The Influence of Folk Metereology in Anaximander's Fragment

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The Influence of Folk Meteorology in the Anaximander FragmentAuthor(s): Cameron ShelleySource: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 61, No. 1 (Jan., 2000), pp. 1-17Published by: University of Pennsylvania PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3654039 .

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T h e

Influence o

o l k

eteorology

n

t h

naximander

ragment

Cameron

Shelley

Introduction

No

scholars

doubt hat

he

pre-Socratic

hilosophers,

specially

he

Milesians,

were

concernedwith

meteorology.

Their

works abound

with

accountsof

wind,

rain,

hunder,

ightning,

meteorites,

waterspouts,

whirlwinds,

ndso

on.

Through

examinationof

the

fragments

of

the

pre-Socratics,

we can

trace

this interest

n

meteorology

from

each

philosopher

to

his

predecessors

right

back

to

Anaxi-

mander.I

Thales

might

at

first

seem

to

be

the most

obvious

candidate

as

the man

who introducedmeteorology ntophilosophy,butKirket al. arguepersuasively

thatThales

was more

nterested

n

near-eastern

mythology.2

Thus,

we must

take

Anaximander,

Thales's

protege,

o be the

philosopher

who

made

meteorology

a

topic

of

philosophical

nterest.

This

situation

eaves us with an

obvious

question:

where

did

Anaximander

come

by

his

interestand ideas

about

meteorology

if

not from Thales? Moder

scholarship

unanimouslypoints

to

the Greek

mythological

tradition

of

Anaxi-

mander's ime

as

recorded

primarilyby

Homer

and

Hesiod.

Gilbert

confidently

asserts hat

any

inquiry

nto the

origin

of Greek

meteorology

must

begin

with

the

storiesrecordedby thesepoets, andmodem scholarsgenerallyecho this opin-

ion.3

Kahn

notes that in

classical Athens the

Milesian-style,non-mythological

accountsof

meteorology

were treatedas direct

challenges

to

the

Olympic

reli-

Thanks o

Thomas

A.

Blackson for comments on earlier

drafts

of

this

paper.

This

research

is

supported

by

the Social

Sciences and

Humanities

Research

Council of

Canada.

1

C.

H.

Kahn,

Anaximander

and

the

Origins of

Greek

Cosmology

(New

York,

1960),

98-

109.

2

G.

S.

Kirk,

J. E.

Raven,

and

M.

Schofield,

The

Presocratic

Philosophers:

A Critical

History

with a

Selection

of

Texts

Cambridge,

19832),

91ff.

3

Gilbert,Die

meteorologischen

Theoriendes GriechischenAltertums

Leipzig,

1907), 17-

18.

1

Copyright

000

by

Journalf the

History

f

Ideas,

nc.







Cameron

Shelley

gion,

as

demonstrated

y

Aristophanes

n

The Clouds.4

But to

conclude

on

this

basis that

Anaximander

himself saw his

project

as

the construction

of

theories

by

the

removal

of

deities

from

myths

is to

mistakethe result

for the

cause.

Kirk

et

al.

simply

point

to

Kahn's

accountand

speculate

hat

Anaximander

was

influ-

enced

by

Greek

egends

about

Phaethon

and

Deucalion.5

None of

these scholars

consider

alternative

ossible

sources

ofAnaximander's

meteorological

deas,

so

that

support

or

mythology

as

the source derives

argely

from

the lack

of

a rival.

But there

s an

alternative,

namely,folk

meteorology.

Folk

meteorologymay

be

describedas the

body

of

folk wisdom

concerning

the nature

and

prediction

of

weather

patterns.

t

typically

comes

in

the

form

of

pithy

statements

rjingles

such

as

Red

sky

at

night,

shepherd's

delight;

red

sky

in

morning, hepherd's

warning. 6

olk

meteorology

has been

almost

completely

neglected

even

by

folklore

scholars,

so it is not

surprising

hat

t has

escaped

the

attention

of

philosophers

and

classical

scholars

as well.

However,

an

examina-

tion of folk

beliefs about

meteorology

reveals

significant

similarities

withsome

of the

philosophical

beliefs

attributed o

Anaximander,

most

notably,

and

sur-

prisingly,

regarding

he

concept

of

justice

(dike) implicit

in Anaximander's

a-

mous

fragment.

The

purpose

of this

paper

s to

constructand defend a case

for the influence

of folk

meteorology

on

Anaximander,

particularly

n the

concept

of

justice

in

the

Anaximander

ragment.

The case

begins

on familiar

ground,

with

the

frag-

ment itself

and

argumentsagainstattempts

o trace influences

on

it

to non-me-

teorological

sources,

and

continues with

some

evidence of

the

universality

of

folk

meteorology

across

culturesand

the

character

f

balance

as

a

folk-meteo-

rologicalconcept,

which

is then

applied

o the Anaximander

ragment

s

a means

of

explicating

what

Anaximandermeant

here

byjustice.

The

suitability

of bal-

ance for

this

purpose

s taken

as evidence thatAnaximander

was influenced

by

folk

meteorology.

Thus,

this

inquiry

identifies a

plausible

origin

of

one of

Anaximander's entral

philosophical

deas,

an

origin

which has

so farremained

completelyunexplored

by

scholarsof

ancient

Greek

philosophy.

The

Fragment

of

Anaximander

Anaximander s famous

among

Greekscholars

for the central

role he

gave

to

the

conceptofjustice

(dike)

n his

natural

philosophy.

The one

fragment

f his

writings,

quotedby Simplicius

n his

Commentary

n Aristotle

Physics

(24.18-

21),

records

Anaximander's

iew

on

the effect of

justice

in the

physical

world:

4

Kahn, 108-9.

5Kirk,

137-40.

6

P. J.

Marriott,

Red

Sky

at

Night,

Shepherd's

Delight?

(Oxford,

1981),

309.

