrifice to 89 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:18.240 human sacrifice was like something familiar to Amagedmond's slaughter of Iphingia. 90 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:21.040 I probably didn't say that, right, but something like that. 91 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.800 So okay, So hexameter kind of break it down. I'm 92 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:27.040 sure most of y'all are familiar with it, but kind of, 93 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:30.160 you know, bear with us. So hexameter is a line 94 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:33.199 of verse consisting of six metrical feet, So you have 95 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:36.240 a metrical line of versus consisting of six feet or 96 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:39.959 foot or pulse. It's going to differ from the iambic 97 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:45.560 pentamin meter, which is five ims versus six. So English 98 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:50.519 poetry from Jeffrey Chaucer is that you say it. Chaucer 99 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:56.240 introduce iambic pentameter to the English language in the fourteenth century. 100 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:59.839 William Shakespeare, John Milton of Paradise Loss we're all well 101 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:04.160 poets who use iamic pentameter, as well as Percy VC. 102 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.639 Shelley and even Jim Morrison was also known to use 103 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:13.600 iambic pentameter in his songs. So hexameter had been tried 104 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:16.439 in the English poetry, but it really never took off, 105 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:21.439 only because it was hard to adapt the hexameter rhythm 106 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:24.399 to the English language. So it's a little bit difficult, 107 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:29.000 and that's why the popularity never gained. Poetry in and 108 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:33.199 of itself flows from syllable to syllable, each pair of syllables, 109 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:37.040 creating a pattern known as a poetic meter. When a 110 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:39.519 verse line is made up of two syllables flowing from 111 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:43.519 one unaccented beat to an accented beat, it creates a 112 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:49.279 rhythmic pattern called iambic meter, So the term iambic originally 113 00:07:49.319 --> 00:07:53.680 was applied to the quantitative meter in classical poetry. Meters 114 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:59.120 in English were accentual syllabic verse, whereas ancient Greek and 115 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.720 Latin meter was a rhythm created through the use of 116 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:06.920 alternating short and long syllables. You also see this in 117 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:11.240 Vedic and Sanskrit in that they are said to also 118 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:16.000 utilize this rhythmic pattern meter or form of it in 119 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:20.120 their written stuff. So when you have a parasyllables and 120 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.040 they're arranged in a short followed by a long or 121 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.160 unstressed followed by a stress pattern, you now have a 122 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:33.480 iambic or foot type of cadence. Okay, So why all this? So? 123 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:38.320 Hexameter is the oldest form known in Greek poetry. It 124 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.080 was the standard epic meter in classical Greek and Latin literature. 125 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:47.080 So we have the Ilia, the Odyssey, Hymns of Orpheus, 126 00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:51.080 and so forth. Where it gets interesting is that, according 127 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:55.799 to mythology in Greece, hexameter was invented by Fenmono, I 128 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:57.759 think that's how you say it, who was a daughter 129 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:01.200 of Apollo and the first Pithia of delf. This was 130 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:04.039 around five hundred three hundred BC, or give or take. 131 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:08.399 So the oracle of Delphi delivered her prophecies in the 132 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:14.840 form of dactylic hexameter verse. The priests would then translate 133 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.919 the utterances of the pythia or the oracle herself into 134 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.559 this metrical pattern of Greek poetry. Consisting of lines with 135 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:27.440 six feet, the hexameter verse were deliberately ambiguous, requiring careful 136 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:32.120 interpretation by the recipient, who could only understand the true 137 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:37.000 meaning of the prophecy. The practice of delivering prophecies in 138 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.960 hexameter verse was a key aspect to ancient Greek oracle 139 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:46.039 of Delphi, which was extremely important to the rituals in 140 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:51.360 their culture and therefore highlighting the importance of the poetic language. Now, 141 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.279 one of the main things that we found that I 142 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:57.559 thought was very symbolic to add is that it was 143 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:01.399 said that if prophecies were not given in hexameter verse, 144 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:05.480 then they were regarded as potentially not authentic. So this 145 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:08.679 is where you get hexameter verse as being extremely paramount 146 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:12.360 to the utterances of the divine to the regular people. 147 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:16.360 So it is said that Empedocles wrote his responses even 148 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.639 those like to paramendies in hexameter, whether it was a 149 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.639 response to what he had claimed or other things. 