The Nature of Change

Our first point must be that nothing whatever is by nature such as to do or undergo any chance thing through the agency of any chance thing, nor does anything come to be out of just anything, unless you take a case of concurrence. For how could pale come to be out of knowing music, unless the knowing music supervenes on the not pale or the dark?

Pale comes to be out of not pale — not, that is, out of just anything other than pale, but out of dark or something between the two; and knowing music comes to be out of not knowing music, that is, not out of just anything other than knowing music, but out of ignorant of music, or something in between if there is anything in between. And a thing does not pass away into just anything in the first instance; thus the pale does not pass away into the knowing music, except by virtue of concurrence, but into the not pale, and not into any chance thing other than the pale, but into the dark or something in between. Similarly the knowing music passes away into the not knowing music, and not into any chance thing other than the knowing music, but into the ignorant of music or something in between if there is anything in between.

ληπτέον δὴ πρῶτον ὅτι πάντων τῶν ὄντων οὐθὲν οὔτε ποιεῖν πέφυκεν οὔτε πάσχειν τὸ τυχὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος, οὐδὲ γίγνεται ὁτιοῦν ἐξ ὁτουοῦν,ἂν μή τις λαμβάνῃ κατὰ συμβεβηκός· πῶς γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο λευκὸν ἐκ μουσικοῦ, πλὴν εἰ μὴ συμβεβηκὸς εἴη τῷ μὴ λευκῷ ἢ τῷ μέλανι τὸ μουσικόν;ἀλλὰ λευκὸν μὲν γίγνεται ἐξ οὐ λευκοῦ, καὶ τούτου οὐκ ἐκ παντὸς ἀλλ’ ἐκ μέλανος ἢ τῶν μεταξύ, καὶ μουσικὸν οὐκ ἐκ μουσικοῦ, πλὴν οὐκ ἐκπαντὸς ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἀμούσου ἢ εἴ τι αὐτῶν ἐστι μεταξύ. οὐδὲ δὴ φθείρεται εἰς τὸ τυχὸν πρῶτον, οἷον τὸ λευκὸν οὐκ εἰς τὸ μουσικόν, πλὴν εἰ μή ποτεκατὰ συμβεβηκός, ἀλλ’ εἰς τὸ μὴ λευκόν, καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὸ τυχὸν ἀλλ’εἰς τὸ μέλαν ἢ τὸ μεταξύ· ὡς δ’ αὔτως καὶ τὸ μουσικὸν εἰς τὸ μὴ μουσικόν, καὶτοῦτο οὐκ εἰς τὸ τυχὸν ἀλλ’ εἰς τὸ ἄμουσον ἢ εἴ τι αὐτῶν ἐστι μεταξύ. ὁμοίως δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ μὴ ἁπλᾶ τῶν ὄντων ἀλλὰ σύνθετα κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ἔχει λόγον·

When we say that one thing comes to be out of another, or that something comes to be out of something different, we may be talking either about what is simple or about what is compound. Let me explain. A man can come to be knowing music, and also the not knowing music can come to be knowing music, or the not knowing music man a man knowing music. I call the man and the not knowing music simple coming-to-be things, and the knowing music a simple thing which comes to be. When we say that the not knowing music man comes to be a knowing music man, both the coming-to- be thing and that which comes to be are compound.

In some of these cases we say, not just that this comes to be, but that this comes to be out of this — for instance, knowing music comes to be out of not knowing music. But not in all: knowing music does not come to be out of man, but the man comes to be knowing music.

Of what we call the simple coming-to-be things, one remains when it comes to be, and the other does not. The man remains and is a man when he comes to be knowing music, but the not knowing music and the ignorant of music do not remain, either by themselves or as components.

φαμὲν γὰρ γίγνεσθαι ἐξ ἄλλου ἄλλο καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρου ἕτερον ἢ τὰ ἁπλᾶ λέγοντες ἢ τὰ συγκείμενα. λέγω δὲ τοῦτο ὡδί. ἔστι γὰρ γίγνεσθαι ἄνθρωπον μουσικόν, ἔστι δὲ τὸ μὴ μουσικὸν γίγνεσθαι μουσικὸν ἢ τὸν μὴ μουσικὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον μουσικόν. ἁπλοῦν μὲν οὖν λέγω τὸ γιγνόμενον τὸνἄνθρωπον καὶ τὸ μὴ μουσικόν, καὶ ὃ γίγνεται ἁπλοῦν, τὸ μουσικόν· συγκείμενον δὲ καὶ ὃ γίγνεται καὶ τὸ γιγνόμενον, ὅταν τὸν μὴ μουσικὸνἄνθρωπον φῶμεν γίγνεσθαι μουσικὸν ἄνθρωπον. τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν οὐ μόνον λέγεται τόδε γίγνεσθαι ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τοῦδε, οἷον ἐκ μὴ μουσικοῦμουσικός, τὸ δ’ οὐ λέγεται ἐπὶ πάντων· οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἀνθρώπου ἐγένετο μουσικός, ἀλλ’ ἅνθρωπος ἐγένετο μουσικός.
τῶν δὲ γιγνομένων ὡς τὰ ἁπλᾶ λέγομεν γίγνεσθαι, τὸ μὲν ὑπομένον γίγνεται τὸ δ’ οὐχ ὑπομένον· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ὑπομένει μουσικὸςγιγνόμενος ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἔστι, τὸ δὲ μὴ μουσικὸν καὶ τὸ ἄμουσον οὔτε ἁπλῶς οὔτε συντεθειμένον ὑπομένει.

Here is the recording in English. The reader is Philipp Blum, and the reading took on 17 June 2023.

Here is the Greek version, also performed by Philipp Blum on the same day.