§2Τίς οὖν κοινὴ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐστὶν ἔννοια ἀρίστης κατασκευῆς σώματος;
What then is the common concept of the best constitution of the body for all human beings?
ἀκοῦσαι μὲν γὰρ ἔστιν οὐχ ὁμοίως αὐτῶν λεγόντων τῇ λέξει, νοούντων δ’ ἁπάντων ἓν καὶ ταὐτὸν πρᾶγμα.
For indeed, it is not possible to hear them speaking in the same words, though they all mean one and the same thing.
τὸ γοῦν ὑγιεινότατον σῶμα πάντες μὲν ἑξῆς ἐπαινοῦσιν, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τὸ εὐεκτικώτατον, εἰς ἓν πρᾶγμα βλέποντες ἀμφότεροι, καὶ τούτῳ τὴν διάνοιαν ἐπιβαλόντες, οὐ μὴν οὔτε διηρθρωμένως αὐτὸ νοοῦντες οὔθ’ ἑρμηνεῦσαι σαφῶς ἐπιστάμενοι.
At any rate, all of them in turn praise the healthiest body, just as they do the best-conditioned one, both looking toward a single thing and applying their intellect to this, yet they neither conceive it distinctly nor know how to explain it clearly.
καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὰς ἐνεργείας ἁπάντων τῶν τοῦ σώματος μορίων εὐρώστους ἔχειν ἀξιοῦσι, καὶ μὴ ῥᾳδίως ὑπὸ τῶν νοσωδῶν αἰτιῶν νικᾶσθαι.
For indeed, they demand that the activities of all the parts of the body be vigorous, and not easily overcome by pathogenic causes.
τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν ἐν ταῖς ἐνεργείαις κατὰ φύσιν ὑγεία, τὸ δὲ μετὰ ῥώμης τινὸς εὐεξία.
Of these, the state in accordance with nature in the activities is health, whereas that which is accompanied by a certain strength is good condition.
κοινὸν δ’ ἀμφοῖν τὸ μὴ ῥᾳδίως ἁλίσκεσθαι νόσοις.
Common to both is not being easily overtaken by diseases.
ὥστε εὐεκτικὴ μὲν πάντων ἐστὶν ἡ ὑγιεινοτάτη κατάστασις, ἧς ἅπαντες ἄνθρωποι γλίχονται· συμβέβηκε δ’ αὐτῇ τό τ’ ἐν ταῖς ἐνεργείαις κατωρθωμένον καὶ τὸ δύσλυτον.
Thus, the healthiest state, which all human beings long for, is a good-conditioned state for all, and there belong to it both correctness in activities and durability.
ταύτῃ τοι καὶ δεόντως εὐεξία κέκληται. ἐμφαίνονται μὲν ἤδη καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τῆς ἕξεως ὀνόματος τὸ μόνιμόν τε καὶ δύσλυτον, οὐ μὴν ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ μᾶλλον ἔτι τοῦ τῆς εὐεξίας, ὡς ἂν ἀρίστης τινὸς ἕξεως ὑπαρχούσης.
For this very reason, it has also fittingly been called "good condition." For durability and stability are already indicated by the name "habit" itself, but all the more so by that of "good condition," as it exists as a kind of best habit.
ὥστε καὶ κατασκευὴν ἀρίστην σώματος εἴτε τὴν ὑγιεινοτάτην εἴτε τὴν εὐεκτικωτάτην εἴποιμεν, οὐχ ἁμαρτησόμεθα, καὶ κρινοῦμεν αὐτὴν τῷ δυσλύτῳ τῶν κατωρθωμένων ἐνεργειῶν.
Consequently, whether we call the best constitution of the body the healthiest or the best-conditioned, we shall not go wrong, and we shall judge it by the durability of its correct activities.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτ’ ἤδη διώρισται, σκεπτέον ἐφεξῆς, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ οὐσία τῆς τοιαύτης τοῦ σώματος ἕξεως.
Now, since this has already been defined, we must next consider what the essence of such a habit of the body is.
ἀρχὴ δὲ κᾀνταῦθα τῆς εὑρέσεως, εἰ ζητήσαιμεν, ὅπως διακειμένου τοῦ σώματος ἐνεργοῦμεν ἄριστα.