2







Folk

Meteorology

The

things

that are

perish

into the

things

out

of which

they

come

to

be,

according

o

necessity,

or

they pay

penalty

andretribution

o each other

for

their

injustice

[adikias]

in accordance

with the

ordering

of time

[chronou],

as

[Anaximander]

ays

in

rather

poetical

language.7

In

this

passage

Anaximander laims that he

processes

by

which

physical

things

perish

or

come-to-be tend to balance

each

other out

because such

a

balance is

imposed

by

time

in

the interest

ofjustice.

More

specifically,

Anaximander

ap-

pears

to

draw

a

parallel

between

physics

and the

functioning

of

a

judge:

just

as

a

Greek

udge

recommends

penalties

and retributions

o

settle

those

disputes

brought

before

him,8

o time

imposes

order

on the

conflicting

processes

of

per-

ishing

and

coming-to-be

where

one has

committed

some

injustice

against

the

other.9

A

number

of

issues arise

in

clarifying

Anaximander's

expression.

First,

is

Anaximander

eing

literal?

Simplicius

comments

hat

he finds

the

expression

o

be

non-literal,

hat

is,

phrased

n

poetical

language.

Most

modem scholars

fol-

low

Simplicius

n this

respect

and

take Anaximander

o

be

speaking

metaphori-

cally.

Kirk et

al.,

for

example,

take

the

parallel

between

physical

and

legal

do-

mains

to mean

that

Anaximander s

personifying

time

(chronou)

as a

kind

of

judge.10

Thus,

they

translate he

final

phrase

of

the

quotation

as the

ordering

of

Time,

where

Time refersto a

judge

who sentences

Things

to

penalties

for their

Crimes

committed

n

perishing

and

coming-to-be.

This

interpretationppears

compelling

at

first;

certainly,

no modem scholar

would

take the use

of

legal

terms

such as

injustice iterally

n

the

context

of

physical

processes.

But modem

standards

may

be

misleading

n

this

case.

English

expressions

such as

the

aw

of

gravity

might appear

o

be

legal

metaphors

by

this

standard,

ven

though

they

are

merely

historical

artifacts.

Similarly,

Anaximander's

use of

a

legal

ex-

pression

might

merely

be

a

historical

artifactof a

time when

legal

and

physical

ideaswere not

distinguished

s

they

have been

since

his

time. 1

hus,

t

is

impor-

tant to

consider

any plausible,

literal

interpretations

f

the

fragment.

Perhaps

Anaximanderwas employingtheconceptofjustice

in a

non-moder way.

The

second

question

becomes this:

if

Anaximander

was

employing

a literal

conceptofjustice, just

what

does that

concept

mean

to

him?

On

the one

hand,

n

the

metaphorical

nterpretation,

he

parallel

between

physical

and

egal

domains

suggests

that

Anaximander's

meaning

mustbe

sought

n

his views

on

legal

mat-

7

H.

Diels,

Die

Fragmente

der Vorsokratiker

Berlin,

19345),

translation

from

R. D.

McKirahan,

Philosophy

Before

Socrates:

An Introduction

with

Textsand

Commentary

India-

napolis, 1994),

43.

8

M.

Gagarin,

Early

GreekLaw

(Berkeley,

1986).

9

Kirk,

120-21.

'1

Ibid.,

118.

M

McKirahan,

45.

3







Cameron

Shelley

ters.

No scholar

has

pursued

his

avenueof

inquiry

very

far.12

On

the other

hand,

in

the literal

nterpretation,

he

avenueof

inquiry

eads

further

ntoAnaximander's

ideas

on

physics

as such.

Thus,

we must

look

to Anaximander's

atural

philoso-

phy

for

the

meaning

ofjustice.'3

The

third ssue is of

coursewhereto

look

in

Anaximander's

atural

philoso-

phy

for

his

concept

of

justice.

Unfortunately,

he

fragment

s the

only

known

quotation

ofAnaximander'sown

words,

andthe

term

njustice

adikias)

used in

the

fragment

s

not

explainedby any

other

source,

at

least not

specifically

with

reference

o

Anaximander. incethere s

no further

nformation

n Anaximander's

concept

of

justice

itself,

it

is

reasonable o

turn

to

the

potential

sources

of

this

concept.

Three such sources have

been

proposed:

n his

general

outlook

on the

world,

in

his

cosmogony,

and

n his

meteorology.

The first

possible

source is

characterizedmost

clearly by

Classen,

who de-

scribes

Anaximander's

xpression

as a

typically

Greek

agonistic

conception :

Perishing

and

coming-to-be

are

coupled

together

and

remain interre-

lated

insofar

as

they-in

a

typically

Greek

agonistic

conception-per-

sist

in

mutual

conflict which

justice

balances

in

favor

now of one and

then

of the

other.'4

In

other

words

the

Greeks

tended to see

justice

in the

balance

of

conflict

in

all

things,

and

thereforeAnaximander

aw it

in

the

specific

instance

of

physics.

While

there is

undoubtedly

some

truth

to this

claim,

it

does

little

more than

confirm

a

stereotype.

The

second

possible

source

ofAnaximander's

concept ofjustice

is

his

cos-

mogony.

On this

reading ustice

in

physics

is

understood

as

a condition

per-

ceived from the

manner

n

which the

cosmos

originated.

The

most immediate

ground

or this

view is the

fact

that

the

fragment

which

Simplicius quotes

fol-

lows

directly

after

his discussion of

the

apeiron

as

the

arche or

generative

prin-

ciple

of the

cosmos

in

Anaximander's

natural

philosophy.

This textualrelation-

ship suggests

that

Anaximander's

tatement

on

justice

in

conflict and balance

follows

from the

natureof

the

apeiron

as

it

participated

n

the formation

of

the

12

Holscher,

Anaximander

nd

the

Beginnings

of

Greek

Philosophy,

Hermes,

81

(1953),

297-300,

has

gone

the furthest n

this

direction

by linking

Anaximander's

dea of

justice

with

the

Greek

idea of

moral

hubris.