150 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:28.960 It's interesting and Iambic got me thinking of i am 151 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:33.639 or Chroley's lamb, and of prophecies or words relayed by 152 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.279 supernatural beings came in the form of verse hexameter iambic. 153 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:40.919 Then we could be hypothesize that possibly all words from 154 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:44.480 beyond have a similar pattern. Could it be possible that 155 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.799 the words of iowas or Lamb also be in verse pattern? 156 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.240 And would it be possible that Crowley, considering himself the 157 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:56.120 beasts of revelation something beyond the natural, could he be 158 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:59.200 so bold as he likes to be as to write 159 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:03.000 his poems in verse? You know? And if and if 160 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.600 it Impedoicles wrote his poems which were to be used 161 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:09.039 during rituals in the hexameter verse, would to be out 162 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:11.720 of like the realm of possibility that poems Crowley wrote, 163 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:15.720 which were to also be used during rituals also be 164 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:19.480 written in meter a verse. I'd say, you know, the 165 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:22.559 hexagram rituals are supposed to be used with poems written 166 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:26.600 hexameter verse, And could the pentagram rituals, and you know, 167 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.320 in poems written in I would they be written in 168 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.519 iambic pentameter. You know, there's something to think about, because 169 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:35.360 even when it comes to rituals, for me in the 170 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:38.399 in the Oto, and really for any other kind of 171 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:43.440 secret society that's based on like the kabbala or ceremonial magic, 172 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:46.320 you're going to have the pentagram and the hexagram ritual 173 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.480 going to be very very big rituals to use. And 174 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.759 you know, I just wonder if there's a correlation between 175 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:53.840 that and the that style of writing. 176 00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:58.399 Plus it was used throughout the Vetek and Greek and. 177 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:00.919 Yeah, yeah, yeah, and again like what you had said, 178 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:04.879 especially with the pentometer, I mean, if that's how they 179 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.039 were deciphering something, you know, being worth to listen to. 180 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:13.399 And like remember during this time, the philosophers and malthematicians 181 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:18.200 and poets like Empedocles, they were still using alpha numerical language. 182 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:21.200 And so if it is, if it was in ancient 183 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:25.480 Greek culture and poetry in their rituals was extremely important, 184 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:29.480 I think it begs the question did metered verse poetry 185 00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:33.360 serve as a code or did it serve as a 186 00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:35.840 way to give power or energy to the words and 187 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.759 the poems used during these rituals. 188 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:43.440 Yeah, I would question even another cipher to onto it. 189 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:43.679 You know. 190 00:12:45.159 --> 00:12:47.919 Yeah, Now we're going to talk a little bit of 191 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:51.879 his life and death. While the exact dates of Empedocles's 192 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:55.080 birth and death are unknown, most agree that he was 193 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.559 born in the early fifth century b c. In the 194 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:03.480 Greek city of Akragus present day Sicily. Modern scholars believe 195 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:06.039 the accuracy of the accounts that he came from a 196 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.240 noble family. So it's's point to him as the son 197 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:13.440 of a certain Meton, which is a Greek mathematician, and 198 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:17.639 therefore born into an important and wealthy local aristocratic family. 199 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:22.759 How convenient it is said that his godfather, also named Empatoicles, 200 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:25.519 had been victorious in a horse race at the Olympia 201 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:27.360 and seventy first OLYMPIAD. 202 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:33.440 So many texts do state that his grandfather was extremely wealthy. 203 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.840 He kept horses and was well remembered as a victor 204 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:39.840 in the Olympic Games. And so you see games as 205 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:42.279 being plural like you almost wonder if he was something 206 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:47.279 of a consistent contributor to these games. This claim also 207 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.919 agrees with historical contexts of the area. At that time. 208 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:57.480 Akragus was the southern central Sicilian Polis of modern day Agrigento. 