Archimedes' quote

Greek Learning Greek
21

Yet another source, now that I search.

OLYMPIODORUS, In Platonis Alcibiadem commentarii

Τί οὖν τὸν αἰσθανόμενον χρὴ ποιεῖν; > ἐρωτᾷ αὐτὸν τί δεῖ ποιεῖν πρὸς τὸ μαθεῖν· ὁ δέ φησιν οὐδὲν χαλεπὸν οὔτε τὰ τοῦ Ὤτου καὶ Ἐφιάλτου ποιῆσαι (‘Ὄσσαν ἐπ’ Οὐλύμπῳ μέμασαν θέμεν’), ἀλλὰ δοῦναι λόγον καὶ λαβεῖν. καὶ Ἀρχιμήδης μὲν μετὰ τὴν εὕρεσιν τοῦ βαρυούλκου, ἐν ᾧ ἔδειξεν ὅτι τῇ τυχούσῃ δυνάμει τὸ τυχὸν βάρος κινήσει, ἐπειδὴ ὅσον ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ εἷς ἄνθρωπος ἠδύνατο κινῆσαι τὴν γῆν, μέγα ἐφθέγξατο καὶ ἀδύνατον, ὅτι ‘πᾷ βῶ καὶ κινῶ τὰν γᾶν’· ἀδύνατον γὰρ μὴ εἶναι ἐν τόπῳ· Σωκράτης δὲ εὐτελῆ αἰτεῖ.

So here it’s a βαρυουλκός/βαρουλκός, which LSJ gives as a “lifting-screw.” The question-version of the story seems to make more sense here than anywhere else. So to me this seems more interesting than the Simplicius version.

Beyond that, a contemporary of Tzetzes also seems to have known the story with a χαριστίων. Michael Italikos, probably the same source (Simplicius ?) as Tzetzes.

Ἀρχιμήδης δὲ λῆρος διὰ τὸν χαριστίωνα, τὸ πολύσπαστον ὄργανον, ὑπερόγκους λόγους φθεγγόμενος· πᾷ βῶ καὶ κινῶ τὰν γᾶν.

22

opoudjis, You’re right. I’d missed the Simplicius—and Olympiodorus which Joel now adds. I was merely going by the info the OP gave. I should have remembered that the alleged Diodorus was not in fact Diodorus in the later books, and then I should have recognized the πολιτικὸς στίχος (a verse-form unknown to Diodorus of course).

The variation in the attendant circumstances and in the wording of the alleged quote is typical of oral tradition. It’s possible to do some Quellenforschung with the testimonia but futile to seek the original wording when the whole story is likely to be apocryphal. An alternative truth.