He

reads

Anaximanderas

claiming

that each basic material

element

is

engaged

in

trying

to

eliminate

all

others and thus

usurp

he

apeiron

as

the

unlimited,

immortal

element

of

the cosmos.

But

this

suggestion

rests on the untenable

dea that the

injus-

tice

mentioned

by

Anaximander s

committed

by

the

elements

against

the

apeiron

rather

han

against

each other as

the text of

the

fragment

ndicates;

see

Kahn,

37-39,

and

Kirk,

129-30.

13

Strictly

speaking, nothing

is

known

of

Anaximander's

views

on

legal

matters,

so the

move back to discussion of his ideas of physics is forced on pragmaticgrounds.HereI argue

that

this

move

is

forced

on

logical

grounds.

14

C.

J.

Classen,

Anaximandros,

aulys

Realencyclopddie

der

Classischen

Altertums-

wissenschaft,

ed.

G.

Wissowa,

Supplementband

XII

(Stuttgart,

1970),

57.

4







Folk

Meteorology

cosmos.15

ut this

view

ignores

he

comment

hat

Simplicius

makes

mmediately

afterhis

quotation

rom

Anaximander:16

It

is clear

that,

having

observed

he

change

of

the fourelements

nto one

another,

Anaximander]

did not think

fit to

make

any

one of

these the

material

ubstratum,

ut

something

else besides these.

In

other

words,

according

o

Simplicius,

Anaximander

ook the

present

state

of

affairs

nvolving

conflict

and

balance

among

the

four

elements as

evidence that

none of

those

elements

could

be

the

arche

of the cosmos.

It is

cosmogony,

then,

that

is

inferred rom

observationof the

present,

rather han the

present

that

is

deduced from

speculation

about

cosmogony.17

f

Simplicius

is

correct,

then

Anaximander

id not

derive

his

concept

ofjustice

from

his

metaphysical

pecu-

lations.

This situation

directs

us to the third

possible

source

of

Anaximander's

concept ofjustice

in

physics,

namely,

meteorology.

If it

is

not

attributableo his

general

outlook

or

his

cosmogony,

henwe must

likely

conclude

that

Anaximander

aw

justice

as

a

quality

nherent

n

everyday

meteorology.

This

justice

is

evident

in

a

balance

imposed

on the

perishing

and

coming-to-be

of the four

elements

mentioned

by

Simplicius,

a balance

consti-

tuted

by penalties

and

retributions.The

four

elements

in

question

are

probably

hot,

cold,

wet,

and

dry,18

hich

implies

thatwhatAnaximander

ad

in mind was

the

balance

n the

alternation

f

seasons,

fromthe

heat

of summer

o

the

cold

of

winterand

back,

withthe

concomitant lternation

f

wet rainfall nd

drydrought.19

Summer,

or

instance,

occurs in

order o

balance

out

winter,

and

rain occurs

in

order

o

balance

out

drought.

n

other

words,

n the

fragment

uotedby

Simplicius,

Anaximanderwas

expressing

a

concept

ofjustice

derived

from

his understand-

ing

of

meteorology.

Folk

Meteorology

If there

s a literal

nterpretation

f

the

fragment

n

general

and the

concept

ofjustice

n

particular,

hen

we

must ook

for

them

n

the

sources

ofAnaximander's

meteorological

deas.The

problem

s thatwe do

not

possess

those sources.

Schol-

l5

C.J.

Classen,

Anaximander nd

Anaximenes:

The EarliestGreek

Theories

of

Change?

Phronesis,

22

(1977),

92-93.

16

Translation

rom

Kahn,

156.

17

W.

K.

C.

Guthrie,

A

History

of

Greek

Philosophy:

The Earlier

Presocratics and

the

Pythagoreans

(6

vols.;

Cambridge,1962),

I,

81.

18

Actually,

the

doctrine

of four

elements

is most

likely

an anachronism

on the

part

of

Simplicius,

but

hot, cold,

wet,

and

dry

are

nevertheless

representative

of

what

Anaximander

likely hadin mind and will be used here without further omment.See Kahn,119-63,Guthrie,

78-83,

and

Kirk,

119-20.

19

See

Gilbert, 28-29,

Kahn, 184,

Guthrie,

80,

101,

and

Kirk,

119-21,

and

references

therein.

5







ars have

assumed that Greek

myths

supplied

Anaximander

with

his ideas

on

meteorology,

but

this

assumption

has

escaped questioning

simply

due

to a lack

of

competition.

In

this section folk

meteorology

is

advanced

as a

competing

source,

specifically

as the

source of the

concept

ofjustice.

Folk

meteorology

s a

poorly

definedand

understood

ffair,

ittleresearched

even

among

those

scholars who

might

be

expected

to

have an interest

n

the

subject.20

Thus,

any

current

discussion

of it must deal

immediately

with two

difficulties.First

s the

problem

of

specifying

what is

covered

by

folkmeteorol-

ogy.

Second is the related

problem

of the

scarcity

of critical

sources,

ancient

or

modem,

on folk

beliefs

about

he weather.

For

present purposes,

it

is

enough

to

say

about

folk

meteorology

that its

domain s

generally

the

explanation

of

large-scale,

natural

phenomena

such as

the weather.

Widdowsonnotes that

n

folk

meteorology

weather

s

explained

n

two

ways:

as a

patterned

and

self-sufficient

set of

phenomena

ike the

cycle

of

seasons and

alterationof

day

and

night ( pseudo-scientific ),

and divine

inter-

ventions ike

unheralded tormsand

natural isasters

pseudo-mythological ).21

The first kind of

explanation

often

seems

to reflect

sincerely

held beliefs

about

how the weather

works.The second

kind

s oftenused

to entertain

ndto

frighten

children.

It

is the first

kind

that

s examinedhere.

