{"id":1407,"date":"2026-06-15T12:11:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.in2greece.com\/english\/historymyth\/history\/ancient\/?page_id=1407"},"modified":"2026-06-19T11:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:12:26","slug":"anaximenes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.in2greece.com\/english\/historymyth\/history\/ancient\/anaximenes.htm","title":{"rendered":"Anaximenes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anaximenes of Miletus 585-525 BC<\/h2>\n\n\n

\"anaximenes\"Anaximenes of Miletus, the son of Eurystratus, after becoming a companion of Anaximander, also maintained that the underlying nature of things is one, and that it is infinite. However, he did not leave it, like him, undefined, but defined it by saying that it is air. Air is differentiated, in terms of density and rarefaction in each entity. When it is rarefied it becomes fire; when it is denser it becomes wind and then cloud; when it is denser it becomes water, then earth, then stones. All other things are made from these.<\/p>\n

This text was probably written by Theophrastus, 250 years after Anaximenes. He does not faithfully reproduce the expressions used by Anaximander himself, but he gives us an exposition of his basic positions, attempting a correlation with Anaximander. Both philosophers spoke of an \u201cinfinite\u201d primary substance. But while Anaximander limited himself to this statement, Anaximenes, perhaps wanting to reach something more specific and familiar, identified the primary substance with \u201cinfinite\u201d air.<\/p>\n

But why does Anaximenes choose air? Perhaps because air is that natural material that is quite close to Anaximander\u2019s \u201cinfinite\u201d: it is an indeterminate, amorphous, changeable material, particularly widespread in nature, and indeed a material that, through the process of breathing, is associated with life and vitality.<\/p>\n

Despite these properties, air does not cease to be an existing material, a material that we all know. Anaximenes\u2019 tendency is to retain something of his teacher\u2019s innovative thinking, without straying too far from the average person. The same conclusion is drawn from his position that the Earth balances on air. This position is quite bold. Experience does not show us many heavy things that balance on layers of air. However, it is much less provocative than the corresponding position of Anaximander that for the balance of the Earth no support is needed at all.<\/p>\n

The philosophy of Anaximenes<\/h3>\n

There were essentially two basic concepts of Anaximenes\u2019 philosophy, which determined his contribution to science. On the one hand, the concept of air as something invisible, and on the other hand, his position that all species have a common origin. Indeed, in its pure pre-cosmic state, air was invisible without internal structure and without qualitative characteristics that would make its existence noticeable. It becomes noticeable only through its cosmogenic and cosmological function, when its temperature and humidity are subject to changes (qualitative transformation).<\/p>\n

With these basic philosophical concepts of Anaximenes, the School of Miletus offered science a specific scientific Cosmology. Also, Anaximenes’ pure reason and the fact that he introduced the quantitative criterion for qualitative differences make him a precursor of “logical explanation”. Anaximenes was the first naturalist who saw a true cause in every material change. He was also the first to distinguish the fixed stars from the planets and to give the physical explanation of solar and lunar eclipses.<\/p>\n

However, it is a fact that Anaximenes, despite the purity of his philosophical thought, did not use the tool of mathematics; this basic step towards rationality, as we will see later, would be taken by the Pythagoreans.<\/p>\n

However, the most important element in Anaximenes’ philosophy is his reference to condensation and rarefaction – and for this reason alone he deserves a place in the history of philosophy. Anaximenes’ innovation lies in the fact that he did not limit himself to recording natural changes, but also tried to determine a mechanism of change in nature. His basic idea is that the great variety of forms that appear in nature can be reduced to a single deeper substance (air), which varies according to its density.<\/p>\n

Stone and fire are not completely different things, but extreme versions of the same material: fire is the rarer and stone the denser form of air. We can therefore even imagine the transformation of stone into fire, if the stone for some reason undergoes too great a dilution (perhaps through heating, since hot usually goes with the dilute and cold with the dense). It is not unreasonable to claim that with condensation and rarefaction Anaximenes formulated the first natural law in the history of human thought.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Earth and creation<\/h3>\n

In our Universe, the Earth was first created from the condensation of its gaseous envelope. And because in the air – better than all bodies – those that have a large surface are held, for this reason the Earth is likened to a huge wide disk of great extent. The Earth was \u201csquare \u03b5\u03c0 \u1f00\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bf\u03c7\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03b7\u201d, that is, it is a flattened surface, which is stationary in the center of the Universe, supported by air.<\/p>\n

Aristotle (On the Sky II, 294b, 13-17) reported that Anaximenes, like Anaxagoras and Democritus, considered that the cause of the Earth’s immobility was its wide shape: “Anaximenes, Anaxagoras and Democritus consider the width to be the reason for its remaining motion. For it does not cut, but rather presses on the air below, which seems to be the case with the wide bodies, for it has difficulty in resisting the winds” (Aristotle. On the Sky II, 294b, 13-17).<\/p>\n

Anaximenes, Anaxagoras and Democritus claim that the cause of the immobility is the wide shape of (the Earth). It does not cut, but covers like a lid the air beneath it, which is what bodies with width seem to do. These have difficulty in moving even the winds, due to the resistance.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Anaximenes of Miletus, believed (according to Pseudo-Plutarch) that the Earth was wide and that the Sun, the Moon, as well as all the stars, came from our planet: \u201cAnd since the air was first formed, he says that the earth was flat and hard; and for this reason he also says that the air is covered; and the sun and the moon and the other stars have their origin from the earth. He decides that the sun is the earth, and that it is because of its sharp motion and because it is not able to receive this hot combustion\u201d {[Plut.] Strom. 3 (D 579) \u2039 I, 6}.<\/p>\n

