The Timaeus of Plato

TIMAIO2.
themselves and each other at a point opposite to that of their
original contact and he comprehended them in the motion that
:
revolves uniformly on the same axis, and one of the circles he
made exterior and one interior. The exterior motion he named
the motion of the Same, the interior that of the Other. And
the circle of the Same he made revolve to the right by way of
the side, that of the Other to the left by way of the diagonal.
And he gave the supremacy to the motion of the same and
uniform, for he left that single and undivided ;
but the inner
circle he cleft into seven unequal circles in the proportion of the
of the universe is visible only by the
daily motion of the heavenly bodies, especially
the sun. An observer in Europe
can only see the sun's motions by looking
towards the south, when of course the
west is on his right hand :
compare Pliny
natur. hist. VI 24 (of some visitors from
the tropics) sed maxume rnirum iis erat
umbras suas in nostrum caelum cadere,
non in suum, solemque a laeva oriri et in
dextram occidere potius quam e diverse.
Plato's use of the terms right and left
seems then perfectly natural. The universe
being a sphere, Plato knew that the
right and left, like up and down, are perfectly
arbitrary terms (see 62 c foil.) and
he therefore did not hesitate to apply
them just as suited his purpose. Those
who are curious on the subject may find
(to put it mildly) some very singular
arguing in the opposite sense in Aristotle
de caelo n ii
284 b 6 foil.
6. Kpd-ros 8' e'ScuKe TTJ TO.VTOV] That
is, while the circle of the Other retains
its
independent rotation round its own
centre, it is also carried round by the revolution
of the Same.