Unfortunately,

cholarship

on folk

meteorology

is scarce

and

singularly

nonanalytic.

Mostmodem

sourceson this

subject

onsist

of collections

of

weather

lore with

nothing

or next to

nothing

in

the

way

of

analysis

or comment.

In the

English

literature

nly

Marriott

provides any

remarks

on the

role of balance

in

weather

ore,

andthese

commentsareoften unelaborated.22

n

the case

of ancient

Greek

iterature,

he situation s

even more

limited-only Theophrastus's

work

Concerning

Weather

Signs

is both available and relevant.

To be

sure,

Homer

andHesiod also

provide

explanations

f

weather,

but

only

of the

literary

ariety.

Consider Hesiod's

explanation

of the

origin

of

strong,

baleful

winds

in

the

Theogony

869-80),

in

a

passage

describing

he aftermath

f

Zeus's banishment

of the

monster

Typhoeus

o

Tartarus:

And from

Typhoeus

come

the

fierce,

rain-blowing

winds-not

Boreas

or Notos or

bright

Zephyros,

for these come

from the

gods,

and

they

refreshmankind-but

others,

reckless

gusts,

blow on

the

sea;

some

fall

upon

the

misty

sea

and

bring

calamity

o

men;

as evil storms

hey rage;

each blows

in

season,

scattering ships

and

killing

sailors.

Men

who

meet with them at

sea have no

defense

against

their

power.

And some-

20

J.

D. A.

Widdowson,

Form

and Function

n

Traditional

Explanations

of

WeatherPhe-

nomena,

Folklore Studies in Honour

of

Herbert

Halpert:

A

Festschrift,

ed. K. S.

Goldstein

and

N. V.

Rosenberg

(St.

John's,

1980).

21

Ibid.,

374.

22

Op. cit.

6 Cameron

Shelley







Folk

Meteorology

times

over

the

vast

and

blooming

earth

they

blast

the

lovely

fields of

earthbor

men and

fill

the land with dust and

dreadfulnoise.23

Gilbert

contends that

Hesiod

faithfully

records

folk

meteorological

beliefs in

passages

like this

one,24

ut he

simply

fails to consider

he fact

thatHesiod

(and

Homer)

do

not

display

much

interest

n

meteorologybeyond

using

it

to demon-

strate

the

power

and

moral

nature

(good

or

bad)

of

mythological

beings.25

n

contrast

Theophrastus's

work

Concerning

Weather

Signs provides

a view

of

non-literary

weather ore that

s

probablyvery

similar

o thatcommon

in

sixth-

century

Miletus.

Indeed,

t

is

quite

similar

o

weather

ore recorded

all over

the

world

at

widely

different

imes.

Consider

he

following

famous

piece

of weather

lore

as

it

appears

n

different

sources,

characteristically

ncoded

in the form

of

an

aphorism

or wise

saying:

Red

sky

at

night,

Shepherd's

delight;

Red

sky

in

morning,

Shepherd's

warning.26

(Jesus)

answered

them,

When it is

evening, you say,

'It

will be

fair

weather;

for the

sky

is red.' And

in

the

morning,

'It will

be

stormy

today,

for

the

sky

is red

and

threatening.'

You

know how to

interpret

he

appearance

f the

sky,

but

you

cannot

nterpret

he

signs

of

the

times. 27

Now

the

signs

of rain

appear

o be as follows:

most unmistakable

s

that

which

occurs

at

dawn

when

the

sky

has

a reddish

appearance

before

sunrise,

for this

usually

indicates rain within

three

days,

if

not on

that

very

day.

Other

signs

point

the

same

way:

thus

a

red

sky

at sunset

indi-

cates

rain

within

three

days,

if

not

before,

though

less

certainly

han

a

red

sky

at

dawn.28

Besides

its

subject

matter,

weather ore around

he world

displays

great

similar-

ity

in the

underlyingconcepts

used. This

similarity

ndicates

that the

concepts

involved

in

the weather

ore of

Anaximander's

ime

may

be

explored

through

23

Translation rom D.

Wender,

Hesiod

and

Theognis

(Harmondsworth, 973),

51.

24

Op.

cit.,

17-18.

25

To be

fair, Gilbert,

17,

does comment

that

the

Homeric

poems primarily

reflect

the

views

of an

elite,

warrior

class;

he

simply

fails to act

on

this comment.

26

Marriott,

309.

27

Matthew

16:2-3,

RSV.

28

Theophrastus,

10.

All

translations

rom this work

presented

n

this

paper

are taken

from

A.

Hort,

Theophrastus:

Enquiry

into Plants and Minor

Works n Odours

and Weather

Signs

(London, 1916).

7







Cameron

Shelley

such

collections and

scholarship

as exist

today. Inquiry

need not be

limited

to

ancient sources

such as

Theophrastus,

which has

attractedno

scholarly

analy-

sis.

For

present

purposes

he most

important

oncept

common

n

world weather

lore is

balance,

which

describes

a

compensatory

elationship

hat

holds

between

two

weather

patterns

based on

some

significant

relationship

f time and

quality.

In

otherwords t

is

widely

believed thatnotableweather

patterns

f one

kindwill

be

balancedout at

another

ime

by

weather

patterns qually

notablebut

opposite

in

kind.29

Although

he

concept

has

not been

systematically

tudied

n

the

exist-

ing

literature,

useful

overview of the

role

of balance

n

folk

meteorologymay

be achieved

by briefly

surveying

he

kinds

of weather ore

in

which

that

concept

participates.Roughly

speaking,

balance

occurs

in

weather ore under

the

cat-

egories

of

temporal

balance,

qualitative

balance,

faunal

and

floral

balance,

and

metaphorical

balance.

Each

category

ndicates

an attribute f

weather

patterns

to which

the

concept

of

balance

s

applied.

Temporal

balance

concerns

compensation

of weather

occurring

at one time

of

year by

weather

occurring

at a

later,

corresponding

ime

of

year.

