§4.1#1Δ. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς γενέσεως τῆς τῶν ζῴων εἴρηται καὶ κοινῇ καὶ χωρὶς περὶ πάντων.
D. Concerning the generation of animals, then, it has been spoken both in general and separately about all.
ἐπεὶ δ’ ἐν τοῖς τελεωτάτοις αὐτῶν ἐστὶ τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν κεχωρισμένον, καὶ ταύτας τὰς δυνάμεις ἀρχάς φαμεν εἶναι πάντων καὶ ζῳων καὶ φυτῶν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν αὐτὰς ἀχωρίστους ἔχει τὰ δὲ κεχωρισμένας, λεκτέον περὶ τῆς γενέσεως τῆς τούτων πρῶτον.
But since in the most perfect of them the female and the male are separated, and we say that these powers are the principles of all, both animals and plants, though some have them inseparable and others separated, we must speak first about the generation of these.
ἔτι γὰρ ἀτελῶν ὄντων ἐν τῷ γένει διορίζεται τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν.
For while they are still imperfect in their kind, the female and the male are distinguished.
πότερον δὲ καὶ πρὶν δήλην τὴν διαφορὰν εἶναι πρὸς τὴν αἴσθησιν ἡμῶν τὸ μὲν θῆλυ τὸ δ’ ἄρρεν ἐστίν, ἐν τῇ μητρὶ λαβόντα τὴν διαφορὰν ἢ πρότερον, ἀμφισβητεῖται.
But whether indeed even before the difference is plain to our senses, one is female and the other male, having received the difference in the mother or before that, is disputed.
φασὶ γὰρ οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς σπέρμασιν εἶναι ταύτην τὴν ἐναντίωσιν εὐθύς, οἷον Ἀναξαγόρας καὶ ἕτεροι τῶν φυσιολόγων· γίνεσθαί τε γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἄρρενος τὸ σπέρμα, τὸ δὲ θῆλυ παρέχειν τὸν τόπον, καὶ εἶναι τὸ μὲν ἄρρεν ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν τὸ δὲ θῆλυ ἐκ τῶν ἀριστερῶν, καὶ τῆς ὑστέρας τὰ μὲν ἄρρενα ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς εἶναι τὰ δὲ θήλεα ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς.
For some say that this opposition exists immediately in the semen, as Anaxagoras and others of the natural philosophers; for they say that the semen comes from the male, and the female provides the place, and that the male comes from the right side and the female from the left, and of the uterus the males are in the right parts and the females in the left.
οἱ δ’ ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ, καθάπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς· τὰ μὲν γὰρ εἰς θερμὴν ἐλθόντα τὴν ὑστέραν ἄρρενα γίνεσθαί φησι τὰ δ’ εἰς ψυχρὰν θήλεα, τῆς δὲ θερμότητος καὶ τῆς ψυχρότητος τὴν τῶν καταμηνίων αἰτίαν εἶναι ῥύσιν, ἢ ψυχροτέραν οὖσαν ἢ θερμοτέραν, καὶ ἢ παλαιοτέραν ἢ προσφατωτέραν.
But others say they are differentiated in the uterus, as Empedocles; for he says that those entering a hot uterus become male, and those entering a cold one female, and that the cause of the heat and cold is the flow of the catamenia, being either colder or hotter, and either older or fresher.
Δημόκριτος δὲ ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης ἐν μὲν τῇ μητρὶ γίνεσθαί φησι τὴν διαφορὰν τοῦ θήλεος καὶ τοῦ ἄρρενος, οὐ μέντοι διὰ θερμότητά γε καὶ ψυχρότητα τὸ μὲν γίγνεσθαι θῆλυ τὸ δ’ ἄρρεν, ἀλλ’ ὁποτέρου ἂν κρατήσῃ τὸ σπέρμα τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ μορίου ἐλθὸν ᾧ διαφέρουσιν ἀλλήλων τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν.
Democritus of Abdera, however, says that the difference of female and male is generated in the mother, not indeed that one becomes female and the other male on account of heat and cold, but according to whichever semen gets the upper hand, coming from the part by which female and male differ from each other.
τοῦτο γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ῥαθυμότερον ὑπείληφεν, οἰόμενος ψυχρότητι καὶ θερμότητι διαφέρειν μόνον ἀλλήλων, ὁρῶν ὅλα τὰ μόρια μεγάλην ἔχοντα διαφορὰν τήν τε τῶν αἰδοίων καὶ τὴν τῆς ὑστέρας.
