aken for the Sun and Moon, the sphere of Kronos
should be attributed to Demeter, the ether to Athena, while the heaven
is common to all. Thus the orders, powers, and spheres of the Twelve
Gods have been explained and celebrated in hymns.

VII. _On the Nature of the World and its Eternity._

The Cosmos itself must of necessity be indestructible and uncreated.
Indestructible because, suppose it destroyed: the only possibility is to
make one better than this or worse or the same or a chaos. If worse, the
power which out of the better makes the worse must be bad. If better,
the maker who did not make the better at first must be imperfect in
power. If the same, there will be no use in making it; if a chaos . . .
it is impious even to hear such a thing suggested. These reasons would
suffice to show that the World is also uncreated: for if not destroyed,
neither is it created. Everything that is created is subject to
destruction. And further, since the Cosmos exists by the goodness of God
it follows that God must always be good and the world exist. Just as
light coexists with the Sun and with fire, and shadow coexists with a
body.

Of the bodies in the Cosmos, some imitate Mind and move in orbits; some
imitate Soul and move in a straight line, fire and air upward, earth and
water downward. Of those that move in orbits the fixed sphere goes from
the east, the Seven from the west. (This is so for various causes,
especially lest the creation should be imperfect owing to the rapid
circuit of the spheres.[208:1])

The movement being different, the nature of the bodies must also be
different; hence the celestial body does not burn or freeze what it
touches, or do anything else that pertains to the four elements.[209:1]

And since the Cosmos is a sphere--the zodiac proves that--and in every
sphere 'down' means 'towards the centre', for the centre is farthest
distant from every point, and heavy things fall 'down' and fall to the
earth <it follows that the Earth is in the centre of the Cosmos>.

All these things are made by the Gods, ordered by Mind, moved by Soul.
About the Gods we have spoken already.

VIII. _On Mind and Soul, and that the latter is immortal._

There is a certain force,[209:2] less primary than Being but more
primary than the Soul, which draws its existence from Being and
completes the Soul as the Sun completes the eyes. Of Souls some are
rational and immortal, some irrational and mortal. The former are