§1.23Ἐν μὲν οὖν τοῖς ζῴοις πᾶσι τοῖς πορευτικοῖς κεχώρισται τὸ θῆλυ τοῦ ἄρρενος, καὶ ἔστιν ἕτερον ζῷον θῆλυ καὶ ἕτερον ἄρρεν, τῷ δὲ εἴδει ταὐτόν, οἷον ἄνθρωπος ἀμφότερα·
Now in all animals that are capable of locomotion, the female is separated from the male, and one animal is female and another is male, though they are the same in species, just as both are human.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς φυτοῖς μεμιγμέναι αὗται αἱ δυνάμεις εἰσί, καὶ οὐ κεχώρισται τὸ θῆλυ τοῦ ἄρρενος.
But in plants these powers are mixed together, and the female is not separated from the male.
διὸ καὶ γέννᾷ αὐτὰ ἐξ αὑτῶν, καὶ προΐεται οὐ γονὴν ἀλλὰ κύημα τὰ καλούμενα σπέρματα.
Therefore they also generate out of themselves, and emit not semen but an embryo, namely what are called seeds.
καὶ τοῦτο καλῶς λέγει Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ποιήσας "οὕτω δ᾽ ᾠοτοκεῖ μακρὰ δένδρεα πρῶτον ἐλαίας. "τὸ τε γὰρ ᾠὸν κύημά ἐστι, καὶ ἔκ τινος αὐτοῦ γίγνεται τὸ ζῷον, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν τροφή, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος καὶ ἐκ μέρους γίγνεται τὸ φυόμενον, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν τροφὴ γίγνεται τῷ βλαστῷ καὶ τῇ ῥίζῃ τῇ πρώτῃ.
And this is well said by Empedocles when he wrote: 'Thus first of all tall trees lay eggs, the olives.' For the egg is an embryo, and from a certain part of it the animal comes to be, while the remainder is food; and from the seed also, the growing plant comes to be from a part, while the remainder becomes food for the shoot and the first root.
τρόπον δέ τινα ταῦτα συμπερ ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς, καὶ βούλεται ἡ φύσις αὐτῶν ἓν γίνεσθαι· ὅπερ ἐμφαίνεται κατὰ τὴν ὄψιν μιγνυμένων καὶ συνδυαζομένων, ἕν τι ζῷον γίγνεσθαι ἐξ ἀμφοῖν.
And in a certain way these things happen as in plants, and their nature wills them to become one; which is shown to the sight when they mix and copulate, that one animal comes to be from both.
καὶ τὰ μὲν κεν, ἕως ἂν συστήσῃ τὸ κύημα, οἷον τὰ συνδυαζόμενα τῶν ἐντόμων· τὰ δ’, ἕως ἂν ἀποπέμψῃ τι τῶν ἐπεισάκτων αὐτοῦ μορίων, ὃ συστήσει τὸ κύημα ἐν πλείονι χρόνῳ, οἷον ἐπὶ τῶν ἐναίμων.
And some indeed remain joined until they constitute the embryo, like the copulating insects; others, until they have discharged some part of their introduced organs, which will constitute the embryo in a longer time, as in the case of blooded animals.
τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἡμέρας τι μόριον συνέχεται, ἡ δὲ γονὴ ἐν ἡμέραις συνίστησι πλείοσιν· προϊέμενα δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀπολύεται.
For the former are joined for some part of a day, but the semen constitutes the embryo in several days; and having emitted such a thing, they are released.
καὶ ἀτεχνῶς ἔοικε τὰ ζῷα ὥσπερ φυτὰ εἶναι διαιρετά, οἷον εἴ τις κἀκεῖνα, ὅτε σπέρμα ἐξενέγκειεν, διαλύσειε καὶ χωρίσειεν εἰς τὸ ἐνυπάρχον θῆλυ καὶ ἄρρεν.
And in truth, animals seem to be like plants that have been divided, as if one were to dissolve and separate them, when they bear seed, into the female and male existing within them.
καὶ ταῦτα πάντα εὐλόγως ἡ φύσις δημιουργεῖ.
And nature fashions all these things reasonably.