209 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:02.080 I think that's how you say it. For contacts. Arcus 210 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:05.639 lies on the plateau, surrounded by cliffs, overlooking the two rivers, 211 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:09.159 Drago and Arcus Rivers, and to the north are a 212 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:11.480 set of twin peaks, which of course reminds me of 213 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:19.080 twin peaks. Origento was a wealthy ancient city founded in 214 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.559 five hundred and eighty one BC, and it lies just 215 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:28.399 northwest of Malta. During Impedocles's lifetime, Arcus had gone from 216 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:32.000 a tyrannical reign to an oligarchy to the new governmental 217 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:37.200 system of democracy. And considering that these contrasting but significant 218 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:43.320 political transformations, it's nodded or it's given a nod that 219 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:48.799 Impededicles from his riotings tended to lean more towards a 220 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:52.919 democratic governing. It's also claimed that, aside from being known 221 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.960 as a philosopher, Empedocles was also known as a politician 222 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:03.759 he championed against He also dismantled the oligarchy of the 223 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:09.000 thousand thousand being in quotation because he rejected kingship. Also, 224 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.440 Empededicles's father was also said to have forestalled rising tyranny. 225 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:17.080 So you start to see that Empedocles, potentially from the 226 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:22.679 paternal exposure, was potentially a talented orator and had his 227 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:23.960 ties into politics. 228 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.759 Yeah, they do mention, and I think we might even 229 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:29.159 bring it up in here that he did have a 230 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:31.960 lot of political writing. It's just unfortunately they can't seem 231 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.879 to find it anymore. It's been destroyed. Primary sources of 232 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.240 information on the life of Empedocles come from the Hellenistic period, 233 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:44.039 several centuries after his own death, and long after any 234 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:47.120 reliable evidence about his life would have been lost, destroyed, 235 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:52.000 et cetera. Modern scholars generally believe that these biographical details, 236 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:57.200 including his chronologically impossible tutelage under Pathegoris and his employment 237 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:01.159 as a doctor and miracle worker, were fabricated from interpretations 238 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:05.360 of Empedocles's poetry, which does tend which does tend to 239 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:07.799 happen a lot to the biographies written during this time. 240 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.639 I think one of the underlying trends that you'll find 241 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:17.159 is a constant scholarly debate when looking into Empaticles. The 242 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.519 details of his biography, as you mentioned, is one of 243 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:22.840 a few at the very top of the list of 244 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.720 this debate. For example, it is also said that Empedocles 245 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:31.240 was a student of Parmenides of Elliott and later associated 246 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:35.960 with an Axagoras and Pythagoras, which we'll discuss a little 247 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.320 more later on in the episode. But my reason for 248 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:41.799 bringing this up is that from the work that has 249 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:45.080 survived and looking at it chronologically, it might be a 250 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.600 bit of a stretch that for Empedocles to have personally 251 00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:51.679 met all three. However, with that being said, much of 252 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:56.240 what has survived of Empedocles's work reflects that it was 253 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:00.360 more than just him. Being familiar with their teachings only 254 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:06.759 suggests that and evidently points to actual engagement with Paramenodes 255 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:11.599 and an an Exogorus and Pythagoras' theories. 256 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:14.680 That's hard, yeah, yeah, yeah, I was just looking it 257 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:17.839 up again and already forgot how to say an Exagoras, 258 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:21.920 thank you, thank you, yeah, because I was like, just 259 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:24.880 in case I have to say that myself. According to 260 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:28.680 Aristotle and Pedicles, died at the age of sixty. Some 261 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:30.400 writers have him living up to the age of one 262 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.920 hundred and nine. There are amidst concerning his death. A 263 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:39.680 tradition which is traced to Heracles Ponticus represented him as 264 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:42.960 having been removed from the earth, whereas others had him 265 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:46.960 perishing in the flames of Mount Etna. He was also 266 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.839 he was also said to have died in Peloponnese, Greece. 