§2.3#2τοῦτο δ’ οὐ πῦρ οὐδὲ τοιαύτη δύναμίς ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐμπεριλαμβανόμενον ἐν τῷ σπέρματι καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀφρώδει πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ ἐν τῷ πνεύματι φύσις, ἀνάλογον οὖσα τῷ τῶν ἄστρων στοιχείῳ.
And this is not fire nor any such power, but the pneuma enclosed in the semen and in the foamy substance, and the nature in the pneuma, which is analogous to the element of the stars.
διὸ πῦρ μὲν οὐθὲν γεννᾷ ζῷον, οὐδὲ φαίνεται συνιστάμενον πυρουμένοις οὔτ’ ἐν ὑγροῖς οὔτ’ ἐν ξηροῖς οὐθέν· ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἡλίου θερμότης καὶ ἡ τῶν ζῴων οὐ μόνον ἡ διὰ τοῦ σπέρματος, ἀλλα κἄν τι περίττωμα τύχῃ τῆς φύσεως ὂν ἕτερον, ὅμως ἔχει καὶ τοῦτο ζωτικὴν ἀρχήν.
Therefore, no fire generates any animal, nor is anything seen to be constituted in things being heated either in wet or dry substances; but the heat of the sun and that of animals, not only that through the semen, but also if there happens to be some other residue of nature, nevertheless this also possesses a vital principle.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἡ ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις θερμότης οὔτε πῦρ οὔτε ἀπὸ πυρὸς ἔχει τὴν ἀρχήν, ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων ἐστὶ φανερόν·
That the heat in animals, then, is neither fire nor has its origin from fire, is clear from such considerations.
τὸ δὲ τῆς γονῆς σῶμα, ἐν ᾧ συναπέρχεται τὸ σπέρμα τὸ τῆς ψυχικῆς ἀρχῆς, τὸ μὲν χωριστὸν ὂν σώματος, ὅσοις ἐμπεριλαμβάνεται τὸ θεῖον (τοιοῦτος δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὁ καλούμενος νῦ), τὸ δ᾽ ἀχώριστον, τοῦτο τὸ σπέρμα τῆς γονῆς διαλύεται καὶ πνευματοῦτα, φύσιν ἔχον ὑγρὰν καὶ ὑδατώδη.
But the body of the generative fluid—in which there goes out along with it the semen of the psychical principle, some of which is separable from body, in as many as contain the divine (and such is the so-called intellect), and some inseparable—this semen of the generative fluid dissolves and becomes gas, having a wet and watery nature.
δόπερ οὐ δεῖ ζητεῖν ἀεὶ θύραζε αὐτὸ ἐξιέναι, οὐδὲ μόριον οὐθὲν εἶναι τῆς συστάσης μορφῆς, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὸν ὀπὸν τὸν τὸ γάλα συνιστάντα· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος μεταβάλλει καὶ μόριον οὐθέν ἐστι τῶν συνισταμένων ὄγκων.
Therefore, one must not always seek for it to come out of doors, nor to be any part of the constituted form, just as neither is the fig-juice which curdles milk; for this also changes and is no part of the constituted masses.
περὶ μὲν οὖν ψυχῆς, πῶς ἔχει τὰ κυήματα καὶ ἡ γονὴ καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἔχει, διώρισται· δυνάμει μὲν γὰρ ἔχει, ἐνεργείᾳ δ᾽ οὐκ ἔχει.
Concerning the soul, then, how the embryos and the generative fluid possess it and how they do not possess it, has been determined; for they possess it potentially, but do not possess it actually.
τοῦ δὲ σπέρματος ὄντος περιττώματος καὶ κινουμένου κίνησιν τὴν αὐτὴν καθ᾽ ἥνπερ τὸ σῶμα αὐξάνεται μεριζομένης τῆς ἐσχάτης τροφῆς, ὅταν ἔλθῃ εἰς τὴν εὑστέραν, συνίστησι καὶ κινεῖ τὸ περίττωμα τὸ τοῦ θήλεος τὴν αὐτὴν κίνησιν ἥνπερ αὐτὸ τυγχάνει κινούμενον κἀκεῖνο.
