Well maybe I can't equate aether to ether. A little Wiki research yielded this;
According to ancient and
medieval science,
Aether (Greek αἰθήρ,
aithēr[1]), also spelled
ether, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the
terrestrial sphere.
Aristotle included it as a fifth
element distinct from the other four,
Earth,
Water,
Air, and
Fire. Plato and Aristotle referred to Aether as
"Idea", and in this sense, it may be regarded as that which exists outside the material world (i.e. thought processes, mathematical algorithms, etc.). Aether was also called
quintessence (from
quinta essentia, "fifth element"). Quintessence was also thought to be heavenly, i.e. not of the material world (matter). Quintessence was also said to have the power of life. Its
Platonic solid was the
dodecahedron.
I guess they ( Plato and Aristotle ) considered aether as idea NOT material. Back to our 5th state of matter. I'm not sure what Einstein was referring to as field? But could an electromagnetic field be considered matter? And if so would it be a 5th state? Best to all, Pat