NH 2.13
Chiara Palladino / Pliny, Naturalis Historia
- Created on 2022-03-11 12:14:00
- Modified on 2022-03-11 12:14:12
- Translated by H. Rackam, 1952
- Aligned by Chiara Palladino
Latin
English
hunc esse mundi totius animum ac planius mentem , hunc principale naturae regimen ac numen credere decet opera eius aestimantes . hic lucem rebus ministrat aufertque tenebras , hic reliqua sidera occultat , inlustrat ; hic vices temporum annumque semper renascentem ex usu naturae temperat ; hic caeli tristitiam discutit atque etiam humani nubila animi serenat ; hic suum lumen ceteris quoque sideribus fenerat , praeclarus , eximius , omnia intuens , omnia etiam exaudiens , ut principi litterarum Homero placuisse in uno eo video .
Taking
into
account
all
that
he
effects
,
we
must
believe
him
to
be
the
soul
,
or
more
precisely
the
mind
,
of
the
whole
world
,
the
supreme
ruling
principle
and
divinity
of
nature
.
He
furnishes
the
world
with
light
and
removes
darkness
,
he
obscures
and
he
illumines
the
rest
of
the
stars
,
he
regulates
in
accord
with
nature
'
s
precedent
the
changes
of
the
seasons
and
the
continuous
rebirth
of
the
year
,
he
dissipates
the
gloom
of
heaven
and
even
calms
the
storm-clouds
of
the
mind
of
man
,
he
lends
his
light
to
the
rest
of
the
stars
also
;
he
is
glorious
and
pre-eminent
,
all-seeing
and
even
all-hearing
-
this
I
observe
that
Homer
the
prince
of
literature
held
to
be
true
in
the
case
of
the
sun
alone
.