Heraclitus On the Psychology and Physiology of Sleep and On Rivers

In the pages which follow, I will attempt to interpret a group of fragments of Heraclitus (B 26, ? 77, ? 98, ? I2, ? 49 a) which are among his most difficult. Some have been rejected as being wholly or in part spurious, about others only guesses have been possible. I am well aware of the many difficulties complicating the interpretation of Heraclitus in general, and of the above-mentioned fragments in particular. The connection between those fragments which is proposed here as their interpretation, cannot be proved with anything even approaching certainty: it has to remain hypothetical. On the other hand, a study of recent scholarship left me with the impression that Heraclitus sometimes fares rather harshly at the hands of his commentators. I have no intention of abusing what I consider to be a necessary, if sometimes too severe, criticism. But I believe that an interpretation which endeavours to combine textual conservatism with imagination, while consciously trying to avoid the pitfalls of anachronism should be advanced, even if it be to a large extent unoriginal. The hypotheses offered below make use of material which (as far as I know) has not been used in this connection before and therefore, it is hoped, may be of use in future discussions of the problem.