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"A 2,000-year-old papyrus fragment, discovered in the archives of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, reveals 30 previously unpublished verses by Empedocles, a pre-Socratic philosopher of the fifth century BCE. This discovery offers researchers direct access to a body of thought previously known only through quotations from later authors. The very first edition, translation, and commentary on these verses are published in the book "L'Empédocle du Caire," ...
a papyrologist ... identified papyrus P. Fouad inv. 218 as an unknown fragment of the "Physica," the poem by the philosopher Empedocles of Agrigentum. ...
The text that has come to light deals with the theory of particle effluvia and sensory perceptions, particularly vision. Analysis of the text has revealed unexpected connections, including the probable direct source of a passage by Plutarch (2nd century), as well as a dialogue by Plato and a text by Theophrastus, a disciple of Aristotle, both from the 4th century BCE. Unnoticed echoes of Empedocles have also been detected in the comic poet Aristophanes and in the Latin philosopher Lucretius. The study further suggests that Empedocles could be regarded as a precursor of the atomist philosophers, foremost among whom is Democritus of Abdera. ..."
Thirty previously unpublished verses by Empedocles discovered on a papyrus from Cairo (original news release) "A two-thousand-year-old papyrus fragment, discovered in the archives of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, reveals thirty previously unpublished verses by Empedocles, a pre-Socratic philosopher of the 5th century BCE. This discovery offers researchers direct access to a body of thought previously known only through quotations from later authors. The very first edition, translation and commentary on these verses are published in the book L'Empédocle du Caire ..."
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