§2.5Καίτοι τις ἀπορήσειεν ἂν διὰ τίν’ αἰτίαν, εἴπερ ἔχει τὸ θῆλυ τὴν αὐτὴν ψυχὴν καὶ ἡ ὕλη τὸ περίττωμα τὸ τοῦ θήλεός ἐστι, τί προσδεῖται τοῦ ἄρρενος, ἀλλ’ οὐκ αὐτὸ ἐξ αὑτοῦ γεννᾷ τὸ θῆλυ.
Yet one might raise a puzzle as to what the cause is: if the female possesses the same soul and the matter is the surplus of the female, why does she need the male in addition, and why does the female not generate by herself from herself?
αἴτιον δ’ ὅτι διαφέρει τὸ ζῷον τοῦ φυτοῦ αἰσθήσει· ἀδύνατον δὲ πρόσωπον ἢ χεῖρα ἢ σάρκα εἶναι ἢ ἄλλο τι μόριον μὴ ἐνούσης αἰσθητικῆς ψυχῆς, ἢ ἐνεργείᾳ ἢ δυνάμει, καὶ ἢ πῇ ἢ ἁπλῶς· ἔσται γὰρ οἷον νεκρὸς ἢ νεκροῦ μόριον.
The cause is that the animal differs from the plant in sensation; and it is impossible for a face or a hand or flesh or any other part to exist unless the sensitive soul is present in it, either in actuality or in potentiality, and either in some way or absolutely; for it will be like a corpse or a part of a corpse.
εἰ οὖν τὸ ἄρρεν ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς τοιαύτης ποιητικὸν ψυχῆς, ὅπου κεχώρισται τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν, ἀδύνατον τὸ θῆλυ αὐτὸ ἐξ αὑτοῦ γεννᾶν ζῷον· τὸ γὰρ εἰρημένον ἦν τὸ ἄρρεν εἶναι·
If, then, the male is the producer of such a soul, where the female and the male are separated, it is impossible for the female to generate an animal by herself from herself; for to be the male was precisely what has been said.
ἐπεὶ ὅτι γ’ ἔχει λόγον ἡ λεχθεῖσα ἀπορία, φανερὸν ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων τῶν τὰ ὑπηνέμια τικτόντων, ὅτι δύναται μέχρι γέ τινος τὸ θῆλυ γεννᾶν.
Yet, that the mentioned puzzle has some reason is clear from the case of birds that lay wind-eggs, since the female is able to generate up to a certain point.
ἔτι δ’ ἔχει καὶ τοῦτο ἀπορίαν, πῶς τις αὐτῶν τὰ ᾠὰ φήσει ζῆν.
But this also has a puzzle: how one will say that their eggs are alive.
οὔτε γὰρ οὕτως ὡς τὰ γόνιμα ᾠὰ ἐνδέχεται (ἐγίγνετο γὰρ ἂν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐνεργείᾳ ἔμψυχον) οὔθ’ οὕτως ὥσπερ ξύλον ἢ λίθος.
For it is neither possible to say so in the same way as fertile eggs (for an actual living thing would come from them), nor in the same way as wood or stone.
ἔστι γὰρ καὶ τούτων τῶν ᾠῶν φθορά τις ὡς μετεχόντων τρόπον τινὰ ζωῆς πρότερον.
For there is also a certain decay of these eggs, as having shared in life in some way before.
δῆλον οὖν ὅτι ἔχει τινὰ δυνάμει ψυχήν.
It is clear, then, that they have some soul potentially.
ποίαν οὖν ταύτην;
What kind of soul, then, is this?
ἀνάγκη δὴ τὴν ἐσχάτην. αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ θρεπτική· αὕτη γὰρ ὑπάρχει πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ζῴοις τε καὶ φυτοῖς.
It must be the lowest one, and this is the nutritive; for this belongs in like manner to all, both animals and plants.
διὰ τί οῦν οὐκ ἀποτελεῖ τὰ μόρια καὶ τὸ ζῷον;
Why, then, does it not complete the parts and the animal?
ὅτι δεῖ αἰσθητικὴν αὐτὰ ἔχειν ψυχήν· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ὥσπερ φυτοῦ τὰ μόρια τῶν ζῴων.
Because they must have a sensitive soul; for the parts of animals are not like those of a plant.
διὸ δεῖται τῆς τοῦ ἄρρενος κοινωνίας· κεχώρισται γὰρ ἐν τούτοις τὸ ἄρρεν.
Therefore, it needs the association of the male; for in these the male is separated.
ὅπερ καὶ συμβαίνει· τὰ γὰρ ὑπηνέμια γίνεται γόνιμα, ἐὰν ἔν τινι καιρῷ τὸ ἄρρεν ἐποχεύσῃ.
Which indeed is what happens; for wind-eggs become fertile if the male treads the female at some time.
ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῆς τούτων αἰτίας ὕστερον διορισθήσεται·
But about the cause of these things, it will be defined later.
