Before the Milesians

In the ancient near East (for example in the creation stories of Judaism) all that existed in the beginning was the watery abyss.

A poet called Hesiod (c.750BC) wrote the Theogony in which he described the origins of the world beginning with the god Chaos. ‘Chaos’ may mean infinite space, a gaping void, emptiness, or formless matter.

Thales (c. 624–c. 548 BC)

Thales was an advisor to King Alyattes of Lydia 

He was famous for coming up with lots of clever ideas:

• He predicted a solar eclipse by mapping out the movements of the sun and the moon in space.

• Thales was the first Greek to fix the number of days in a year to 365.

• He predicted that the olive trees would have a really good year by making note of the weather that led to good olive crops. He rented all the olive groves that year and made a fortune.

• He may have been involved in the invention of coins

Thales thought that the first principle must be water (presumably because everything needs water to survive). 

There were lots of stories about water existing before everything else (e.g. the Jewish creation story starts like this). There were also lots of stories about God(s) fighting with and overcoming sea monsters (Leviathans). Water was also a symbol of motherhood. (Our letter M comes from a picture of water - and is obviously related to motherhood - Mama)

However, Thales was also a geometer and came up with lots of geometrical principles. He thought ‘the greatest (thing) is space, for it holds all things’. This probably influenced his student….

Anaximander (c.610-c.456 BC)

Anaximander thought that the first principle must be something completely different to everything. E.g. not everything looks like water, so water can’t be the first principle. Instead, he thought the first principle must be infinity or emptiness. Similar to Thales, he thought that everything exists inside infinite space.

(Anaximander also invented lots of clever things - the first world map, and the sundial)

Anaximander’s map would have looked something like the one on the left. It looks a bit rubbish at first, but if you compare it to a modern image of the globe from a certain angle, it’s not so bad!

Anaximenes (c. 615 BC - c. 590 BC)

Anaximenes was a friend or student of Anaximander.

Anaximenes thought air was the primary substance that held the universe together. He believed that air was infinite and divine. He used the word pneuma (‘breath of life’) as a synonym for air. 

One of the only surviving quotes by Anaximenes reads: 

The analogy compared atmospheric air as the divine and human air as souls that animate people.