Note 580 — Chapter V · EMPEDOKLES OF AKRAGAS

For the history of the term στοιχεῖον see Diels, Elementum. Eudemos said (ap. Simpl. Phys. p. 7, 13) that Plato was the first to use it, and this is confirmed by the way the word is introduced in Tht. 201 e. The original term was μορφή or ἰδέα.