Note 803 — Chapter VII · THE PYTHAGOREANS

Plato, Tim. 54 c 4. It is to be observed that in Tim. 48 b 5 Plato says of the construction of the elements οὐδείς πω γένεσιν αὐτῶν μεμήνυκεν, which implies that there is some novelty in the theory as he makes Timaios state it. If we read the passage in the light of what has been said in § 141, we shall be inclined to believe that Plato is working out the Pythagorean doctrine on the lines of the discovery of Theaitetos. There is another indication of the same thing in Arist. Gen. Corr. Β, 3. 330 b 16, where we are told that, in the Διαιρέσεις, Plato assumed three elements, but made the middle one a mixture. This is stated in close connexion with the ascription of Fire and Earth to Parmenides.