§3ἀλλʼ οὔτʼ ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος οὔτʼ ἄξιος ἀκούειν.
But this argument is neither true nor worthy of hearing.
ἡ γὰρ φύσις ὥσπερ ἐν φυτοῖς ἀγρίοις, οἷον οἰνάνθαις ἐρινεοῖς κοτίνοις, ἀρχὰς ἀπέπτους καὶ ἀτελεῖς ἡμέρων καρπῶν ἐνέφυσεν· οὕτω τοῖς μὲν ἀλόγοις τὸ πρὸς τὰ ἔκγονα φιλόστοργον ἀτελὲς καὶ οὐ διαρκὲς πρὸς δικαιοσύνην οὐδὲ τῆς χρείας προσωτέρω προερχόμενον ἔδωκεν ἄνθρωπον δέ, λογικὸν καὶ πολιτικὸν ζῷον, ἐπὶ δίκην καὶ νόμον εἰσάγουσα καὶ θεῶν τιμὰς καὶ πόλεων ἱδρύσεις καὶ φιλοφροσύνην, γενναῖα καὶ καλὰ καὶ φερέκαρπα τούτων σπέρματα παρέσχε τὴν πρὸς τὰ ἔκγονα χάριν καὶ ἀγάπησιν, ἀκολουθοῦσα ταῖς πρώταις ἀρχαῖς· αὗται δʼ ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς τῶν σωμάτων κατασκευαῖς.
For just as Nature has implanted in wild plants, such as wild vines, wild figs, and wild olives, the crude and imperfect beginnings of cultivated fruits, so to irrational animals she has given affection toward their offspring as something imperfect, insufficient for justice, and not progressing beyond actual need; but in introducing man, a rational and social animal, to justice and law, the honor of the gods, the founding of cities, and friendliness, she provided affection and love for offspring as noble, beautiful, and fruitful seeds of these virtues, following her primary principles; and these principles were present in the very construction of bodies.
πανταχοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἡ φύσις ἀκριβὴς καὶ φιλότεχνος καὶ ἀνελλιπὴς καὶ ἀπερίτμητος
οὐδέν
ὡς ἔφησεν Ἐρασίστρατος
ἔχουσα ῥωπικόν· τὰ δὲ περὶ τὴν γένεσιν ἀξίως οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν οὐδʼ εὐπρεπὲς ἴσως λίαν ἀκριβῶς τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἐφάπτεσθαι τοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ τοῖς ῥήμασιν, ἀλλʼ ἀποκειμένων καὶ κεκρυμμένων ἐπινοεῖν τὴν πρὸς τὸ γεννᾶν καὶ λοχεύεσθαι τῶν μορίων ἐκείνων εὐφυΐαν.
For everywhere Nature is precise, artistic, lacking nothing and without superfluity, having, as Erasistratus said, "nothing of trumpery"; and it is not possible to speak worthily of the details of generation, nor is it perhaps decent to touch too precisely upon secrets with nouns and verbs; rather, one should mentalize, from their being set away and hidden, the natural adaptation of those parts for procreation and birth.
ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἡ τοῦ γάλακτος ἐργασία καὶ οἰκονομία τὴν πρόνοιαν αὐτῆς ἐμφῆναι καὶ ἐπιμέλειαν.
But the preparation and economy of milk is sufficient to reveal her foresight and care.
τοῦ γὰρ αἵματος ὅσον περίττωμα τῆς χρείας ἐν ταῖς γυναιξὶ διʼ ἀμβλύτητα καὶ μικρότητα τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπιπολάζον ἐμπλανᾶται καὶ βαρύνει, τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον εἴθισται καὶ μεμελέτηκεν ἐμμήνοις ἡμερῶν περιόδοις ὀχετοὺς καὶ πόρους αὐτῷ τῆς φύσεως ἀναστομούσης ἀποχεόμενον τὸ μὲν ἄλλο σῶμα κουφίζειν καὶ καθαίρειν, τὴν δʼ ὑστέραν οἷον ἀρότῳ καὶ σπόρῳ γῆν ἐν φυτοῖς ὀργῶσαν ἐν καιρῷ παρέχειν.
For that part of the blood which, being in excess of what is needed in women, floats about and causes heaviness because of the sluggishness and weakness of their spirit (pneuma), is accustomed at other times, through the regular monthly periods, when Nature opens up channels and ducts for it, to discharge itself, thereby relieving and cleansing the rest of the body, and to prepare the womb in due season like soil eager for tillage and sowing in the case of plants.
ὅταν δὲ τὴν γονὴν ἀναλάβῃ προσπεσοῦσαν ἡ ὑστέρα καὶ περιστείλῃ ῥιζώσεως γενομένης· ὁ γὰρ ὀμφαλὸς; πρῶτον ἐν μήτρῃσιν
ὥς φησι Δημόκριτος
ἀγκυρηβόλιον σάλου καὶ πλάνης ἐμφύεται, πεῖσμα καὶ κλῆμα
τῷ γεννωμένῳ καρπῷ καὶ μέλλοντι· τοὺς μὲν, ἐμμήνους καὶ καθαρσίους ἔκλεισεν ὀχετοὺς ἡ φύσις, τοῦ δʼ αἵματος ἀντιλαμβανομένη φερομένου τροφῇ χρῆται καὶ κατάρδει τὸ βρέφος ἤδη συνιστάμενον καὶ διαπλαττόμενον, ἄχρι οὗ τοὺς προσήκοντας ἀριθμοὺς τῇ ἐντὸς; αὐξήσει κυηθὲν ἑτέρας ἀνατροφῆς καὶ χώρας δέηται.