We find the same information in Hippolytus, who characteristically states: \u201cThe earth is flat and supported by air, and similarly the sun and moon and the other stars are all fiery beings, spread out in the air by width. The stars were made from the earth by the force of its motion\u201d [Hippol. Ref. I, 7, 4-5 (D. 560 W11)].<\/p>\n

Regarding the shape of our planet, it is stated that the Earth, which was created by the condensation of its gaseous envelope, was flat and supported by air (Plutarch. \u201cStromatae\u201d I, 6 and Hippolytus, \u201cOn the Control of All Heresies\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aetius writes that Anaximenes maintained that the Earth, thanks to its flat shape, floated in the air, which filled the entire space of the Universe. In the last crystalline sky, which constitutes the outermost layer of orbits with respect to the Earth, the stars are located like nails and thus revolve around the Earth: \u201cAnaximenes considers the nature of the stars to be fiery, and it also contains some terrestrial bodies that behave invisibly\u201d [Aet. II, 13, 10, (D. 342)].<\/p>\n

\u201cAnaximenes, like nails, is the star that is fixed to the crystal. The petals are fiery like paintings\u201d [Aet. II, 14, 3, (D. 344)], and<\/p>\n

The Earth, therefore, according to Anaximenes, was a flat body that was suspended in the air and supported on it.<\/p>\n

As for the Sun, Anaximenes believed that it came from the Earth, was similar to it, \u201cas wide as a petal\u201d [Aet. II, 23, 1, (D. 352)] and that it acquired great heat, due to its rapid movement [Plutarch. \u201cStromatae\u201d I, 6 and Stromatoae I, 3 (D. 579)]. First, then, the Earth was formed and then the stars and planets, which constituted the finite Universe, within which there was a multitude of dark bodies.<\/p>\n

Air and multiple worlds<\/h3>\n

Diogenes Laertius mentions Anaximenes as a student of Anaximander (610-540 BC) and Parmenides (540-470 BC) \u2013 the dates do not correspond, however \u2013 and points out that he considered air to be the first principle: \u201cAnaximenes of Eurystratus, Milesian heard of Anaximander, and the young men and Parmenides heard of him. He also called the beginning of air the infinite. And the stars move not under the earth, but around the earth. The word is simple and clear\u201d (Lives of the Philosophers II, 3).<\/p>\n

That is, the Sun, the Moon and all the stars do not move under, but around the Earth. This means that Anaximenes \u201cdesigned\u201d a picture of the Universe that was not spherical, as his teacher Anaximander had suggested, but rather hemispherical.<\/p>\n

Anaximenes\u2019 air was in constant motion, just like Anaximander\u2019s infinity. Ultimately, from this perpetual motion of air, the entire variety of phenomena and things was created. From air, through rarefaction, fire came, while through the condensation of air, water and earth were created.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Anaximenes considered air to be the determining material principle of Creation: \u201cthat which includes and holds together all things and by rarefaction and condensation produces all visible and sensible things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The birth and decay of worlds incessantly follow one another. Anaximenes argued, like Anaximander, that our World was not the only one that existed. At the same time, he maintained that the vast mass of air contained innumerable Worlds that were constantly being born and dying, returning to the original infinity (nebula?).<\/p>\n

Although Anaximenes, as we have already mentioned, adopted Anaximander\u2019s \u201cinfinity\u201d to define his basic principle, air, he did not follow his predecessor\u2019s view regarding the derivatives of this primary material element. This means that, while in Anaximander we have a succession of worlds, Anaximenes\u2019 philosophical thought leads us to the simultaneous multiplicity of worlds. It seems that Anaximenes overrode his teacher\u2019s philosophical view and wanted to bring about some improvement in Anaximander\u2019s cosmological system.<\/p>\n

His view reflects modern views of Astrophysics about infinite supersensible worlds, which coexist with ours, but are not perceived by us.<\/p>\n

Also, in his philosophy he paralleled the Cosmos and the atom, the air and the soul, which is seen in the only phrase that survives from his work: “If the soul, the essence, the air that is us, holds us, and the whole world is spirit and air.”<\/p>\n

This sentence contains the seed of the teaching of Physics about the macrocosm and the microcosm, which was formed much, much later.<\/p>\n

This is exactly what we want to show by insisting on our position that the 17th century and the following two centuries were nothing more than a rupture, a dominance of Mechanocracy and, for a few centuries, of the limited model of Newtonian-Euclidean science, while essentially the non-sensible geometry of Riemann is the one that describes exactly what most ancient Greek philosophers believed and advocated.<\/p>\n

Motion<\/h3>\n

Fire, as we have already mentioned, is produced by the rarefaction (rarefaction) of air, while water and earth by its condensation. The opposite process again provides air. Motion, according to Anaximenes, is an innate property of gaseous matter and with its action both rarefaction and condensation are achieved. That is, Anaximenes believed that from air, through a process of condensation and rarefaction, fire, water and earth were created.<\/p>\n

From the air, heavy bodies were separated by condensation and directed downwards and formed the Earth. An opposite process, through rarefaction, formed light bodies. These were directed upwards and created the stars and the Sun. The movement of the bodies resulted from the difference in their weight and heat. Finally, their cohesion was due to the dense and cold air, which these bodies contained.<\/p>\n

It is very likely, as many scholars of his work claim, that the movement that Anaximenes describes reflects rotational movement. Movement around the axis, therefore, gives rise to all bodies, which after passing through and ending their life, dissolve through the process of rarefaction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anaximenes of Miletus 585-525 BC Anaximenes of Miletus, the son of Eurystratus, after becoming a companion of Anaximander, also maintained that the underlying nature of things is one, and that it is infinite. However, he did not leave it, like him, undefined, but defined it by saying that it is air. Air is differentiated, in
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