This is a study of the different forms of the intervention of time in the cosmogonies of the Pre-Socratics, their answers to the question of what time actually is, and the ways they understood its passing in the process of world creation. After introducing some prior problems, the author emphasizes that the Pre-Socratics had six distinct notions of time: l. Time-life (as the duration of a lifetime). 2. Time-order (as regulated duration). 3. Time-events (a sequence of a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ with respect to ‘now’ formed by successive events). 4. Time-change (that of transformation, of γιγνεσθαι). 5. Time-framework or time-receptacle (in which events are inserted). 6. Time-linguistic, related to the distinction which can be expressed in Gre...