From the Beginning to Plato

FROM THE BEGINNING TO PLATO 97
It is wise for those who have listened not to me but to the logos to agree
that all things are one, Heraclitus says.
(B50) 80
But another way of expressing the same idea is that of a harmony, or connection
among things:
They do not understand how in differing it agrees with itself: a backwardturning
structure like that of a bow or a lyre.
(B51) 81
Exactly how the structure (harmoniē) of a bow or lyre illustrates the agreement
in difference has been the subject of some discussion. One possibility is the
equilibrium of tension between two opposing forces, another the technique of
plucking or drawing the string in such a way that it springs back to the original
position. The former is a more static image: a world in which equilibrium
ensures continuity without radical change; the latter is more dynamic, capturing
the idea of a world engaged in reciprocal change between opposing states.
Hippolytus, after quoting this passage, goes on to tell us that for Heraclitus a
harmony or connection that is not apparent is more powerful than one that is
apparent (B54). 82 Hippolytus’ discussion is concerned with the use of sense
perception and the value placed upon empirical evidence, but it seems clear that
Heraclitus had some claim to make about the internal connection between things
that are, at the superficial level, unconnected, or indeed opposed. Indeed his
point seems to be that that is the more important relation: that what appears
obvious is not always the locus of the most profound and telling connections. 83 It
is not always by looking at things that appear immediately promising or rich in
significance that we shall discover what is really important: those who search for
gold dig up a great deal of earth and discover little (B22). 84
A number of other matters are said to be particularly obscure or hidden: the
logos of the soul, which we have seen cannot be located in a material identity, is
one of them:
You would not discover the limits of soul if you traversed every path; that
is how profound its logos is.
(B45) 85
Nature is another. 86 Discovering the truth is a matter of looking for something
that is not obvious or expected, where you least anticipate it:
You will not discover what is unexpected unless it is expected, because it
is impossible to deduce and obscure.
(B18) 87