In the interpretation of the Derveni author, the divine characters, actors in the plot of the Derveni poem, have been absorbed into the monumental figure of the cosmic god. The narrative – that is, the temporal sequence of events – is not, however, completely lost. What was related as a series of interactions between the different gods in the poem has become a series of interactions between the cosmic god and the ‘things that are’ in the story of the Derveni author. The theogony has been transformed into cosmogony.

In what follows I shall attempt a reconstruction of the Derveni author's cosmology and physics. First, I shall discuss the author's doctrine on the formation of the cosmos, and then in a second move I shall take a closer look at the ontology and physics implied in the cosmogony.

COSMOGONY

The outlines of the Derveni author's cosmogonical theory are relatively clear. He distinguishes the present state of the cosmos from a previous, precosmic state. Before the current cosmic configuration emerged, there had been no independent entities with definite contours, but a cosmic mixture containing all the matter out of which the presently existing entities would later form. Then the cosmic Mind separated the fiery particles, for he knew that it was the excessive heat of fire which did not allow independent entities to form. He fashioned the sun out of these fiery particles, and placed it at a convenient location. Because the sun was still perilously large he dispersed the surplus fiery particles and fixed them in the sky, thereby creating the stars.