§5Πρὸς ταῦτ’ ἐγὼ μὲν ᾠόμην αὐτὸς μήτ’ ἀντιλέξειν μηδένα, μαθήσεσθαί τε τὰ κακῶς ἐγνωσμένα.
In response to this, I myself thought that no one would contradict it, and that they would learn better from what had been badly understood.
οὐ μὴν ἐθέλουσί γε, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ οἱ παντελῶς ἰδιῶται παλαισμάτων, οὐ γνωρίζοντες κείμενον ἐπὶ γῆς ἐνίοτε τὸν νῶτον αὑτῶν, ἔχονται τραχήλου τῶν καταβαλόντων, οὐδ’ ἐπιτρέποντες ἀναστῆναι, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ οὗτοι ἀμαθεῖς ὄντες τῶν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις πτωμάτων, οὐκ ἐπιτρέπουσιν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι, κενάς τινας ἀεὶ στροφὰς στρεφόμενοι καὶ παντοίως λογιζόμενοι, μέχρι τοῦ, μισήσαντός τινος τὴν ἀναισχυντίαν ἅμα καὶ τὴν ἀμαθίαν αὐτῶν, ἀποδυσπετήσαντας χωρισθῆναι.
However, they are not willing to do so, but just like those who are completely amateurish at wrestling, who sometimes do not recognize that their own back is lying on the ground, but hold onto the neck of those who threw them down, not even permitting them to stand up, in the same manner these men also, being ignorant of the falls in arguments, do not permit one to get away, always spinning some empty turns and reasoning in every sort of way, until, someone having hated both their shamelessness and their ignorance, they depart having lost patience.
οἵ γε καὶ νῦν οὐκ αἰδοῦνται λέγοντες, ὡς ἐκ τῶν πλησίων μόνων συναναστομώσεων ἡ μετάληψις ταῖς ἀρτηρίαις τοῦ αἵματος γίγνεται, μὴ μεμνημένοι μήθ’ ὅτι τὰς ἐσχάτας αὐτὸς Ἐρασίστρατος εἴρηκε κενοῦσθαι πρώτας, μήθ’ ὅτι φαίνεται τοῦτ’ ἐναργῶς, ἐφ’ ὧν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψεν ἀνατομῶν.
They are not ashamed even now, saying that the transfer of blood to the arteries occurs only from adjacent anastomoses, not remembering either that Erasistratus himself said that the outermost arteries are emptied first, or that this is clearly shown in the dissections which he himself wrote about.
ἐν γὰρ τῷ διαιρεῖσθαι τὸ ἐπιγάστριον ἅμα τῷ περιτοναίῳ κατὰ τὸ μεσεντέριον ἀρτηρίας ἰδεῖν ἔστι σαφῶς, ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν νεοθηλῶν ἐρίφων γάλακτος πλήρεις, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν τελείων ζώων ἀλλοίας, οὐ μὴν πνεῦμά γε μόνον ὤφθησαν ἔχουσαι πώποτε, καθάπερ οὐδ’ ἄλλη τις ἀρτηρία γυμνωθεῖσα.
For when the epigastrium is divided along with the peritoneum, one can clearly see arteries in the region of the mesentery, full of milk in newborn kids, and of other substances in mature animals, yet they have never been seen containing pneuma alone, just as no other exposed artery ever has.
νομίζω δ’ αὐτοὺς εἰς τοσοῦτο ἀμαθεῖς εἶναι τῶν κατὰ τὰς ἀνατομὰς φαινομένων, ὡς μηδ’ αὐτοὺς τοῦτο γινώσκειν, ὅτι καλῶς εἴρηκεν ὁ Ἐρασίστρατος ἐσχατιὰς τὰς κατὰ τὸ μεσεντέριον ἀρτηρίας, παραβάλλων αὐτὰς δηλονότι ταῖς κατ’ ἐπιγάστριον.
And I think they are so ignorant of what appears in dissections as not even to know this, that Erasistratus rightly called the mesenteric arteries 'outermost,' obviously contrasting them with those of the epigastrium.
οἴονται γὰρ ἴσως, ὅτι τῇ θέσει πλησίον εἰσὶν, οὕτω καὶ τῇ συνεχείᾳ πλησίον ὑπάρχειν αὐτὰς, οὐκ εἰδότες, ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ ῥάχει μεγάλης ἀρτηρίας ἑκάτεραι πεφύκασιν, αἱ μὲν κατὰ τὸ μεσεντέριον ἅπασαι, τῶν δὲ κατ’ ἐπιγάστριον αἱ πλεῖσται.
For they probably think that because they are close in position, they are also close in continuity, not knowing that both arise from the great artery on the spine, all those in the mesentery, and most of those of the epigastrium.
καί τινες καὶ ἀπὸ βουβώνων ἀνιοῦσαι καὶ αἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ στέρνου κατιοῦσαι συνεχεῖς εἰσι ταῖς κατὰ τὸ μεσεντέριον ἀρτηρίαις διὰ τῆς μεγάλης τῆς κατὰ τὴν ῥάχιν.
And some ascending from the groins and those descending from the sternum are continuous with the mesenteric arteries through the great artery along the spine.
οὔκουν ἐνδέχεται διαδοθῆναι τὸ πάθος ἀπὸ τῶν ἑτέρων ἐπὶ τὰς ἑτέρας, οὔτ’ οὖν κένωσιν, οὔτ’ ἄλλο οὐδὲν, μὴ διὰ τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ ῥάχει πρότερον ὁδοιπορῆσαν.