But when the womb has received the seed that has fallen into it and has enclosed it after root has been taken—for, as Democritus says, "the navel is first implanted in the womb as an anchorage against tossing and wandering, a cable and a vine-shoot for the fruit that is being generated and is to be"; Nature closes the monthly and cleansing channels, and, taking hold of the blood as it flows, uses it for nourishment and irrigates the embryo as it is already being formed and shaped, until, having been carried for the proper number of months in its internal growth, it needs other nourishment and another place.
τότʼ οὖν τὸ αἷμα παντὸς ἐμμελέστερον φυτουργοῦ καὶ ὀχετηγοῦ πρὸς ἑτέραν ἀφʼ ἑτέρας ἐκτρέπουσα καὶ μεταλαμβάνουσα χρείαν, ἔχει παρεσκευασμένας οἷον ἐγγείους ἤ τινας κρήνας νάματος ἐπιρρέοντος, οὐκ ἀργῶς οὐδʼ ἀπαθῶς ὑποδεχομένας ἀλλὰ καὶ πνεύματος ἠπίῳ θερμότητι καὶ μαλακῇ θηλύτητι ἐκπέψαι καὶ λεᾶναι καὶ μεταβαλεῖν δυναμένας· τοιαύτην γὰρ ὁ μαστὸς ἔχει ἐντὸς διάθεσιν καὶ κρᾶσιν.
At that time, then, diverting and transferring the blood from one utility to another more skillfully than any planter or conduit-maker, she has prepared what are, as it were, underground springs of flowing stream, which receive it not idly nor impassively, but are able, by the gentle warmth of spirit (pneuma) and soft femininity, to concoct, refine, and transform it; for such is the disposition and mixture which the breast possesses within.
ἐκροαὶ δὲ τοῦ γάλακτος οὐκ εἰσὶν οὐδὲ κρουνοὶ μεθιέντες ἀθρόως, εἰς δὲ σάρκα πιδακώδη καὶ πόροις ἀτρέμα λεπτοῖς διηθοῦσαν ἀπολήγων, εὐμενὲς τῷ τοῦ νηπίου στόματι καὶ προσφιλὲς; ψαῦσαι καὶ περιλαβεῖν ἐνδίδωσι ταμιεῖον.
And there are no outlets for the milk, nor spouts discharging it all at once, but terminating in a spring-like flesh and filtering it through extremely fine passages, it offers a storehouse that is gentle to the infant's mouth and friendly to touch and embrace.
ἀλλὰ τούτων γε τῶν τοσούτων ἐπὶ τήν γένεσιν ἐργαλείων καὶ τοιούτων οἰκονομιῶν καὶ φιλοτιμίας καὶ προνοίας οὐδὲν ἦν ὄφελος, εἰ μὴ τὸ φιλόστοργον ἡ φύσις καὶ κηδεμονικὸν ἐνειργάσατο ταῖς τεκούσαις.
But there would have been no use at all in these so many instruments for generation, and in such management, zeal, and foresight, if Nature had not implanted affection and caring in those that have given birth.
"
πάντων ὅσσα τε γαῖαν ἔπι πνείει τε καὶ ἕρπει· "
τοῦτʼ οὐ ψεύδεται ὁ λέγων ἐπὶ νηπίου καὶ ἀρτιγενοῦς.
"Of all things that breathe and creep upon the earth," he who says this of an infant and newborn does not lie.
οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστιν οὕτως; ἀτελὲς οὐδʼ ἄπορον οὐδὲ γυμνὸν οὐδʼ ἄμορφον οὐδὲ μιαρόν, ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐν γοναῖς ὁρώμενος· ᾧ μόνῳ σχεδὸν οὐδὲ καθαρὰν ἔδωκεν εἰς φῶς ὁδὸν ἡ φύσις, ἀλλʼ αἵματι πεφυρμένος καὶ λύθρου περίπλεως καὶ φονευομένῳ μᾶλλον ἢ γεννωμένῳ ἐοικὼς οὐδενός ἐστιν ἅψασθαι καὶ ἀνελέσθαι καὶ ἀσπάσασθαι καὶ περιλαβεῖν ἢ τοῦ φύσει φιλοῦντος.
For there is nothing so imperfect, helpless, naked, shapeless, and unclean as a human being seen at birth; to whom alone, one might say, Nature has not given a clean passage into the light, but, stained with blood and covered with filth, and looking more like one being slaughtered than being born, there is no one who would touch, lift up, welcome, and embrace him, except one who loves by nature.
διὸ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ζῴων ὑπὸ τὴν γαστέρα τὰ οὔθατα χαλᾷ τοὺς μαστοὺς, ταῖς δὲ γυναιξὶν ἄνω γεγόνασιν περὶ τὸ στέρνον ἐν ἐφικτῷ τοῦ φιλῆσαι καὶ περιπτύξαι καὶ κατασπάσασθαι τὸ νήπιον, ὡς τοῦ τεκεῖν καὶ θρέψαι τέλος οὐ χρείαν ἀλλὰ φιλίαν ἔχοντος.
For this reason, while in other animals the udders hang down beneath the belly, in women they are located high up on the breast, within reach of kissing, embracing, and cuddling the infant; indicating that the end of childbirth and rearing is not utility but affection.