§2.4#2ἐπεὶ δʼ ἡ αὐτὴ δύναμις τῆς ψυχῆς θρεπτικὴ καὶ γεννητική, περὶ τροφῆς ἀναγκαῖον διωρίσθαι πρῶτον· ἀφορίζεται γὰρ πρὸς τὰς ἄλλας δυνάμεις τῷ ἔργῳ τούτῳ.
Since the same power of the soul is nutritive and generative, it is necessary to define first concerning food; for it is distinguished from the other powers by this function.
δοκεί δʼ εἶναι ἡ τροφὴ τὸ ἐναντίον τῷ ἐναντίῳ, οὐ πᾶν δὲ παντί, ἀλλʼ ὅσα τῶν ἐναντίων μὴ μόνον γένεσιν ἐξ ἀλλήλων ἔχουσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὔξησιν· γίνεται γὰρ πολλὰ ἐξ ἀλλήλων, ἀλλʼ οὐ πάντα ποσά, οἷον ὑγιὲς ἐκ κάμνοντος.
And food seems to be the contrary to the contrary, yet not every [contrary] to every [contrary], but as many of the contraries as have not only generation from one another but also growth; for many things come to be from one another, but not all are quantities, for example, healthy from sick.
φαίνεται δʼ οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνα τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἀλλήλοις εἶναι τροφή, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ὕδωρ τῷ πυρὶ τροφή, τὸ δὲ πῦρ οὐ τρέφει τὸ ὕδωρ.
And even those do not appear to be food for one another in the same way, but water is food for fire, whereas fire does not nourish water.
ἐν μὲν οὖν τοῖς ἁπλοῖς σώμασι ταῦτʼ εἶναι δοκεῖ μάλιστα, τὸ μὲν τροφὴ τὸ δὲ τρεφόμενον.
In simple bodies, then, these seem to be especially [related in this way], the one as food and the other as that which is nourished.
ἀπορίαν δʼ ἔχει·
But it involves a difficulty.
φασὶ γὰρ οἱ μὲν τὸ ὅμοιον τῷ ὁμοίῳ τρέφεσθαι, καθάπερ καὶ αὐξάνεσθαι, τοῖς δʼ ὥσπερ εἴπομεν τοὔμπαλιν δοκεῖ, τὸ ἐναντίον τῷ ἐναντίῳ, ὡς ἀπαθοῦς ὄντος τοῦ ὁμοίου ὑπό τοῦ ὁμοίου, τὴν δὲ τροφὴν μεταβάλλειν καὶ πέττεσθαι·
For some say that like is nourished by like, just as it is also increased, while to others, as we said, the opposite seems true, namely, contrary by contrary, on the ground that like is unaffected by like, whereas food changes and is digested.
ἡ δὲ μεταβολὴ πᾶσιν εἰς τὸ ἀντικείμενον ἢ τὸ μεταξύ, ἔτι πάσχει τι ἡ τροφὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ τρεφομένου, ἀλλʼ οὐ τοῦτο ὑπὸ τῆς τροφῆς, ὥσπερ οὐδʼ ὁ τέκτων ὑπὸ τῆς ὕλης, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ ἐκείνου αὕτη· ὁ δὲ τέκτων μεταβάλλει μόνον εἰς ἐνέργειαν ἐξ ἀργίας.
And change is for all things into the opposite or the intermediate; furthermore, the food undergoes something by that which is nourished, but the latter does not [undergo something] by the food, just as the carpenter does not [undergo something] by the material, but the latter by the former; the carpenter only changes from inactivity into activity.
πότερον δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ τροφὴ τὸ τελευταῖον προσγινόμενον ἢ τὸ πρῶτον, ἔχει διαφοράν.
But whether food is that which is added last or first makes a difference.
εἰ δʼ ἄμφω, ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν ἄπεπτος ἡ δὲ πεπεμμένη, ἀμφοτέρως ἂν ἐνδέχοιτο τὴν τροφὴν λέγειν· ᾗ μὲν γὰρ ἄπεπτος, τὸ ἐναντίον τῷ ἐναντίῳ τρέφεται, ᾗ δὲ πεπεμμένη, τὸ ὅμοιον τῷ ὁμοίῳ.
And if both, but the one is undigested and the other digested, it would be possible to speak of food in both ways; for in so far as it is undigested, the contrary is nourished by the contrary, but in so far as it is digested, the like by the like.
