Theos-Talk Archives (June 2007 Message tt00125)

And they allowed Apollonius to ask questions; and he asked them of
what they thought the cosmos was composed; but they replied:

"Of elements."

"Are there then four" he asked.

"Not four," said Iarchas, "but five."

"And how can there be a fifth," said Apollonius, "alongside of water
and air and earth and fire ?"

"There is the ether", replied the other, "which we must regard as the
stuff of which gods are made; for just as all mortal creatures inhale
tbe air, so do immortal and divine natures inhale the ether."

Apollonius again asked which was the first of the elements, and
Iarchas answered:

"All are simultaneous, for a living creature is not born bit by bit."

"Am I," said Apollonius, "to regard the universe as a living creature?"

"Yes," said the other, "if you have a sound knowledge of it, for it
engenders all living things."


   The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, - Philostratus, 220 AD.





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