# De utilitate mathematicae 166

Theon Smyrnaeus, De utilitate mathematicae, Paragraph 166. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/theon-smyrnaeus/de-utilitate-mathematicae/166

Πλάτων δὲ ἐπὶ τέλει τῆς Πολιτείας, προτρέπων ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀρετήν, μῦθόν τινα διέξεισι [καὶ] περὶ τῆς τῶν οὐρανίων διακοσμήσεως, λέγων ἄξονα μέν τινα διὰ τοῦ πόλου διήκοντα οἷον κίονα, ἑτέραν δὲ ἠλακάτην καὶ ἄτρακτον, τοὺς δέ τινας περὶ τοῦτον κοίλους ἐν ἀλλήλοις ἡρμοσμένους σφονδύλους τὰς τῶν ἄστρων σφαίρας, ζ΄ μὲν τῶν πλανωμένων, ἐκτὸς δὲ μίαν τῶν ἀπλανῶν ἐντὸς αὐτῆς περιέχουσαν τὰς ἄλλας· δηλοῖ δὲ τὴν τάξιν τῶν σφαιρῶν διά τε τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν ἄστρων ἑκάστου καὶ διὰ τοῦ χρώματος ἑκάστου καὶ ἔτι διὰ τοῦ τάχους τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ἐναντία τῷ παντὶ φορὰς, λέγων οὕτως·

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Theon Smyrnaeus, De utilitate mathematicae, ed. Eduardus Hiller. 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/tlg1724.tlg001.local001/.