If

February

ives

much

snow,

A

fine

summer

t

doth

foreshow.30

There are three

aspects

of this

adage

to note: it is

expressed

as a

hypothetical

statement, .e.,

an

if-then

construction;

t

relates

weather

patterns

f convention-

ally opposite

types,

i.e.,

cold andwarm

weather;

and

t

indicatesa direct

propor-

tion

between the

magnitudes

of

cold

and

warm

weather,

where

a certain

hresh-

old

( much

snow )

s

exceeded.

Finally,

t

establishes

his

hypothetical

elation

between two

specific

periods

of

time,

apparentlyclaiming

that the month

of

Februaryby

itself

may

correspond

o

the

whole summer

season.

This

adage

is

similar

n

these

respects

o the

well-known

piece

of weather ore:

April

howers

bring

forth

May

flowers. 31Of

course there are

many

variationson this

basic

theme,

As much

dew in

March,so much fog rises

in

August. 32The most

obvious

difference

between this

saying

andthe last is

that

this one concerns

not

opposite

conditions

such

as cold

and

warm,

but

opposite processes,

i.e.,

water

falling

(dew)

and

water

rising (fog).

As Marriottalso

points

out,

this

saying

shows the

preference

or

selecting corresponding

imes

that are

already

some-

how connected.33

n

this

case the

times are

roughly

six months

apart,

which

in

a

sense

makes them as

mutually

distinct as

possible

from

a calendrical

point

of

29

Marriott,

1.

30

Marriott, 15.

31

Ibid.,

38.

32

Ibid.,

30-31.

33

Ibid.,

31.

8







Folk

Meteorology

view. This

preference

s

shown

even more

explicitly

in

adages

that

concern

holi-

days,

such as

Christmas

n

snow,

Easter

n

mud.

Easter

n

snow,

Christmas

n

mud.34

Clearly,

the

reason

Christmasand

Easter

appear

here is due to their

mutual

religious

connection

in

the

Christian

alendar.Some

such

opposition

between

calendrical

imes is common

to

all

weather ore

of this

type.

Qualitative

balance

concerns

compensation

f

weather

based

on

its intrinsic

nature,

ather

han he

calendar

dateof

its

occurrence.

Here

s a

typical

example:

If

the

spring

s cold and

wet,

then

the autumn

will be hot and

dry.35

(Cf.

If

the

winter is

wet,

the

spring

will be

dry;

f

the winter

is

dry,

the

spring

will

be fair...

If

the

spring

and

summer

are

cold,

the late summer

and autumn

will be

stifling

hot and

windless.)36

In

structure nd

meaning

this

maxim is

much

the

same as the

temporal

weather

lore discussed

above,

except

that

t

identifies

corresponding

imes

by

the

seasons

instead of

times as

given

by

the calendar.

In

other

words

it

is a

hypothetical

statement hat

relates

oppositetypes

of

weather

hat

are

thought

o

correspond

across

complementary

easons. Most

qualitative

weather ore follows

this

pat-

tern,

although

ome

adages

dentify

weather

directlyby

intrinsic

quality,

uch

as

A

warm

and serene

day,

which we

say

is too

fine for

the

season,

beto-

kens

a

speedy

reverse.37

This maxim

expresses

he

belief that

especially good

weather

at

any

time

of

year

createsa

situation

n

which

badweather

s due

to

follow.

It

is

interesting

hat he

antecedent

f

this

adage

concerns

goodweatheronly

anddoes

not

imply

that

bad

weather

creates

a

situation n

which

good

weather

becomes due.

There

s a

defi-

nite

tendency

in

weather

lore

to take

bad

weather over

good

weather

as

the

ultimatecause

of weather

patterns.

t

may

be that

weather ore

shareswith

gos-

sip

the human

endency

o

regard

badnews

as more

significant

or attractive

han

good

news,

or it

may

be that

he

concept

of

opposition

tself

( a

speedy

reverse )

is

asymmetric

and

places

emphasis

on

the

negative

side of a

reversal

cold

and

34

Ibid.,

96-97.

35

Ibid.,

106.

36

Theophrastus,

4.

37

Marriott,

126.

9







Cameron

Shelley

turbulent )

bove the

positive

side

( warm

and

serene ).Although

both

factors

may

well be

involved,

other

adages

of

qualitative

weather

ore seem

to

suggest

that

the latter

option

is

true, i.e.,

that there is

an

asymmetry

n the

concept

of

opposition.

Consider he

following

maxim:

Winter

hunder,

A

summer'swonder.38

Marriott

xplains

that

extracting

winterthunder

out of the June

and

July

sum-

mer

is

supposed

to

help

towards a warm

sunny

summer

or abundant

crop.

Note

the

emphasis

on

thunder,

turbulent ormof

weather,

as the item

extracted

from one

season to the other. In

this case

at

least,

warm

summer

weather

is

conceived

mostly

as the

absence of thunderstorms.

t

appears,

then,

that

the

concept

of

opposition

as

it

exists

in

folk

meteorology

akes

bad weather

as defi-

nite

entity

and

good

weather

argely

as its

absence.

Balance

n

faunaland floral

weather ore concerns

he

relationship

between

the weather and

various animals

and

plants.

Weather

ore

of this

kind is

rarer

than

the others

and

appears

o

represent

he instantiation

n

weather

lore of

a

more

general

concept

of an

ongoing sympathy

between

nature

as a whole

and

certain

animalsand

plants

in

particular.

Consider

he

following

maxim:

When

the hawthornhas

too

many

haws

We shall

have

many

snaws.39

(Cf.

Whenthe

kermes-oak

ruits

exceedingly

well,

it

generally

ndicates

a

severe

winter,

and

sometimes

they

say

that this

sign

is followed

by

droughts.)40

This

adage

relatesa

high yield

of

berrieson

hawthorn rees

in

summer

o a

high

numberof

snowstorms

n

the

following

winter.