267 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:55.559 Iff ice of that correctly, So kind of going to 268 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.599 expand a little bit of what you've said. There's a 269 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.200 significant number of apoca full stories collected during the time 270 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:05.920 of Empedocles and Antiquity, and most can be found in 271 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.640 the book Lives of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Letertius, 272 00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:14.960 which is regarded as one of the most detailed sources 273 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.559 of Empedtocles's life. So in addition to recording his claims 274 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:22.480 of divine status and magical powers, the book goes at 275 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.839 length into discussing the various accounts or stories of how 276 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:30.000 Empedocles was said to have died. His death in particular 277 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.279 seemed to have attracted so much attention, and there are 278 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:36.079 many theories of how he died. Empedocles was said to 279 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:38.519 have died in so many different ways, so like the 280 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.319 first one was he drowned when he fell overboard from 281 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:44.759 a ship. Another one was that he hung himself. A 282 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:47.519 third was that he died after breaking his leg when 283 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.799 he fell from a carriage. And then the one that 284 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:52.319 he is the most famous for, which you just mentioned, 285 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.839 and the one the source of the legend for Empedocles 286 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:00.400 was that Empededicles died by throwing himself into the crater 287 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.839 of Mount Edna and Sicily. And it's claimed that Empedocles 288 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.160 had learned that he was going to die, or the 289 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:10.279 news of his eminent death was so great that he 290 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:13.759 wanted to appear as though he had he as he 291 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.640 wanted to die as though he had been hypothesized, So 292 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.160 he leapt into the crater so that the people would 293 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:22.279 believe his body had vanished, and that he would then 294 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:27.079 turn into an immortal god. The volcano, however, threw back 295 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:30.559 out one of his trademark bronze sandals, revealing the deceit. 296 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:32.359 So I thought that's pretty classic. 297 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.839 Another legend says that he threw himself into the volcano 298 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:42.119 to prove his disciples that he was immortal. He believed 299 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:44.160 he would come back as a god after being consumed 300 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.880 by the fire. Horace also refers to the try the 301 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:52.880 tragic death of Empedocles in his work as Poetica In 302 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:57.039 a Caromnippus, a comedic and thought provoking dialogue written by 303 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:01.279 the second century Setius Lucian of sam Soda. The final 304 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:05.759 fate of Empedocles is reevaluated. Rather than being incinerated in 305 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:09.000 the intense fires of Mount Etna, he is depicted as 306 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.839 being carried up into the heavens by a volcanic volcanic eruption, 307 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:17.960 and this retelling Empedocles not only survives, but continues his 308 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:22.359 existence on the moon, where he sustains himself by feeding 309 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:24.759 on the nourished jew that collects there. 310 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:27.839 Interest, which is food for the moon, right that you'll 311 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:28.480 always saying. 312 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:30.480 Now, some of these things I do want to say, 313 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:33.400 like I do wonder. Yeah, obviously some of them sound 314 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:35.359 like they could just be fantastical and that could you know, 315 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:39.240 literally be what it is, or could it be more occult, 316 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:42.240 you know kind of stories. This is my opinion. 317 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:47.160 Yeah, Yeah, that's that's interesting. So while many scholars have 318 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:51.880 dramatized him as a self styled god, I kind of 319 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:54.519 want to revisit what you said earlier in touch Upon 320 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:59.279 and rather emphasize that his contemporaries regarded him as indeed 321 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.440 more more than a mere mortal, So you have Aristotle 322 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:07.559 writing about how he hailed him as the inventor of rhetoric. 323 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:13.400 It is said that Empedocles's poetry rivaled that of Homer Galen, 324 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:16.599 who's well known for the discovery and description of the 325 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:20.720 optic Nerve regarded him as a founder of Italian medicine. 326 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:27.240 Lucretius held that Empedocles's hexameter poetry was one that you 327 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:29.960 should hold in the highest of esteem, and he held 328 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.279 it in highest esteem and admiration. Empedocles was the founder 329 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:37.039 of the Sicilian school of medicine and was claimed to 330 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:41.640 be a great physician, and this is evidence conveyed in 331 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.319 the Hippocratics, fifth century of the current era book on 332 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:50.839 ancient medicine and basically details a critique of Impedocles's alliance 333 00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:54.000 of the study of nature and medicine. And it is 334 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:56.799 also said within this book itself that he was known 335 00:21:56.839 --> 00:22:00.440 to have brought a dead woman back to life impressive. 