And since the semen is a residue and is moved with the same movement according to which the body grows by the final nourishment being distributed, when it enters the uterus, it constitutes and moves the residue of the female with the very same movement with which it itself happens to be moved.
καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο περίττωμα, καὶ πάντα τὰ μόρια ἔχει δυνάμει, ἐνεργείᾳ δ᾽ οὐθέν, καὶ γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἔχει μόρια δυνάμει, ιἧ διαφέρει τὸ θῆλυ τοῦ ἄρρενος.
For that too is a residue, and possesses all the parts potentially, but actually none, and it possesses potentially such parts in respect of which the female differs from the male.
ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ ἐκ πεπηρωμένων ὁτὲ μὲν γίνεται πεπηρωμένα ὁτὲ δ᾽ οὔ, οὕτω καὶ ἐκ θήλεος ὁτὲ μὲν θῆλυ, ὁτὲ δ᾽ οὔ, ἀλλ᾽ ἄρρεν.
For just as from mutilated parents sometimes mutilated offspring are produced and sometimes not, so also from a female sometimes a female is produced, and sometimes not, but a male.
τὸ γὰρ θῆλυ ὥσπερ ἄρρεν ἐστὶ πεπηρωμένον, καὶ τὰ καταμήνια σπέρμα, οὐ καθαρὸν δέ ἓν γὰρ οὐκ ἔχει μόνον, τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρχήν.
For the female is as it were a mutilated male, and the catamenia are semen, though not pure; for they lack one thing only, the principle of the soul.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὅσοις ὑπηνέμια γίνεται τῶν ζῴων, ἀμφοτέρων ἔχει τὰ μέρη τὸ συνιστάμενον ᾠόν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἔχει, διὸ οὐ γίνεται ἔμψυχον· ταύτην γὰρ τὸ τοῦ ἄρρενος ἐπιφέρει σπέρμα.
And for this reason, in those animals in which wind-eggs are produced, the egg being constituted possesses the parts of both, but does not possess the principle, wherefore it does not become animate; for the semen of the male imports this.
ὅταν δὲ μετάσχῃ τοιαύτης ἀρχῆς τὸ περίττωμα τὸ τοῦ θήλεος, κύημα γίνεται.
But when the residue of the female shares in such a principle, it becomes an embryo.
τοῖς δ᾽ ὑγροῖς μὲν σωματώδεσι δὲ θερμαινομένοις περιίσταται, καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς ἑψήμασι ψυχομένοις τὸ περίξηρον.
And in wet but bodily things, when they are heated, a surrounding part is formed, just as the dry crust on boiled dishes when they cool.
πάντα δὲ τὰ σώματα συνέχει τὸ γλίσχρον· ὅπερ καὶ προϊοῦσι καὶ μείζοσι γιγνομένοις ἡ τοῦ νεύρου λαμβάνει φύσις, ἥπερ συνέχει τὰ μόρια τῶν ζῴων, ἐν μὲν τοῖς οὖσα νεῦρον, ἐν δὲ τοῖς τὸ ἀνάλογον.
And all bodies are held together by the glutinous; which, as they progress and become larger, the nature of the sinew assumes, which holds together the parts of animals, being sinew in some, and the analogue in others.
τῆς δ᾽ αὐτῆς μορφῆς ἐστὶ καὶ δέρμα καὶ φλὲψ καὶ ὑμὴν καὶ πᾶν τὸ τοιοῦτον γένος· διαφέρει γὰρ ταῦτα τῷ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον καὶ ὅλως ἐν ὑπεροχῇ καὶ ἐλλείψει.
And skin, vessel, membrane, and all such class are of the same form; for these differ in the more and the less, and generally in excess and defect.