Marriott

xplains

that

country

folk

believe

nature

provides

abundanthaws as food

for the

hungry

birds

in a

forthcoming

evere winter.

This belief seems to reveal

something

urther

n the

concept

of

balance

in

weather

lore: not

only

do

opposed

weather

patterns

at

different

imes exist

in

a

kind of

correspondence,

ut each

pattern

ontains

as

it

were the

seeds of the other.In

this

case,

for

instance,

t

appears

hat some

of the

very fecundity

of

the summer

season is a manifestation

of the

severity

of

the

coming

winter,

exerting

an

influence

on

the

present

rom

ts

coming

occurrence

in

the future. In

folk

meteorology,

then,

time is

a more

complex

attribute

of

38

Ibid.,

116.

39

Ibid.,

303.

40

Theophrastus,

49.

10









An

unusually

fine

day

in

winter

is

known as

a borrowed

ay,

to

be

repaid

with

interest later

in

the

season,

known

also as a weather-

breeder ;

nd

by

sailors as

a

fox. 47

The

terms

weather-breeder nd fox

suggest

that fair

days

are

not so much

personified

as

zooified-that

is,

regardedmetaphorically

s animals

that

breed

later weather

patterns

as

part

of a

natural

compulsion

rather han

through

hu-

man

cultural

mechanisms

such

as

inheritance

or

obligation.

In

these

cases

me-

teorological

events are

regarded

not

as

passive

material tems but

as animate

entities

involved in

a

self-perpetuating ycle

of

life anddeath.

The

concept

of a

borrowed

ay

as well as

the

concept

of debt

used

in

the

fifth

and sixth

maxims

above

clearlypresents

weather

patterns

n

terms

of

finan-

cial or

moral

obligations. Dry

and

wet weather

are

given

as

personifications

incurring

debt

to one

another.

However,

the

way

in

which the debt

is incurred

and

repaid

s left

obscure.In

light

of the discussion

above

it

is

possible

that

wet

or

dry

weather hat

occurs

in

abundanceor exceeds

a certain hreshold

of

mag-

nitude

s

what

createsa

debt.

Presumably,

uch

an

abundance hreatens

o over-

turn

the

standing

balance of

elements and therefore

places

one element

in

the

wrong

to

that

extent.

Such a debtmust

be

repaid

n kind

by

allowing

the

opposite

element

an

abundant

manifestationof

equal

magnitude.

Theophrastus

eems

to

have this

concept

of

debt

in

mind

when he

says,

When here

s severe

heat,

generally

here s

compensationantapodid6si]

and

a

severe

winter

ollows.

If

there s much

rain

n

spring,

t is followed

by

severe heat in

low-lying

districts

and

valleys;

so that one

should

markhow the

season

begins.

If

the autumn

s

exceedingly

fine,

gener-

ally

the

spring

s cold:

if

the

spring

s late and

cold,

the summer

goes

on

late and the

autumn

s

usually

scorching

hot.48

Here

the

opposed

weather

patterns

ompensating

or

paying

each other

back

are

severe,exceedingly ine,

or late.

Also,

to

judge

from

Marriott's

orpus

of

weather

lore,

such debtscannot

be canceled

by

means other

han

repayment,

.g.,

remis-

sion

or the

intervention

of a third

party,

unlike

debts between humans. Once

incited,

the

compensating

weather

must occur.

In view of these

facts,

it

is clear

that

he

concept

of

debt as

applied

n

the

meteorological

domain

appears

o be of

a

limited and

self-correcting

ort,

rather han the selfsame

concept

of debt em-

ployed

in

human

affairs.

The

concept

of

balance

n

weather

ore, then,

comprises

he

following

condi-

tions: it is a

hypothetical

relationship

hat

predicates

weather

patterns

of con-

47

Ibid.,

115. See

also R.

Inwards,

WeatherLore

(London, 19504),

34.

48

Op.

cit.,

48.

12

Cameron

Shelley







Folk

Meteorology

ventionallyopposite

kinds in

direct

proportion

s

some

thresholdof

abundance

is

exceeded

by

the antecedent

meteorological

event.

This

concept

of balance

s

asymmetric

n

that he

adverseweather s

typically

emphasized

above

the

favor-

able weather.

Some

aspects

of the

concept

of

balance

are

capturedby

various

metaphors

oncerning

he

cultural ransmission

f articlesand

the moral

obliga-

tions

of

debt

and

repayment,

and also

the

natural

process

of

breeding.

But the

diversity

and

limitations of these

metaphors

also indicates

that none of

them

entirely

captures

he relevant

concept

of balance.

Rather,

he

hypothetical

rela-

tionship

betweenweather

patterns

esults

rom he notion

hat

hey

are

not

strictly

mutually

exclusive

in

time but that each

is,

as

it

were,

pregnant

with

the other.

This

non-exclusivity

s

especially

notable

n

temporal

balancemaxims

n

which

two otherwise

arbitrary

imes of

year may

be

brought

nto

correspondence.

The

Fragment

Reconsidered

The

concept

of

balance

in

folk

meteorology

as

evidenced

in weather lore

closely

approaches

he

conceptofjustice

or

equalization

o which

Anaximander

refers

in the

fragment.

The most immediate

similarity

s

in the

resemblance

of

the

fragment

o a maxim of

weather

ore,

especially

bearing

n mind that

what

Anaximander

escribes

as the

hings

thatare and

the

hings

out of

which

they

come

to

be

mostly likely

refer o

the

elements

hot, cold, wet,

and

dry.

Indeed,

n

his

comments on this

fragment,Heidegger

refers

to

it as a

Spruch,

a maxim.49

Compare

he

fragment-with

the names

of

the elements

substituted

or Anaxi-

mander's

general description-with

one

of

the

metaphorical

weather

maxims

discussed

above

(section 3):

Hot,

cold,

wet,

and

dry

perish

into and come

to

be from one

another

according

o

necessity,

or

they

pay

penalty

andretribution

o each

other

for

their

njustice

n

accordance

with the

ordering

of

time.

