Milon the Philosopher Fragments on Lightning in Greek
The Fragments on Lightning is a lost treatise attributed to Milon the Philosopher, an otherwise unattested figure in the major histories of ancient thought. The work survives only as a title, referenced in a single source, and thus constitutes a mere testimonium to its existence rather than a collection of recoverable textual fragments. The title indicates it was a work of natural philosophy concerned with examining the meteorological phenomenon of lightning, but its specific theories and arguments are entirely unknown. Its historical significance is negligible, as it exerted no discernible influence on the scientific or philosophical tradition. Its documented existence solely by name serves to illustrate the vast number of such minor specialized treatises from antiquity that have not survived the transmission of texts.
| 122 (24t) | Φυσικά Stob. 1.29.3 p. 238 Wa. (Mullach 2 p. 113) Μίλωνος Φυσικῶν· Ἀστραπαί εἰσι διτταί, ἡ μὲν ἡμερινή, ἡ δὲ νυκτερινή. γίγνεται δὲ ἡ μὲν ἡμερινὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου, ὅταν ῥαγῇ τὸ ὕδωρ ὑποφαινομένου αὐτοῦ· λαμπρὰ δὲ οὐ φαίνεται, ὥσπερ ἡ νυκτερινή, ὅτι ἐν φάει γίγνεται· ἡ δὲ νυκτερινὴ ὑπὸ τῶν ἄστρων γίγνεται, ὅταν ῥαγῇ τὸ ὕδωρ ὑποφαινομένων αὐτῶν· λαμπρὰ δὲ φαίνεται, ὅτι ἐν ζόφῳ γίγνεται. |