Interpretation on Everything Simply and on the Lights by Zosimus of Panopolis

Name: Interpretation on Everything Simply and on the Lights
Author: Zosimus of Panopolis

Period: Ὀψιμαρχαία Late Antique

Dialect: Κοινή Koine

Domain: Χημεία Alchemy

Domain: Ἐπιστήμη Science

Genre: Πραγματεία Treatise

The Interpretation of Everything Simply and on Lights is an alchemical treatise composed in Greek by Zosimus of Panopolis in Egypt around 300 CE. A concise and instructional work, it exemplifies Zosimus’s characteristic blend of practical laboratory directions with philosophical reflection. The “lights” referenced in its title denote the crucial colour transformations—such as blackening or whitening—observed during metallic transmutation, which served as key indicators of progress in the alchemical operation. The text provides specific technical details, discussing the treatment of metals like lead and copper, the use of an agent called “divine water,” and the careful regulation of heating times to achieve desired effects.

Preserved within the larger corpus of Zosimus’s writings, the treatise survives primarily in Byzantine Greek manuscripts, notably the 10th- or 11th-century Marcian Greek manuscript 299. As with most ancient alchemical literature, the transmission process has introduced scribal errors and textual alterations. Zosimus’s work belongs to a tradition where alchemy was conceived as both a material craft and a spiritual discipline, seeking the perfection of substances in parallel with the refinement of the practitioner’s psychē. This treatise, alongside his other works, formed a foundational component of the alchemical corpus, influencing subsequent developments through Byzantine, Syriac, and Arabic channels before reaching the Latin West.

Zosimus of Panopolis Interpretation on Everything Simply and on the Lights in Greek in PDF

Zosimus of Panopolis Interpretation on Everything Simply and on the Lights in Greek in MD

ἙΡΜΗΝΕΙΑ ΠΕΡΙ ΠΑΝΤΩΝ ΑΠΛΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΦΩΤΩΝ

Βλέπε δὲ μὴ πλανηθῇς καὶ τὸν μόλυβδον καὶ τὸν χαλκὸν οὐ μόνον ξανθώσῃς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μεταλλικὰ εἴδη, τὰ λεγόμενα χρυσοζώμιον, καὶ χρύσολον, ἅτινά εἰσιν τὸν ἀριθμὸν πλέον ἢ ἔλαττον οηʹ· οηʹ δὲ πλέον ἢ ἔλαττον εἶπον, ὅτι ἔλαβεν ὑδράργυρον. Δεῖ δὲ γινώσκειν πεῖραν καὶ τὴν δόναμιν μνημονεύει περὶ τῶν φώτων καὶ διοπτᾶν ἢ εἰσκρίνοντα τὸν σίδηρον. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἡμιώριον μόνον ὄπτησαν, οἱ δὲ ὥραν αʹ, ἄλλοι δὲ βʹ, ἕτεροι γʹ, τινὲς δὲ καὶ δʹ.

Ἐλαφρὰ φῶτα πᾶσαν τὴν τέχνην ἀναφέρει, καὶ τὰ χρώματα ὄπτα, καὶ ἔα τέως ἀποψυγῇ· ἐν ὑέλοις βλέπῃς τὸ γινόμενον· οὕτως ξανθοῦται διὰ τῆς λειώσεως καὶ ἑψήσεως.

Τοῦτο τὸ θεῖον ὕδωρ τὸ δίχρωμον, τὸ λευκὸν καὶ ξανθὸν, μυρίοις κεκλήκασιν ὀνόμασιν. Ἄνευ οὖν τοῦ θείου ὕδατος οὐδέν ἐστιν· τὸ γὰρ ὅλον σύνθεμα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἀναλαμβάνεται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ ὀπτᾶται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ καίεται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ πήγνυται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ ξανθοῦται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ σήπτεται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ βάπτεται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ ἰοῦται καὶ ἐξιοῦται, καὶ ἑψεῖται. Φησὶν γάρ· Ἐπιβαλὼν ὕδωρ θείου ἄθικτον, καὶ κόμμι ὀλίγον, πᾶν σῶμα βάψεις. Ὅσα γὰρ ἀπὸ ὕδατος ἔσχον γένεσιν, ταῦτα τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἀντιπάσχει. Ὥστε ἄνευ τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν ὑγρῶν πάντων, οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀσφαλές.

Ἐμνημόνευσαν δέ τινες, τάχα δὲ καὶ οἱ ὅλοι, ὅτι δεῖ τοῦτο τὸ ὕδωρ ζύμης χάριν καταφθεῖραι τῷ ὁμοίῳ τὸ ὅμοιον τοῦ μέλλοντος βάπτεσθαι σώματος, εἴτε ἀργύρου, εἴτε χρυσοῦ. Ἐὰν ἄργυρον ἐθέλῃς βάπτειν, ἀργύρου πέταλα συσσήπτει· ἐὰν χρυσὸν, χρυσοῦ πέταλα· ὁ γὰρ Δημόκριτος· Ἐπίβαλλε, φησὶν, χρυσοῦ ὕδωρ κοινοῦ, καὶ βάψεις, καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ καταβάψεις· ὁ γὰρ εἷς ζωμὸς καὶ τὰ ἀμφότερα σήπει κατηγορεῖται. Ζυμοὶ τοίνυν χρὴ ἐκ τοῦ ὁμοίου τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ θείου ἢ ἄργυρον, ἢ χρυσόν. Ὡς γὰρ ἡ ζύμη τοῦ ἄρτου, ὀλίγη οὖσα, τοσοῦτον φύραμα ζυμοῖ, οὕτω καὶ τὸ μικρὸν ἢ ἀργύρου ἢ χρυσοῦ διὰ τοῦ ὄξους ἐστίν.

Interpretation on Everything Simply and on the Lights by Zosimus of Panopolis

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