336 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:07.079 Yeah. Based on the surviving fragments of his work, modern 337 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:11.519 scholars generally believe that Empedocles was directly responding to parmenides 338 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:15.839 doctrine of monism and was likely acquainted with the work 339 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:21.400 of an Exagris. Philosophical monism is the belief that all 340 00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:25.519 of the sensible world is of one basic substance, in 341 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:32.279 being uncreated and indestructible. Anaxagris was a pre Socratic Greek 342 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:38.119 philosopher who introduced the concept of noos, a cosmic mind 343 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:42.839 as an ordering force. He also gave several noble scientific 344 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:46.960 accounts of natural phenomena, including the notion of pan spermia 345 00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:51.440 that life exists throughout the universe and could be distributed everywhere. 346 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:56.000 He deduced a correct explanation for eclipses and described the 347 00:22:56.039 --> 00:23:00.680 Sun as a fiery mass larger than Peloponnese, and also 348 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:04.920 attempted to explain rainbows and meteors. You know, I will 349 00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:06.839 have to say, I mean, isn't it kind of wild 350 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.240 how like they were talking about this stuff back then 351 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:12.640 or theorizing on it. They actually just find that interesting 352 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.400 that these ideas that they were even ideas, Because I 353 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:18.440 don't even know how to say it, but like I 354 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:20.880 do find it impressive considering, like I feel, like like 355 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:25.960 what people think about today. Many later accounts of his 356 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:29.359 life claim that impedically studied with the Pythagoreans on the 357 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:33.599 basis of his doctrine of reincarnation, although he may have 358 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:36.480 instead learned this from a local tradition rather than directly 359 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:41.119 from the Pythagoreans. Now a little bit on his writings 360 00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:45.839 and work. Most of him, Pedicle's work has not survived intact. 361 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:49.440 There's only about two poems. The two poems on Nature 362 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:54.400 and on Purifications together comprise and comprise a total of 363 00:23:54.440 --> 00:23:58.319 five thousand lines. However, only about five hundred and fifty 364 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:02.400 lines of his poetry survived, quoted in fragments by later 365 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:06.759 ancient sources. So that's unfortunate. Out of the five thousand 366 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:11.720 line thing, about five hundred and fifty ten yeah, yeah, ten, 367 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:14.119 ten point five or something like that. 368 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:17.079 Yeah, So like to base you know, theories, you're basing 369 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.160 your theory of impedoicles on ten percent of his. 370 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:22.880 Work or it's like, uh, when it was found, like 371 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:25.079 if they got raped in pillage, was only like ten 372 00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:28.279 percent left to show us? What about that too? 373 00:24:30.039 --> 00:24:33.599 So in the last twenty years, scholars have debated whether 374 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:38.279 these two poems were part of one big philosophical project 375 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:42.759 or if they were two separate works. It's been long held, 376 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:45.920 like a long held belief that these two poems are 377 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.920 completely two separate pieces of work, and the reason for 378 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.599 that is because the two topics are very distinct from 379 00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:57.039 each other, and as alleged by Diogenies third century of 380 00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:01.000 the current era biography and Empedoicles, But it's an earlier 381 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:05.880 publication which was found dating back all the way to 382 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:10.359 the first second century current era, surfaced and showed to 383 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:15.160 contain lines of on purifications as part of the on 384 00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:18.599 nature work. So why does this matter? Because if these 385 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:22.000 two poems were part of a single project, then the 386 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:27.319 theory arises that the physical doctrine on purifications is not 387 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:31.160 separate from the religious one, which was on nature, and 388 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:34.559 that both themes are much more related than previously thought, 389 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:37.440 because that would mean that the history of the structure, 390 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.640 information of the physical world, animals and plants within it 391 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:44.319 have a lot to do with morality and purification, at 392 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:46.880 least in terms of rituals or in terms of the 393 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:49.839 way he was trying to describe it, that they were 394 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.240 important enough to be inclusive. So if the surviving five 395 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.279 hundred and fifty lines of poetry as depicted in older 396 00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:01.319 editions of Empedocles, about four hundred fifty lines were ascribed 397 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:05.759 to on Nature, which outlined his philosophical system and goes 398 00:26:05.799 --> 00:26:09.559 into explaining not only the nature and history of the universe, 399 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:13.480 including his theory of the four classical elements, but also 400 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:17.799 the theories on causation, perception, thought, as well as explanation 401 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.839