On the God of Socrates

...for they sink by their own weight; yet they are not made of flame, lest they be swept upward by heat. Therefore, we must conceive of a "middle nature" suited to the middle-ground of their location, so that the character of the inhabitants matches the character of their region. Come then, let us form in our minds and give birth in our souls to a type of bodily texture that is neither as dull as earthly matter nor as light as the ether The "ether" was considered the fifth element, a pure, fiery substance that made up the heavens and the stars.. Rather, let it be in a sense separated from both, or perhaps a mixture of both—either refined or modified by participating in both elements. However, they will be more easily understood as being composed of both rather than of neither.

34 Let these bodies of the daemons In the Platonic tradition, a "daemon" is not an evil spirit but an intermediary being—a "middle-man" between gods and humans., therefore, possess a small amount of weight, so that they do not drift up to the highest heavens, 141 and yet some degree of lightness, so that they are not plunged down into the depths.

35 || And || so that I do not seem to be making up unbelievable things in the manner of a poet, I will provide a primary example of this balanced middle-ground. For we see the condensed clouds 142 possess a similar subtlety of body. If these clouds were as light as things that completely lack weight, they would never—as we so often observe—crown the peaks of high mountains with curved collars, weighed down below the ridges. On the other hand, if they were by their own nature so dense and heavy that no mixture of vigorous lightness could lift them, they would surely strike the earth and be shattered by their own momentum, no differently than a mass of lead or a stone.

36 But in fact, hanging and mobile, they are steered here and there by the winds like ships in the "sea of air," changing their position slightly between proximity and distance. Indeed, if they are fertile with moisture, they descend as if to give birth. 143 And for that reason, the wetter clouds travel lower in a dark line and with a slower gait; but those that are clear have a higher course, and are driven along like fleeces of wool in a white line and with a swifter flight.

Do you not hear what Lucretius Lucretius (c. 99–55 BCE) was a Roman poet and philosopher who wrote On the Nature of Things. says most eloquently regarding thunder: "First, the blue of heaven is shaken with thunder because the ethereal 37 clouds, flying on high, clash against || opposing || winds." original: "principio tonitru quatiuntur caerula caeli propterea, quia concurrunt sublime volantes aetheriae nubes contra pugnantibus ventis." Quote from Lucretius, Book VI, lines 96-98.

XI Now, if clouds fly on high—even though they have an entirely earthly origin and eventually flow back down to the earth—what then do you think of the bodies of daemons? 144 Their bodies are condensed into something much more subtle; for they are not gathered from this smoky darkness of a dross-filled little cloud, as the race of clouds is, but from that most pure [element] of air...

The following notes represent variations found in historical manuscripts and editions of this text.

20 Lucretius VI, 96—98.

1 nec (nor) — reading by Mercerus; ne (lest) — in Manuscript O.
temperanda est ergo (must therefore be balanced) — in Parisinus 8624; temperande ergo — in Manuscripts F and M; temperanda ergo — in Manuscript M2.
3 mente (by the mind) — Manuscript M originally had mentes; the 's' was erased by M2.
4 terrea (earthy) — Manuscript M originally had terrae (of the earth) with a ui annotation; corrected to terrea by M2.
aetheria (ethereal) — Manuscript M reads aetherea.
5 utrimque (on both sides) — commonly used; Manuscript O reads utraque.
7 inscendant (ascend) — reading by Colvius; Manuscript M reads incedant; Manuscript F reads incedat.
8 et (and) — omitted in Manuscript O; added by Scaliger.
9 libratae (balanced) — Manuscript M reads libere.
12 porro (furthermore) through inliderentur (struck) — omitted in the main text of Manuscript M, but added in the bottom margin by the first scribe (M1).
13 vegetioris (more vigorous) — Manuscript F reads veterioris (older).
14 rodus (mass) — reading by Mercerus; Manuscript F reads robus; Manuscript M reads robur.
suapte (by its own) — Manuscript M.
illiderentur (would strike) — Manuscript M.
16 paululum (a little) — Manuscript M1 has an annotation of .
17 aliquo (by some) — Manuscript M has an annotation of ; humore (moisture) — Manuscript M reads humero (shoulder).
fecundae (fertile) — M2; ad fetum (to birth) — Manuscript M originally ad fectum; corrected by M2.
degrassantur (they descend) — Manuscript M reads degrassatur.
18 aquilo (dark/north-wind) — reading by Lipsius; Manuscript O reads aquilonis.
segniore (slower) — reading by Mercerus; Manuscript O reads segniores.
19 tum (then) — reading by Vulcanius; Manuscript O reads cum.
lanarum (of wool) — Manuscripts F and M2; Manuscript M reads lunarum (of the moon).
The section from "Do you not hear" to "winds" has been bracketed as a later addition.
20 After tonitru (thunder), the letters qua were erased; then lucretius was written in the line; the rest up to quatiuntur was written above the line in Manuscript M.
21 propterea quia (because) — common reading; Manuscript O reads propter alia.
aetheriae (ethereal) — Manuscript M reads ethereae.
22 contra (against) — omitted in Manuscript O; added in common editions.
pugnantibus (opposing) — Manuscript F originally propugnantibus; Manuscript M reads propugnatibus.
ventis (winds) — Manuscript O reads venis; Manuscript F has vetis written above the line.
23 est terrenus (is earthly) — reading by Scaliger; Manuscript F reads t terrenus; Manuscript M reads et terrenius.
24 concreta (condensed) — reading by Mercerus; Manuscript O reads concretu.
tanto (so much) — common reading; Manuscript O reads tanta.
subtiliora (more subtle) — reading in Parisinus 8624; Manuscript O reads subtilior; Mercerus reads subtiliore.
faeculentae nubeculae fumida (smoky darkness of a dross-filled little cloud) — reading by the editor; Manuscript O reads faeculenta nubecula tumida; Colvius reads et fumida or et umida.