Fragment 61

θάλασσα ὕδωρ καθαρώτατον καὶ μιαρώτατον. ἰχθύσι μὲν πότιμον καὶ σωτήριον, ἀνθρώποις δὲ ἄποτον καὶ ὀλέθριον


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Commentary

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Most editors accept this whole fragment as authentic, but I disagree. Heraclitus typically observes a contradiction without explaining it. (See fragments 59 and 60, along with the commentary to fragment 12.) I think that Hippolytus added the last sentence to explain how sea water is both pure and impure.

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