Description
Heraclitus, a contemporary of Siddhartha, Lao-tzu, and Confucius, is the earliest European thinker who still appeals to us. Practically everyone knows his most famous saying, "You cannot step in the same river twice," and modern physics marvels at his anticipation of Einstein's famous equation about matter and energy. All that remains of his words are some 130 snippets gleaned from later Greek and Latin writings, and a few of those are about rather than by Heraclitus. Translator Haxton proposes that Heraclitus was a sayer more than a writer, and his free-verse versions are aphoristic even when they are quite lyrical (Haxton's take on the river saying lusciously implies the landscape). Some sound folkloristic, some refer to Greek myths and history, especially pertaining to Heraclitus' city, Ephesus, whose throne he renounced. Most of the rest present his hallmark ideas about time, change, and the desirability of detachment from human affairs, notably including religious rites, to attend to universal wisdom. In this rendering, the Heraclitean fragments seem to be the wisdom book for postmodern people. Ray Olson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
