# Adversus mathematicos 96-3-98

Sextus Empiricus, Adversus mathematicos, 96 to 98. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/sextus-empiricus/adversus-mathematicos/96-3

ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια γέλωτος μᾶλ- λον ἢ σπουδῆς ἐστιν ἄξια. πρῶτον μέν γάρ, εἰ ὅτι ἄλκι- μον καὶ ἀρρενωπόν ἐστιν ὁ λέων, φασὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ γεν- νώμενον ἀνδρεῖον τυγχάνειν, πῶς τὸν ταῦρον ἀναλογοῦντα τούτῳ θῆλυ νομίζουσι ζῷον; εἶτα μάταιον τὸ οἴεσθαι ζῴδιον κάλλιστον τὸν λέοντα τὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀναλογίαν ἔχειν τῷ ἐπὶ γῆς· εἰκὸς γὰρ τοὺς παλαιούς τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ὀνομάτων τίθεσθαι κατὰ ψιλὴν τὴν τοῦ χαρακτῆρος ἐμφέρειαν, τάχα δέ οὐδὲ κατ᾿ αὐτὴν ἀλλʼ εὐσήμου χάριν διδασκαλίας. τί γὰρ ἔχουσιν ὅμοιον ἄρκτῳ οἱ ἑπτὰ ἀστέ- ρες, 〈τοσοῦτον〉 διεστῶτες ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων; ἢ δράκοντος κεφαλῇ οἱ πέντε, ἐφʼ ὧν φησιν ὁ Ἄρατος (phaen. 56) ἀλλο δύο κροτάφους, δύο δʼ ὄμματα, εἰς δʼ ὑπένερθεν ἐσχατιὴν ἐπέχει γένυος δεινοῖο πελώρου.

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Sextus Empiricus, Adversus mathematicos, ed. Hermann Mutschmann, Jürgen Mau. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0544.tlg002.local001/.