And here too, the starting point of our discovery would be if we were to inquire in what disposition of the body we perform our activities best.
χρὴ τοίνυν εἰς τοῦτο τῶν ἤδη δεδειγμένων ἐν ἑτέροις ὑπομνήμασιν ἀναμνησθῆναι· πρῶτον μὲν, ὡς ἐκ θερμοῦ καὶ ψυχροῦ καὶ ξηροῦ καὶ ὑγροῦ τὰ σώματα ἡμῶν κέκραται.
Therefore, for this purpose, we must recall what has already been demonstrated in other treatises: first, that our bodies are tempered from hot, cold, dry, and wet.
δέδεικται δὲ περὶ τούτου ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν καθ’ Ἱπποκράτην στοιχείων πραγματείᾳ.
This has been shown in the treatise 'On the Elements according to Hippocrates'.
δεύτερον δὲ τοῦ διορίσασθαι τὰς κράσεις τῶν μορίων.
Second, that we must define the temperaments of the parts.
εἴρηται δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῶν κράσεων ὑπομνήμασιν.
These too have been discussed in the treatises 'On Temperaments'.
ἐφεξῆς δὲ τούτων, ὡς ἕκαστον μὲν τῶν ὀργανικῶν τοῦ σώματος μελῶν ἓν ἔχει τῶν ἐν ἑαυτῷ μορίων αἴτιον τῆς ἐνεργείας, τὰ δ’ ἄλλα σύμπαντα τὰ πληροῦντα τὸ πᾶν ὄργανον ἐκείνου χάριν ἐγίνετο.
And following these, that each of the organic limbs of the body has one of the parts within itself as the cause of its activity, and all the other parts that complete the whole organ came into being for the sake of that one.
δέδεικται δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων αὐτάρκως ἐν τῆ περὶ χρείας μορίων πραγματείᾳ.
This too has been sufficiently shown in the treatise 'On the Usefulness of the Parts'.
εἴη ἂν οὖν ἀρίστη κατασκευὴ τοῦ σώματος, ἐν ᾗ τὰ ὁμοιομερῆ πάντα (καλεῖται δ’ οὕτως δηλονότι τὰ πρὸς αἴσθησιν ἁπλᾶ) τὴν οἰκείαν ἔχει κρᾶσιν.
The best constitution of the body would therefore be one in which all the homogeneous parts (which are of course called simple to perception) have their own proper temperament.
ἡ δὲ ἐκ τούτων ἑκάστου τῶν ὀργανικῶν σύνθεσις ἔν τε τοῖς μεγέθεσιν αὐτῶν, καὶ τοῖς πλήθεσι, καὶ ταῖς διαπλάσεσι, καὶ ταῖς πρὸς ἄλληλα συντάξεσιν ἐμμετρότατα κατεσκεύασται.
And the organic composition from each of these is constructed most symmetrically in their sizes, numbers, conformations, and mutual arrangements.
ὅ τι γὰρ ἁπάσαις ταῖς ἐνεργείαις ἄριστα διάκειται, τοῦτο καὶ δυσπαθέστατον εἶναι ἁπάντων τῶν ἄλλων σωμάτων οὐ χαλεπῶς ἄν τις ἐξεύροι.
For one could not easily fail to discover that what is best disposed for all its activities is also the most resistant to affection of all other bodies.
ὃ γὰρ ἂν ἐνεργῇ μόριον ἄριστα, τοῦτο τῆς μὲν τῶν ὁμοιομερῶν εὐκρασίας καὶ τῆς τῶν ὀργάνων συμμέτρου κατασκευῆς ἔκγονον ὑπάρχει.
For whatever part performs its activity best, this is the offspring of the good temperament of the homogeneous parts and the symmetrical constitution of the organs.
τοιοῦτον δέ ἐστι τὸ προειρημένον σῶμα· δῆλον οὖν ὡς ἐνεργήσει πάντων ἄριστα.
And the aforementioned body is of such a kind; it is clear, then, that it will perform its activities best of all.
ὅτι δὲ καὶ δυσπαθέστατόν ἐστιν, ᾧδ’ ἂν μάλιστα μάθοις.
And that it is also the most resistant to affection, you may learn best from what follows.