εἰ δ’ ἔστι τι γένος ὃ θῆλυ μέν ἐστιν, ἄρρεν δὲ μὴ ἔχει κεχωρισμένον, ἐνδέχεται τοῦτο ζῷον ἐξ αὑτοῦ γεννᾶν.
On the other hand, if there is some genus which is female but does not have a separated male, it is possible for this to generate an animal from itself.
ὅπερ ἀξιοπίστως μὲν οὐ συνῶπται μέχρι γε τοῦ νῦν, ποιεῖ δὲ διστάζειν ἐν τῷ γένει τῷ τῶν ἰχθύων· τῶν γὰρ καλουμένων ἐρυθρίνων ἄρρην μὲν οὐθεὶς ὦπταί πω, θήλειαι δὲ καὶ κυημάτων πλήρεις.
This, indeed, has not been observed in a trustworthy manner up to now, but it causes hesitation in the genus of fishes; for of the so-called erythrinoi no male has yet been seen, but females and those full of embryos have.
ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν οὔπω πεῖραν ἔχομεν ἀξιόπιστον, οὔτε δὲ θήλεα οὔτε ἄρρενα καὶ ἐν τῷ τῶν ἰχθύων γένει ἐστίν, οἷον αἷ τ’ ἐγχέλεις καὶ γένος τι κεστρέων περὶ τοὺς τελματιαίους ποταμούς.
But of these we do not yet have trustworthy experience; and there are also some in the genus of fishes that are neither female nor male, such as eels and a certain genus of mullets around marshy rivers.
ἐν ὅσοις δὲ κεχώρισται τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν, ἀδύνατον αὐτὸ καθ’ αὑτὸ τὸ θῆλυ γεννᾶν εἰς τέλος· τὸ γὰρ ἄρρεν μάτην ἂν ἦν, ἡ δὲ φύσις οὐδὲν ποιεῖ μάτην.
But in all those in which the female and the male are separated, it is impossible for the female by herself to generate to the end; for the male would be in vain, and nature does nothing in vain.
διόπερ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀεὶ τὸ ἄρρεν ἐπιτελεῖ τὴν γένεσιν.
Therefore, in such cases the male always completes the generation.
ἐμποιεῖ γὰρ τοῦτο τὴν αἰσθητικὴν ψυχήν, ἢ δι’ αὑτοῦ ἢ διὰ τῆς γονῆς.
For it implants the sensitive soul, either through itself or through the semen.
ἐνυπαρχόντων δ’ ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ δυνάμει τῶν μορίων, ὅταν ἀρχὴ γένηται κινήσεως, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς αὐτομάτοις θαύμασι, συνείρεται τὸ ἐφεξῆς· καὶ ὃ βούλονται λέγειν τινὲς τῶν φυσικῶν, τὸ φέρεσθαι εἰς τὸ ὅμοιον, λεκτέον οὐχ ὡς τόπον μεταβάλλοντα τὰ μόρια κινεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ μένοντα καὶ ἀλλοιούμενα μαλακότητι καὶ σκληρότητι καὶ χρώμασι καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ταῖς τῶν ὁμοιομερῶν διαφοραῖς, γινόμενα ἐνεργείᾳ ἃ ὑπῆρχεν ὄντα δυνάμει πρότερον.
And since the parts are present potentially in the matter, when the principle of movement occurs, just as in automatic puppets, the subsequent parts follow in connection; and what some of the natural philosophers wish to say, namely that like is carried to like, must be said not in the sense that the parts move by changing place, but that remaining in place they are altered in softness, hardness, color, and the other differences of the homoeomerous parts, becoming in actuality what they were previously in potentiality.
γίγνεται δὲ πρῶτον ἡ ἀρχή.
And first the principle comes to be.
αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ καρδία τοῖς ἐναίμοις, τοῖς δ’ ἄλλοις τὸ ἀνάλογον, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πολλάκις.
This is the heart in blooded animals, and in others the analogue, as has been said many times.
καὶ τοῦτο φανερὸν οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν, ὅτι γίνεται πρῶτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὴν τελευτήν· ἀπολείπει γὰρ τὸ ζῆν ἐντεῦθεν τελευταῖον, συμβαίνει δ’ ἐπὶ πάντων τελευταῖον, ὥσπερ τῆς φύσεως διαυλοδρομούσης καὶ ἀνελιττομένης ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅθεν ἦλθεν.
And this is clear not only according to sensation, that it comes to be first, but also concerning the end; for life leaves from here last, and it happens in all cases last, as if nature were running a double course and winding back to the principle from which it started.
ἔστι γὰρ ἡ μὲν γένεσις ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ ὄν, ἡ δὲ φθορὰ ἐκ τοῦ ὄντος πάλιν εἰς τὸ μὴ ὄν.
For generation is from non-being into being, and decay is from being back into non-being.