§1#2ἀλλ’ ἐνίοτε τὸ μὲν ἄκρως ἐπαινετόν ἐστι, τὸ δὲ, εἰ οὕτως ἔτυχεν, ψεκτόν· ὥσπερ γε καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀθλητῶν εὐεξία τοσοῦτον δὴ τὸ ἐπαινετὸν ἔχει, ὥστε ψέγεσθαι δεόντως, οὐχ ὑφ’ Ἱπποκράτους μόνον, ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ἰατρῶν τῶν παλαιῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τῶν ἀρίστων φιλοσόφων, ὡς καὶ Πλάτωνος ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ τῆς Πολιτείας τήν τε ἀχρηστίαν αὐτῆς ἅπασαν εἰς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἐνέργειαν ἐπιδεικνύντος, καὶ ὡς σφαλερὰ πρὸς ὑγείαν ἐστὶ διεξιόντος.
But sometimes one is highly praiseworthy, while the other, as it happens, is blameworthy; just as the good constitution of athletes has indeed so much praise as to be deservedly blamed, not only by Hippocrates or the other ancient physicians, but also by the best philosophers, as Plato too in the third book of the Republic demonstrates its complete uselessness for natural activity and details how dangerous it is for health.
οὐ γὰρ εὐκρασίαν ἁπλῶς τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγεθος ὄγκου μεταδιώκοντος, ὃ χωρὶς ἀμέτρου πληρώσεως οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο, οὕτω καὶ σφαλερὰν αὐτὴν ἀπεργάζονται, καὶ πρὸς τὰς πολιτικὰς ἐνεργείας ἄχρηστον.
For because they pursue not simply a well-tempered state of the body, but also bulk of mass—which could not occur without immoderate filling—they thus render it both dangerous and useless for civic activities.
ἵνα τοίνυν τῆς ὄντως εὐεξίας εἰς ἀκριβῆ γνῶσιν ἀφικώμεθα, παραλαβεῖν αὐτῇ χρὴ τὴν ὁμώνυμον εὐεξίαν τὴν ἀθλητικὴν, καὶ σκέψασθαι, τί ταὐτὸν ἑκατέραις ὑπάρχει, τί τε ἐναντίον.
Therefore, so that we may arrive at an accurate knowledge of true good constitution, we must contrast with it the homonymous athletic good constitution, and consider what is the same in both and what is opposite.
ἡ μὲν δὴ τῶν μορίων ἁπάντων τοῦ σώματος εὐκρασία κοινὸν ἀμφοῖν.
Now, the well-tempered state of all the parts of the body is common to both.
οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἀρετὴ, καὶ εἴπερ ταῦτα, καὶ ἡ εὐχυμία.
So too is the excellence of activities, and if these are present, also the good state of the humors.
ταυτὶ μὲν τὰ κοινά.
These are the common features.
τὰ δὲ ἐναντία συμμετρία μὲν αἵματός τε καὶ τοῦ τῶν στερεῶν σωμάτων ὄγκου παντὸς ἐν ταῖς ὄντως εὐεξίαις, ἀμετρία δὲ τῶν αὐτῶν τούτων καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ σαρκώδους γένους ἐν ταῖς ἀθλητικαῖς, αἷς ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἕπεται τὸ σφαλερὸν, ἐπειδὰν εἰς ἄκρον ἀφίκηται.
On the other hand, the opposites are: proportion of blood and of the entire mass of solid bodies in true good constitutions, but disproportion of these very things, and especially of the fleshy kind, in athletic ones, which is necessarily followed by danger when it reaches the extreme.
ὅταν γὰρ ἐσθίωσι μὲν πρὸς ἀνάγκην, πέττῃ δὲ ἡ γαστὴρ ἐῤῥωμένως, καὶ ἡ ἀνάδοσις γίνηται ἐπὶ τῇ πέψει ῥᾳδίως, αἱμάτωσίς τε καὶ πρόσθεσις, καὶ πρόσφυσις, καὶ θρέψις ἕπηται τοῖσδε, κίνδυνος ὑπερπληρωθῆναι τὴν ἕξιν, ὡς μηκέτ’ εἶναι τῇ φύσει χώραν προσθέσεως, κᾀν τῷδε πληροῦνται μὲν αἵματος αἱ φλέβες ἀμέτρως, κατασβέννυται δὲ καὶ πνίγεται τὸ ἔμφυτον θερμὸν, ἀποροῦν τῆς διαπνοῆς.