Be

it

dry

or

be

it

wet,

The

weather'll

always

pay

its debt.

Despite

the

simplicity

and

telegraphic

briefness

of

the weather

ingle,

the two

texts are

remarkably

imilar n

content.

Each

speaks

of basic elements

ncurring

penalties

against

hemselves with

respect

to the

otherelements and

the fact that

such

debts are

always repaid

n

due course.

This

similarity

goes beyond

superfi-

cialities into

the ideas themselves

that

are

being

expressed

n each.

49

See G.

Shapiro,

Debts Due and Overdue:

Beginnings

of

Philosophy

in

Nietzsche,

Heidegger,

and

Anaximander,

Nietzsche,

Genealogy,

Morality:

Essays

on

Nietzsche

s Geneal-

ogy

of

Morals,

ed.

R.

Schacht

(Berkeley,

1994),

362.

13







Cameron

Shelley

The

concept

of

justice

evident

in

the

fragment

may

be

systematically

com-

pared

o the

concept

of

balance

n

folk

meteorology

as discussed

above

(section

3).

First,

the

fragment

s

stated

in

roughly hypothetical

erms

with

the

phrase

translatedas

according

o

necessity, signifying

the

sort of

hypothetical

rela-

tion more

colloquially

rendered n

English

as

whenneeded.

n

otherwords

the

fragmentonly

states that

if

injustice

is

done,

then

penalty

and retributionare

meted out to

maintain

a

balance;

he

fragment

does not

state

that this

situation

need

ever

actually

occur.That

ssue is addressed

n Anaximander's

osmogony.

Second,

as

pointed

out

in

section

2,

Anaximander's

ragment

appears

o

be

primarily

oncerned

with

the

natureand

workings

of the

elements

hot,

cold,

wet,

and

dry

as

theyproduce

he observable lterations

n

seasons,

ertility,

nd

weather

patterns.

In

particular

here is a

shared concern

for the

relations between

the

elements

considered o

be each other's

opposites.

The

origin

of

the

tendency

to

think

of

weather

patterns

n

terms of

opposites

in the first

place

is obscure

(if

understandable),

ut it

does

suggest

thatAnaximander's

mphasis

on

opposites

was

not,

as

Classen

proposes,

a result of

Greek

fondness

for conflict

but rather

a

tendency

already

ixed

in

his source

material,

as

it

is

fixed

in folk

meteorology

everywhere.

Third,

Anaximander

eems to

imply

a

direct

proportion

etween

each

injus-

tice

and

its

matchingpenalty

or

retribution.

Kirk et al.

take this

proportion

o

mean an

equality

n

quantity

of the

elements,

but

it is not

clear that

this

reading

is correct.50

or

one

thing,

this

reading

would

mean that the

two

conflicting

elements

would

be

equal

n

quantity

after he

penalty

hadbeen

imposed, eaving

it

unclear

how

future mbalances

and

meteorologicalcycles

would continueto

occur.

Kirk

et al. addthat

he

penalty

must

really

be

a little

more than

equal,

which

itself

constitutesan

injustice

hat

must

eventually

be

redressed.5l

However,

his

reading

turns

the

penalty imposed

by

Time from an

example

of

justice

to an

example

of

injustice,

thereby

obscuring

the distinction

between

the two con-

cepts.

There is

no evidence that

Anaximander aw

justice

and

injustice

in

this

self-contradictory

r

ambiguousway.Indeed,

Heraclitus

may

have

been

disput-

ing

Anaximander

on this

point

when he asserted

that

justice

is

strife,

thus

opposing

Anaximander n

conflating

the

two

concepts.52

n view of

the

discus-

sion of

the

concept

of

time above

it

is more

likely

that

Anaximander

imply

had

in

mind a

more fluid notion

of time than the modem one.

In

other words he

probably

aw the

injustices

and

retributions f the elements

against

one another

as

interpenetrating

n

linear ime

andnot therefore

occurring

n

strictsuccession.

Because

according

o this

concept

of time each such event

is

pregnant

ith its

50

Op.

cit.,

120.

51

Ibid.,

120.

52

Heraclitus,

Fr. 80. See

Kirk,

193-94.

14







Folk

Meteorology

opposite,

the

cycle

of

events

would continue

without

requiring

a

contradictory

conceptofjustice

or a

precise

way

of

measuring quality

or the

lack

of

it

among

the

elements.

Of

course,

the folk

meteorological

concept

of

balance

does

require

some

notionof

weather

measurement.More

exactly,

it

requires

a

way

of

saying

that

some

weather

pattern

has

exceeded

some threshold.

n

some

cases the

threshold

might

be

one of

normalcy,

as

when

a

drought

or flood ruins

harvests

and

im-

poses

noticeable,

personal

discomfort.

Rarity,

such as

raging

thunderstorms

r

blinding

blizzards,

might

also

be an

appropriate

hresholdwhich weather

pat-

terns

might

exceed

andthus

bring

aboutsome

meteorological

retribution.

Also,

extremeduration

or

occurrence

during

a

significant

calendar

day might

marka

meteorological

event

as one

needing

to

be balanced

out.

An

abundance

f fertil-

ity,

such as

hawthorn

berries,

might

also

be

deemed

suitably significant.

Of

course,

balance

n

some

precise

quantityappeals

o the moder mind

more

than

such

a

diverse collection of

subjective

hresholds,

but

there

s no reason

othink

that

Anaximanderhad

anything

more

definite

in

mind.53

Finally,

he

Anaximander

ragmentdisplays

an

asymmetry

etween

he

posi-

tive

and

negative aspects

of

the

processes

involved.

