188 reviel netz
Semi-Regular Solids 19
Stomachion
Book of Lemmas
Measurement of the Circle
Method
Conoids and Spheroids
Sphere and Cylinder i
Sphere and Cylinder ii
Cattle Problem
Planes in Equilibrium i
Planes in Equilibrium ii
Spiral Lines
Arenarius
Quadrature of Parabola
Floating Bodies i
Floating Bodies i i
What would such a counterfactual order suggest? Above all, a certain
lack of order, and the sense of an author who reveled in variety. Th is,
indeed, may not be too far of the mark. But notice how diff erent this is from
the impression made by Heiberg’s order chosen for the Opera Omnia! For
his sober-minded Teubner edition, based on the authority of the sober-
minded scribe of A, Heiberg has produced a sober-minded Archimedes –
one who was above all a pure geometer. Th is, once again, may possibly be
historically correct. But then again, perhaps it is not. Th e one thing clear is
that the order forms an editorial decision : a diff erent ordering of the works
would have given us perhaps a less sober, perhaps even a less geometrical
Archimedes.Th e dialect of Archimedes’ works
Th e very language in which Archimedes’ works should be read forms a
genuine philological puzzle. I do not think we are ready to solve this puzzle,
yet, and so I merely outline here the problem, expanding somewhat the
discussion of this problem from pp. 179–80 above and focusing on the sig-
nifi cance of Heiberg’s approach to it.19 While not extant, Archimedes’ work on semi-regular solids is known through a report in Book
v of Pappus’ Collection. I am envisaging how Archimedes’ works would have looked had a
work such as this appeared fi rst.