For when they eat under compulsion, and the stomach digests vigorously, and distribution easily follows digestion, and sanguification, addition, adhesion, and nutrition follow these, there is a danger of the state becoming overfilled, so that there is no longer any room for addition for nature; and at this point the veins are immoderately filled with blood, and the innate heat is extinguished and suffocated, lacking transpiration.
εἴπερ δὲ ἔτ’ ἀντέχει τοῦτο, ῥήγνυταί τι τῶν ἐπικαίρων ἀγγείων, ἃ δὴ κατὰ πνεύμονά τε καὶ ἧπαρ καὶ θώρακα τέτακται.
But if this still holds out, some of the vital vessels burst, which are situated near the lungs, liver, and chest.
καὶ γὰρ μαλακώτερα τοῖς χιτῶσι τῶν ἐν τοῖς κώλοις ὑπάρχει ταῦτα, καὶ πρότερον τὴν τροφὴν δέχεται, καὶ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς φυσικῆς θερμασίας, ἔτι τε τῶν ἐνεργειῶν τὸ διηνεκὲς ὅμοιόν τι τῇ ζέσει πάσχον τὸ αἷμα τοὺς χιτῶνας αὐτῶν ἀναῤῥήγνυσιν, ὥσπερ ὁ γλεύκινος οἶνος τοὺς πίθους.
For these are softer in their tunics than those in the limbs, and receive the nourishment sooner, and because of the abundance of natural heat in them, and also the continuity of activities, the blood, undergoing something similar to boiling, bursts their tunics, just as sweet wine bursts jars.
ταῦτά τε οὖν οὕτω γίνεται πάντα, ταῖς ἀμέτροις πληρώσεσιν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἑπόμενα, καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτῶν ἀποδείξεις τοῖς φυσικοῖς ἕπονται λόγοις.
Thus, all these things occur in this way, following of necessity upon immoderate fillings, and the demonstrations concerning them follow natural principles.
ὅτι δὲ σβέννυται τὸ ἔμφυτον θερμὸν, ὑπερπληρωθεισῶν αἵματος τῶν φλεβῶν, ἐν τοῖς περὶ χρείας ἀναπνοῆς εἴρηται, ὅτι δ’ αἱ φλέβες ῥήγνυνται, ἐν τοῖς ἀνατομικοῖς.
That the innate heat is extinguished when the veins are overfilled with blood has been said in the work On the Usefulness of Respiration, and that the veins burst, in the anatomical works.
οὕτω δ’ ἂν καὶ ὁ Ἱπποκράτης φανείη γινώσκων, οὐ μόνον ἐπειδὰν φῇ, τὴν ἐν τοῖς γυμναστικοῖς ἐπ’ ἄκρον εὐεξίαν εἶναι σφαλερὰν, ἀλλὰ κᾀπειδὰν ἑτέρωθι γράφῃ. Τῷ δὲ ἐξαίφνης ἄφωνον γενέσθαι φλεβῶν ἀπολήψιες τὸ σῶμα λυπέουσι. τὰς γὰρ αἰφνιδίους παραλύσεις τῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἁπασῶν διὰ μιᾶς ἐπικαιροτάτης ἐδήλωσεν.
In this way, Hippocrates also would appear to know this, not only when he says that the extreme good constitution in gymnasts is dangerous, but also when he writes elsewhere: "In sudden loss of voice, blockages of the veins afflict the body." For he indicated the sudden paralyses of all activities through one most vital activity.
ἀπολήψεις δὲ φλεβῶν τὰς ὑπερπληρώσεις εἶπεν, ἐπειδὰν ἀπορῶσιν εἰς ἀνάψυξιν διαπνοῆς.
And he called "blockages of veins" the overfillings, when they lack transpiration for cooling.