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Water is one of the elements in ancient Greek philosophy, in the Asian Indian system ''Panchamahabhuta'', and in the Chinese cosmological and physiological system ''Wu Xing''. In contemporary esoteric traditions, it is commonly associated with the qualities of emotion and intuition. ==Greek and Roman tradition== Water was one of many ''archai'' proposed by the Pre-socratics, most of whom tried to reduce all things to a single substance. However, Empedocles of Acragas (c. 495 – c. 435 BC) selected four archai for his four roots: air, fire, water and earth. Empedocles roots became the four classical elements of Greek philosophy. Plato (427–347 BC) took over the four elements of Empedocles. In the Timaeus, his major cosmological dialogue, the Platonic solid associated with water is the icosahedron which is formed from twenty equilateral triangles. This makes water the element with the greatest number of sides, which Plato regarded as appropriate because water flows out of one's hand when picked up, as if it is made of tiny little balls.〔Plato, ''Timaeus'', chap. 22–23; Gregory Vlastos, ''Plato’s Universe'', pp. 66–82.〕 Plato’s student Aristotle (384–322 BC) developed a different explanation for the elements based on pairs of qualities. The four elements were arranged concentrically around the center of the Universe to form the sublunary sphere. According to Aristotle, water is both cold and wet and occupies a place between air and earth among the elemental spheres.〔G. E. R. Lloyd, ''Aristotle'', chapters 7–8.〕 In ancient Greek medicine, each of the four humours became associated with an element. Phlegm was the humor identified with water, since both were cold and wet. Other things associated with water and phlegm in ancient and medieval medicine included the season of Winter, since it increased the qualities of cold and moisture; the phlegmatic temperament, the feminine, the brain and the western point of the compass. In alchemy, the chemical element of mercury was often associated with water and its alchemical symbol was a downward-pointing triangle. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Water (classical element)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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