Classical element

The four classical elements.

The Greek classical elements are fire, air, water, and earth. In Greek philosophy, science and medicine, these make up a whole.

• Fire is both hot and dry.
• Air is both hot and wet.
• Water is both cold and wet.
• Earth is both cold and dry.

The image below has two squares on top of each other. The corners of one are the classical elements. The corners of the other are the properties.

Galen said these elements were used by Hippocrates to describe the human body. The elements are linked to the four humours: phlegm (water), yellow bile (fire), black bile (earth), and blood (air).

In Chinese Taoism the elements are metal, wood, water, fire, earth (金、木、水、火、土).

Classical Element Media

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  Leibniz representation of universe resulting by combination of Aristotle four elements

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  Rococo set of personification figurines of the Four Elements, 1760s, Chelsea porcelain

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  The four classical elements, after Aristotle.

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  alchemical symbol for fire

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  alchemical symbol for air

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  alchemical symbol for water

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  Alchemical earth symbol (fixed width)

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  The four classical elements of Empedocles and Aristotle illustrated with a burning log. The log releases all four elements as it is destroyed.

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  Seventeenth century alchemical emblem showing the four Classical elements in the corners of the image, alongside the tria prima on the central triangle

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  The Yowa, or Dikenga Cross, is a symbol in Bakongo spirituality that depicts the physical world, the spiritual (ancestral) world, the Kalûnga river (line) that runs between the two worlds, the four moments of the sun, and the mbûngi circle.