ὥστε φανερὸν ὅτι λέγουσί τινα τρόπον ἀμφότεροι καὶ ὀρθῶς καὶ οὐκ ὀρθῶς.
So that it is manifest that both speak in a certain way both rightly and not rightly.
ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐθὲν τρέφεται μὴ μετέχον ζωῆς, τὸ ἔμψυχον ἂν εἴη σῶμα τὸ τρεφόμενον, ᾗ ἔμψιυχον, ὥστε καὶ ἡ τροφὴ πρὸς ἔμφυχόν ἐστι, καὶ οὐ κατὰ συμβεβηκός.
And since nothing is nourished which does not participate in life, that which is nourished would be the animate body, in so far as it is animate, so that food also is relative to the animate, and not accidentally.
ἔστι δʼ ἕτερον τροφῇ καὶ αὐξητικῷ εἶναι· ᾗ μὲν γὰρ ποσόν τι τὸ ἔμψυχον, αὐξητικόν, ᾗ δὲ τόδε τι καὶ οὐσία, τροφή· σώζει γὰρ τὴν οὐσίαν, καὶ μέχρι τούτου ἔστιν ἕως ἂν τρέφηται· καὶ γενέσεως ποιητικόν, οὐ τοῦ τρεφομένου, ἀλλʼ οἷον τὸ τρεφόμενον· ἤδη γὰρ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ ἡ οὐσία, γεννᾷ δʼ οὐθὲν αὐτὸ ἑαυτό, ἀλλὰ σώζει.
But to be food is different from being that which is capable of causing growth; for in so far as the animate is a certain quantity, [the food] is growth-promoting, but in so far as it is a "this" and a substance, it is food; for it preserves the substance, and it exists up to this point, as long as it is nourished; and it is productive of generation, not of that which is being nourished, but of [something] like that which is nourished; for its substance already exists, and nothing generates itself, but preserves [itself].
ὥσθ’ ἡ μὲν τοιαύτη τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρχὴ δύναμίς ἐστιν οἵα σώζειν τὸ ἔχον αὐτὴν ᾗ τοιοῦτον, ἡ δὲ τροφὴ παρασκευάζει ἐνεργεῖν· διὸ στερηθὲν τροφῆς οὐ δύναται εἶναι.
So that such a principle of the soul is a power capable of preserving that which has it in so far as it is such, and food prepares it to act; wherefore, when deprived of food, it cannot exist.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἔστι τρία, τὸ τρεφόμενον καὶ ᾧ τρέφεται καὶ τὸ τρέφον, τὸ μὲν τρέφον ἐστίν ἡ πρώτη ψυχή, τὸ δὲ τρεφόμενον τὸ ἔχον ταύτην σῶμα, ᾧ δὲ τρέφεται, ἡ τροφή.
And since there are three things, that which is nourished, and that by which it is nourished, and that which nourishes; that which nourishes is the first soul, that which is nourished is the body having this, and that by which it is nourished is food.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ τέλους ἅπαντα προσαγορεύειν δίκαιον, τέλος δὲ τὸ γεννῆσαι οἷον αὐτό, εἴη ἂν ἡ πρώτη ψυχὴ γεννητικὴ οἷον αὐτό.
And since it is right to name all things from their end, and the end is to generate [something] like itself, the first soul would be generative of [something] like itself.
ἔστι δὲ ᾧ τρέφει διττόν, ὥσπερ καὶ ᾧ κυβερνᾷ, καὶ ἡ χεὶρ καὶ τὸ πηδάλιον, τὸ μὲν κινοῦν καὶ κινούμενον, τὸ δὲ κινούμενον μόνον.
And that by which it nourishes is twofold, just as that by which one steers is both the hand and the rudder, the one moving and being moved, the other being moved only.
πᾶσαν δʼ ἀναγκαῖον τροφὴν δύνασθαι πέττεσθαι, ἐργάζεται δὲ τὴν πέψιν τὸ θερμόν· διὸ πᾶν ἔμψυχον ἔχει θερμότητα.
And it is necessary that all food be capable of being digested, and heat works digestion; wherefore every animate thing has heat.
τύπῳ μὲν οὖν ἡ τροφὴ τί ἐστιν εἴρηται· διασαφητέον δʼ ἐστὶν ὕστερον περὶ αὐτῆς ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις λόγοις.
In outline, then, what food is has been said; but it must be clarified later concerning it in the appropriate treatises.