Scientists have just revealed thirty previously unpublished verses by Empedocles, an important Greek philosopher who lived in the 5th century BC in Sicily
The text had been hidden for two thousand years in a fragment of papyrus kept in the archives of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, Egypt.
Empedocles is known for his theory of the four fundamental elements-earth, air, fire, and water-which, according to him, combine and separate in the universe thanks to two opposing forces: Love, which unites things, and Hate (or Discord), which separates them.
His ideas influenced great thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, and even Roman poets like Lucretius.
Until now, everything we knew about Empedocles’ work came from quotations or summaries made by later authors, which were not always faithful to the original.
This papyrus, called P.
Fouad inv.
218, change that: it’s the first time we’ve been able to directly read words written by him, without intermediaries.
The fragment is part of his main philosophical poem, “Physica” (On Nature).
The newly discovered verses mainly discuss the emission of particles and how we perceive the world, especially vision.
They connect with ideas that appear in texts by Plutarch, Plato, and Theophrastus, and show that Empedocles may have influenced even the first atomist thinkers, such as Democritus.
The discovery was made by papyrologist Nathan Carlig, from the University of Liège, Belgium.
Along with other researchers, he identified the text, prepared the first edition, translation, and complete analysis, which were published in the book “L’Empédocle du Caire”.
Nathan Carlig explained the importance of the discovery: “Until now, our knowledge of Empedocles depended only on indirect sources.
This papyrus allows us to read the philosopher in his own words, without the filter of partial or biased interpretations.” He compared the feeling to finding original pages by a great modern author, calling the moment a kind of “second Renaissance” of ancient literature.
This revelation helps to better understand ancient Greek thought and Empedocles’ place in the history of philosophy and science.
The announcement was made on April 10, 2026, by the University of Liège, bringing to light a living piece of wisdom that seemed lost forever.
Published in 04/12/2026 15h05
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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