§1.22ἥ τε γένεσις ἐν τῷ θήλει συμβαίνει τῶν γινομένων, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ εἰς τὸ ἄρρεν· οὕτ᾽ αὖ τὸ ἄρρεν προΐεται τὴν γονὴν οὔτε τὸ θῆλυ, ἀλλ᾽ ἄμφω εἰς τὸ θῆλυ συμβάλλονται τὸ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν γιγνόμενον, διὰ τὸ ἐν τῷ θήλει εἶναι τὴν ὕλην ἐξ ἧς ἐστὶ τὸ δημιουργούμενον.
And the generation of things produced takes place in the female, and not in the male; nor, on the other hand, do both the male and the female emit semen into each other, but both contribute what comes from them into the female, because the matter from which the thing crafted is made is in the female.
καὶ εὐθὺς τὴν μὲν ἀθρόον ὑπάρχειν ἀναγκαῖον ἐξ ἧς συνίσταται τὸ κύημα τὸ πρῶτον, τὴν δ᾽ ἐπιγίνεσθαι δεῖ τῆς ὕλης ἵν᾽ αὐξάνηται τὸ κυόμενον.
And immediately, it is necessary that the one part of the matter, from which the embryo is first constituted, should be present all at once, while the other part of the matter must be supplied afterwards so that the product may grow.
ὥστ᾽ ἀνάγκη ἐν τῷ θήλει ὑπάρχειν τὸν τόκον· καὶ γὰρ πρὸς τῷ ξύλῳ ὁ τέκτων καὶ πρὸς τῷ πηλῷ ὁ κεραμεύς, καὶ ὅλως πᾶσα ἡ ἐργασία καὶ ἡ κίνησις ἡ ἐσχάτη πρὸς τῇ ὕλῃ, οἷον ἡ οἰκοδόμησις ἐν τοῖς οἰκοδομουμένοις.
Consequently, it is necessary that the gestation should take place in the female; for the carpenter is close to the wood and the potter close to the clay, and in general all workmanship and the ultimate movement are close to the matter, just as building takes place in the things being built.
λάβοι δ᾽ ἄν τις ἐκ τούτων καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν πῶς συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὴν γένεσιν·
And from these things one might also grasp how the male contributes to generation.
οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ ἄρρεν ἅπαν προΐεται σπέρμα, ὅσα τε προΐεται τῶν ἀρρένων, οὐθὲν μόριον τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ τοῦ γιγνομένου κυήματος, ὥσπερ οὐδ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῦ τέκτονος πρὸς τὴν τῶν ξύλων ὕλην οὔτ᾽ ἀπέρχεται οὐθέν, οὔτε μόριον οὐθέν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ γιγνομένῳ τῆς τεκτονικῆς, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μορφὴ καὶ τὸ εἶδος ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνου ἐγγίνεται διὰ τῆς κινήσεως ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ, καὶ ἡ μὲν ψυχὴ ἐν ᾗ τὸ εἶδος καὶ ἡ ἐπιστήμη κινοῦσι τὰς χεῖρας ἤ τι μόριον ἕτερον ποιάν τινα κίνησιν, ἑτέραν μὲν ἀφ᾽ ὧν τὸ γιγνόμενον ἕτερον, τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ ἀφ᾽ ὧν τὸ αὐτό, αἱ δὲ χεῖρες καὶ τὰ ὄργανα τὴν ὕλην.
For neither does every male emit semen, and of those males that do emit it, this is no part of the embryo being produced, just as nothing comes away from the carpenter into the wood which is his matter, nor is any part of the carpenter's art in the thing produced, but the shape and the form are implanted from him in the matter by means of movement; and while the soul, in which are the form and the knowledge, moves the hands or some other part with a certain kind of movement (different when the product is different, and the same when it is the same), the hands and the instruments move the matter.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡ φύσις ἡ ἐν τῷ ἄρρενι τῶν σπέρμα προιϊεμένων χρῆται τῷ σπέρματι ὡς ὀργάνῳ καὶ ἔχοντι κίνησιν ἐνεργείᾳ, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τέχνην γινομένοις τὰ ὄργανα κινεῖται· ἐν ἐκείνοις γάρ πως ἡ κίνησις τῆς τέχνης.
In like manner, the nature in the male of those animals which emit semen uses the semen as an instrument and as possessing movement in actuality, just as the instruments are moved in things produced by art; for in those instruments, in a way, is the movement of the art.
ὅσα μὲν οὗν προΐεται σπέρμα, συμβάλλεται τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον εἰς τὴν γένεσιν· ὅσα δὲ μὴ προΐεται σπέρμα, ἀλλ’ ἐναφίησι τὸ θῆλυ εἰς τὸ ἄρρεν τῶν αὑτοῦ τι μο ρίων, ὅμοιον ἔοικε ποιοῦντι ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ τὴν ὕλην κομίσειε ρένων οὐθὲν δι’ ἑτέρων οἵα τε ποιεῖν ἡ φύσις, ἀλλὰ μόλις αὐτῆς προσεδρευούσης ἰσχύουσιν αἱ κινήσεις, καὶ ἔοικε τοῖς πλάττουσιν, οὐ τοῖς τεκταινομένοις· οὐ γὰρ δι’ ἑτέρου θιγγάνουσα δημιουργεῖ τὸ συνιστάμενον, ἀλλ’ αὐτὴ τοῖς αὑτῆς μορίοις.
Those, then, which emit semen contribute to generation in this manner; but those which do not emit semen, but the female inserts some of her own parts into the male, seem to act similarly to as if someone were to bring the matter. For the nature of the males is able to produce nothing through intermediate instruments, but only when she herself is close at hand do the movements have power, and it resembles those who model clay rather than those who do carpentry; for she does not fashion that which is constituted by touching it through something else, but she herself fashions it with her own parts.