For indeed Empedocles assumed this too laxly, thinking that they differ from one another only in cold and heat, although he sees that the whole parts, both the private parts and the uterus, have a great difference.
εἰ γὰρ πεπλασμένων τῶν ζῴων, τοῦ μὲν τὰ μόρια ἔχοντος τὰ τοῦ θήλεος πάντα, τοῦ δὲ τὰ τοῦ ἄρρενος, καθάπερ εἰς κάμινον εἰς τὴν ὑστέραν τεθείη, τὸ μὲν ἔχον ὑστέραν εἰς θερμήν, τὸ δὲ μὴ ἔχον εἰς ψυχράν, ἔσται θῆλυ τὸ οὐκ ἔχον ὑστέραν καὶ ἄρρεν τὸ ἔχον.
For if, when the animals have been formed, one having all the parts of the female, and the other those of the male, they were placed in the uterus as into an oven, the one having a uterus into a hot one, and the one not having it into a cold one, then the one not having a uterus will be female, and the one having it will be male.
τοῦτο δ’ ἀδύνατον.
But this is impossible.
ὥστε ταύτῃ γε βέλτιον ἂν λέγοι Δημόκριτος· ζητεῖ γὰρ ταύτης τῆς γενέσεως τὴν διαφορὰν καὶ πειρᾶται λέγειν· εἰ δὲ καλῶς ἢ μὴ καλῶς, ἕτερος λόγος.
So that in this respect at least Democritus would speak better; for he seeks the difference of this generation and tries to state it; but whether well or not well, is another story.
ἀλλὰ μὴν κἂν ᾖ τῶν μορίων τῆς διαφορᾶς αἴτιον ἡ θερμότης καὶ ἡ ψυχρότης, τοῦτο λεκτέον ἦν τοῖς ἐκείνως λέγουσιν· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὡς εἰπεῖν τὸ λέγειν περὶ γενέσεως ἄρρενος καὶ θήλεος τοῦτο γὰρ διαφέρει φανερῶς οὐ μικρόν τε ἔργον τὸ ἀπ’ ἐκείνης τῆς ἀρχῆς περὶ τῆς γενέσεως τούτων τῶν μορίων τὴν αἰτίαν συναγαγεῖν, ὡς ἀναγκαῖον ἀκολουθεῖν ψυχομένῳ μὲν τῷ ζῴῳ γίνεσθαι τοῦτο τὸ μόριον ἣν καλοῦσιν ὑστέραν, θερμαινομένῳ δὲ μὴ γίνεσθαι.
Indeed, even if heat and cold are the cause of the difference in these parts, this ought to have been stated by those who speak in that way; for this is, so to say, to speak about the generation of male and female, for this clearly differs, and it is no small task to gather the cause of the generation of these parts from that principle, as to why it must follow that when the animal is cooled this part which they call the uterus is generated, but when heated it is not.
τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον καὶ περὶ τῶν εἰς τὴν ὁμιλίαν συντελούντων μορίων· καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα διαφέρει, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον.
And in the same manner also concerning the parts contributing to intercourse; for these also differ, as was said before.
ἔτι δὲ γίνεται δίδυμα θῆλυ καὶ ἄρρεν ἅμα ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ μορίῳ πολλάκις τῆς ὑστέρας, καὶ τοῦθ’ ἱκανῶς τεθεωρήκαμεν ἐκ τῶν ἀνατομῶν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ζῳοτοκοῦσι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς πεζοῖς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν· περὶ ὧν εἰ μὲν μὴ συνεωράκει, εὐλόγως ἡμάρτανε ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν εἰπών, εἰ δ’ ἑωρακώς, ἄτοπον τὸ ἔτι νομίζειν αἰτίαν εἶναι τὴν τῆς ὑστέρας θερμότητα ἢ ψυχρότητα· ἄμφω γὰρ ἂν ἐγίνετο ἢ θήλεα ἢ ἄρρενα, νῦν δὲ τοῦτ’ οὐχ ὁρῶμεν συμβαῖνον.
And further, twins, a female and a male together, are often generated in the same part of the uterus, and this we have sufficiently observed from dissections in all viviparous animals, both in land animals and in fishes; concerning which, if indeed he had not perceived it, he erred reasonably in stating this cause, but if he had seen it, it is absurd still to think that the heat or cold of the uterus is the cause; for both would have become either female or male, but now we do not see this happening.