τῆς μὲν γὰρ τῶν φυτῶν οὐσίας οὐθέν ἐστιν ἄλλο ἔργον οὐδὲ πρᾶξις οὐδεμία πλὴν ἡ τοῦ σπέρματος γένεσις, ὥστ’ ἐπεὶ τοῦτο διὰ τοῦ θήλεος γίνεται καὶ τοῦ ἄρρενος συνδεδυασμένων, μίξασα ταῦτα διέθηκε μετ’ ἀλλήλων· διὸ ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς ἀχώριστον τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν.
For to the essence of plants there belongs no other function or action except the generation of seed; so that since this comes about through the union of the female and the male, nature has mixed them and placed them together; wherefore in plants the female and the male are inseparable.
ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν φυτῶν ἐν ἑτέροις ἐπέσκεπται, τοῦ δὲ ζῴου οὐ μόνον τὸ γεννῆσαι ἔργον (τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ κοινὸν τῶν ζώντων πάντων), ἀλλὰ καὶ γνώσεώς τινος πάντα μετέχουσι, τὰ μὲν πλείονος, τὰ δ’ ἐλάττονος, τὰ δὲ πάμπαν μικρᾶς.
But concerning plants we have inquired in other works; whereas the function of an animal is not only to generate (for this is common to all living things), but they all also participate in some kind of knowledge, some in more, others in less, and some in an extremely small degree.
αἴσθησιν γὰρ ἔχουσιν, ἡ δ’ αἴσθησις γνῶσίς τις.
For they possess sensation, and sensation is a kind of knowledge.
ταύτης δὲ τὸ τίμιον καὶ ἄτιμον πολὺ διαφέρει σκοποῦσι πρὸς φρόνησιν καὶ πρὸς τὸ τῶν ἀψύχων γένος.
And the honor and dishonor of this knowledge differ greatly when one considers them in relation to wisdom on the one hand, and to the class of inanimate things on the other.
πρὸς μὲν γὰρ τὸ φρονεῖν ὥσπερ οὐδὲν εἶναι δοκεῖ τὸ κοινωνεῖν ἁφῆς καὶ γεύσεως μόνον, πρὸς δὲ ἀναισθησίαν βέλτιστον· ἀγαπητὸν γὰρ ἂν δόξειε καὶ ταύτης τυχεῖν τῆς γνώσεως, ἀλλὰ μὴ κεῖσθαι τεθνεὸς καὶ μὴ ὄν.
For in comparison with being wise, to share in touch and taste alone seems to be as nothing, but in comparison with insensibility it is best; for it would seem desirable to obtain even this knowledge, rather than to lie dead and non-existent.
διαφέρει δ’ αἰσθήσει τὰ ζῷα τῶν ζώντων μόνον.
And animals differ from other living things in sensation alone.
ἐπεὶ δ’ ἀνάγκη καὶ ζῆν, ἐὰν ᾗ ζῷον, ὅταν δεήσῃ ἀποτελεῖν τὸ τοῦ ζῶντος ἔργον, τότε συνδυάζεται καὶ μίγνυται καὶ γίγνεται ὡσπερανεὶ φυτόν, καθάπερ εἴπομεν.
But since it is necessary also to live, if it is to be an animal, when it is required to complete the function of a living thing, then it copulates and mixes and becomes as if it were a plant, just as we said.
τὰ δ’ ὀστρακόδερμα τῶν ζῴων μεταξὺ ὄντα τῶν ζῴων καὶ τῶν φυτῶν, ὡς ἐν ἀμφοτέροις ὄντα τοῖς γένεσιν, οὐδετέρων ποιεῖ τὸ ἔργον·
But testaceous animals, being intermediate between animals and plants, as though existing in both classes, perform the function of neither.
ὡς μὲν γὰρ φυτὸν ὂν οὐκ ἔχει τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν καὶ οὐ γεννᾷ εἰς ἕτερον, ὡς δὲ ζῷον οὐ φέρει ἐξ αὐτοῦ καρπὸν ὥσπερ τὰ φυτά, ἀλλὰ συνίσταται καὶ γέννᾶται ἔκ τινος συστάσεως γεοειδοῦς καὶ ὑγρᾶς.
For as being a plant it does not possess the female and the male, nor does it generate into another; but as being an animal it does not bear fruit from itself as plants do, but is constituted and generated from some composition of an earthy and moist nature.
ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῆς τούτων γενέσεως ὕστερον λεκτέον.
But concerning the generation of these we must speak later.