In

weather

lore there

is a

tendency

to conceive

of

good

weather

simply

as the absence

of bad

weather,

which makes the

bad weather

seem more concrete

or

fundamental.

n the

frag-

ment

Anaximander

hooses to

emphasize

he

process

of

perishing

over

coming-

to-be,

and

he

speaks

about

the

injustice

of one

element

against

another

rather

than

the

justice

of

the

resulting udgment against

the offender.

In

other words

Anaximander eems

to take

injustice

as

the more

concrete

dea,

the one

to

men-

tion

explicitly

in

his

account,

and to take

justice simply

as

any

action

taken

in

response

o

injustice.

Anaximander's

expression

in

the

fragment

s similar

in

essential

ways

to

expressions

of

folk

meteorology.

It is

presented

n

a similar

manner

and,

more

importantly, resents

a

concept

of balance almost

identical to

that which

per-

vades weather ore.

The

redressing

of

injustice

hrough

the

ordering

of

time of

which Anaximander

peaks

is

systematicallycomparable

o the

concept

of bal-

ance over

time

which

is

commonly hought

o condition

patterns

f

meteorologi-

cal events. It

appears,

herefore,

hatthe

concept

of balance

n

folk

meteorology

may

well have

influenced

Anaximander's

philosophy

as it

is

recorded

or

us

by

Simplicius.

53

Of

course,

Anaximanderwas

interested

n

the

properties

of the

apeiron,

the indefinite.

The

meteorological

reading

of the Anaximander

ragment

suggests

that

part

of the indefinite

quality

of the

apeiron

was the

diversity

of

material elements

and

processes

to

which

it

gave

rise,

but

an

exploration

of this

reading

is outside the

scope

of

this

article.

15







Cameron

Shelley

Conclusions

The

examinationof folk

meteorology

undertaken bove

presents

us

with a

plausible

source

for the

concept

of

justice employed by

Anaximander

n

the

fragment.

The

concept

of

balance

n

folk

meteorology

answers o the

possibility

of

a literal

nterpretation

f

the

fragment

called for

in

section

1. This

concept

is

unlike

any

such

concept

studied

by

modem

scholars,

but

it

may

be

found

in-

formingexpressions

of

weather

ore the world

over.

Balance

n

folk

meteorology

expresses

a

concept

hat:

1)

states

a

hypotheti-

cal

relationship

hat

(2)

predicates

meteorological patterns

of

conventionally

opposite

kinds

(3)

in

direct

proportion

s

(4)

a

threshold

possibly

subjective)

of

abundance s exceeded

by

an

antecedent

meteorological

event.

The situation

described n

Anaximander's

ragment

meets all of these conditions.

The

concept

of

balance

s also

asymmetric

nd

emphasizes

dverseweather

ver

good

weather.

Anaximander's

ragment peaks

about

njustice,penalties,

andretributions.

he

distinction

between

good

and

bad weather s not

one

of mutual

exclusivity

but

ratherone of

interpenetration.

his

interpenetration

f

hot, cold,

wet,

and

dry

makesbetter ense of the

concept

ofjustice implicit

n

the

fragment

handoes

the

contradictory,

metaphorical

nterpretation dopted

by

Kirk

et

al. It also

gives

us

a

differentview of

Anaximander's

philosophical project

than that

posited

by

Kahn

and

Kirk

et

al.

Insteadof

viewing

Anaximander

s

constructing

his

physi-

cal

theoryby

rationalizing

myths,

we

may

view

him

as

constructing

his

theory

by

extending

non-mythological

concepts

contained

n the folk

meteorology

of

his

native

city.

The Greek folk

meteorology

treated

by Theophrastus

s much

like that of

today

and

probably

much

like that

known

in

the Miletus ofAnaximander's

ime

as well. We have

no direct

proof

that

Anaximander tudiedor

thought

about

olk

meteorology,

but it

would

be

consistent

with his

well-known

interest

n

meteo-

rology

in

general.

However,

Cicerodoes creditAnaximander

with

predicting

an

earthquake

during

a

stay

in

Sparta,

when he

warned

the

Spartans

o

spend

the

night

outsideand

therefore avedmanyof their ives (DK 12A5a).54 he truthof

Cicero's

story

is

debated,

but

if

true,

it

may signify

thatAnaximander

applied

his

knowledge

of the

folkloreof

earthquakes,

hich

ypically uggests

hat

ground-

dwelling

animals eave

their lairs

shortly

before an

earthquake

egins.55

Com-

pare

this with

the weather

ore

concerning

the abundant

growth

of hawberries

before a harsh

winter.

fAnaximanderwas

familiar

with

whatwe

might

call folk

seismology,

then

it

is not

hard o believe thathe was also familiar

with what we

call folk

meteorology.

The two

systems

employ very

similar

concepts

for their

explanations

of

natural

phenomena.

54

See

Kahn, 68,

103-4.

55

McKirahan,

33.

16







Folk

Meteorology

17

Modem

scholarsdo

not

doubt hat

Anaximander,

ike

the

other

pre-Socratics,

was

interested

n

meteorology.

What

hey

do not

know

is where

he

came

by

that

interestand

how

it

influencedhis natural

philosophy

as

expressed

in the

frag-

ment. It has

always

been assumed hatHomer

and Hesiod

would

have

supplied

the

materialneeded

by

Anaximander,

ut this

literary

material s

not addressed

primarily

o

meteorology

per

se and

provides

explanations

n

terms

of divine

rather han self-sufficient

action.

The above examination

suggests

thatAnaxi-

mander

may

have

been influenced

by

the

concept

of

balance contained

n folk

meteorology.

t

suggests

that,

contrary

o common

belief,

Anaximander

may

not

have used

a

legal metaphor

n

the

fragment

but

may

well have

expressed

himself

literally.

He

may

have

simply employed

a

concept

of

balance which

has until

now

escapedscholarly

notice.

University

of

Waterloo.

Documents

The Influence of Folk Metereology in Anaximander's Fragment