Therefore, it is not possible for the condition to be transmitted from one to the other, whether it be emptying or anything else, without having first traveled through the artery on the spine.
ᾧ γὰρ δὴ ἔοικε μάλιστα, καὶ δὴ πειράσομαι φράσαι.
I will try to explain what this most resembles.
νόησόν μοι τὴν μὲν ἀρτηρίαν τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ ῥάχει καθάπερ τι δένδρου πρέμνον, τὰς δ’ ἀπ’ αὐτῆς φυομένας οἷον κλάδους.
Consider for me the artery on the spine as like the trunk of a tree, and those growing from it as like branches.
ἴσαι δ’ αὗται σχιζόμεναι τελευτῶσιν οἷον βλαστήματά τινα καὶ φύλλα.
And these in turn divide and end like shoots and leaves.
ὡς οὖν τὰ φύλλα πολλάκις ἀπὸ διαφερόντων πλησίον μέν ἐστιν τῇ θέσει, ποῤῥωτάτω δὲ τῇ πρὸς ἄλληλα συνεχείᾳ, (διὰ μέσου γὰρ ἑνοῦται τοῦ πρέμνου,) τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ αἳ κατ’ ἐπιγάστριον ἀρτηρίαι ταῖς κατὰ μεσεντέριον ἐγγυτάτω κείμεναι διὰ μακροτάτου συνάπτονται.
Just as leaves, though often close in position from different branches, are furthest apart in their continuity with each other (for they are united through the trunk in the middle), in the same way the epigastric arteries, though lying closest to the mesenteric ones, are connected by the longest route.
εἰς οὖν τὰς ἐσχάτας ἀρτηρίας (τοῦτο γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐλέγετο) μεταχεῖται πρότερον ἢ εἰς τὰς ἄλλας ἁπάσας τὸ αἷμα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτ’ ἀναγκαῖον, ἵν’ ἐπὶ τὰς τετρωμένας ἀφίκηται, ἅπαν ἐκκενωθῆναι τὸ ζωτικὸν αἷμα.
Therefore, the blood is transfused into the outermost arteries first, before all the others (for this was said from the beginning), and for this reason, in order to reach the wounded ones, it is necessary for all the vital blood to be emptied.
τοῦτο δ’ ὡς ἄτοπόν ἐστιν, ἔμπροσθεν ἐδείχθη.
How absurd this is has been demonstrated before.
τάχ’ οὖν ἤδη τις θαυμάζοι τε καὶ ζητοίη, πόθεν ἐπῆλθε συνετοῖς οὕτως ἀνδράσιν ἄτοπον ἐσχάτως προελέσθαι δόγμα.
Perhaps, then, someone might already wonder and ask how it occurred to men so intelligent to choose an extremely absurd doctrine.
οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἀπὸ νοῦ γε καταπεσόντες, ἀλλὰ πάντες ὑπό τινων πιθανῶν ἀναπεισθέντες ἐπὶ τοῦθ’ ἧκον.
For they certainly did not fall from their senses, but all of them arrived at this after being persuaded by some plausible arguments.
ἀφ’ ὧν μὲν οὖν ἐπείσθησαν, αὐτοὶ διὰ τῶν ἰδίων δηλώσουσι γραμμάτων.
By what they were persuaded, they themselves will show through their own writings.
ὅτι δὲ πιθανοῖς μὲν, οὐ μὴν ἀληθέσιν ἠκολούθησαν λογισμοῖς, ἐγὼ πειράσομαι δεῖξαι, πρότερόν γε τὸ καθόλου περὶ πάντων τοὺς λογισμοὺς σφάλμα διὰ βραχέων ὑπομνήσας.
But I will try to show that they followed plausible, but not true, reasonings, having first briefly reminded you of the general error regarding all reasonings.
ἁπάντων γὰρ τῶν εἰς γνῶσιν ἀνθρωπίνην ἡκόντων τὰ μὲν αἰσθήσει, τὰ δὲ λόγῳ φωρᾶται.
For of all things that have come to human knowledge, some are discovered by sense-perception, others by reason.
καὶ τοίνυν ὥσπερ τὰς αἰσθήσεις πολλὰ τῶν αἰσθητῶν καταφεύγει κατὰ τὰς πολλὰς αἰτίας, οὕτω καὶ τὸν λόγον.
And just as many perceptible things escape the senses due to many causes, so too they escape reason.
ὁ μὲν δὴ φιλαλήθης ἀνὴρ οὔτε τῶν ἐναργῶς γιγνωσκομένων ἀφίσταται διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀδήλων ἀγνωσίαν, οὔτε τοῖς ἀγνώστοις συγκατατίθεται διὰ τὴν τῶν ἐναργῶν γνῶσιν.
Indeed, the lover of truth neither departs from what is clearly known because of the ignorance of the unmanifest, nor does he assent to the unmanifest because of the knowledge of the manifest.
ὁ δὲ μὴ τοιοῦτος ἢ τοῖς ἀδήλοις συνηπόρησε τὰ γινωσκόμενα, ἢ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ ἄδηλον προσήκατο.
But he who is not of this kind either doubts what is known because of the unmanifest, or because of this also accepts the unmanifest.
πεπόνθασι δὲ τὸ μὲν πρότερον οἱ Σκεπτικοὶ, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν Δογματικῶν.
The Skeptics have suffered the former, and most of the Dogmatists the latter.
πῶς μὲν οὖν ἄν τις μηδὲν τοιοῦτο σφάλλοιτο, δι’ ἑτέρων δεδήλωται.
How, then, one might make no such error has been shown in other works.