Concordia discors

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

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The doctrine of

concordia discors

- the idea that the numerous conflicts between the four elements in nature (air, earth, fire and water) paradoxically create an overall harmony in the world - can be traced back to the Greek philosophers, Pythagoras (c. 580-500 B.C.), Heraclitus (c. 544-483 B.C.) and Empedocles (c. 490-430 B.C.). The Latin phrase which is used to encapsulate the idea was first used by Horace in the twelfth epistle of his first book (c. 20 B.C.) to describe Empedocles' philosophy that the world is explained and shaped by a perpetual strife between the four elements, ordered by love into a jarring unity, or, as the musical metaphor held it, a “discordant harmony”. This cosmology was given added prevalence a quarter of a century later through Ovid's account of Creation…

763 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "Concordia discors". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1693, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1693 Concordia discors 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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