§4.1#2λέγοντί τε τὰ μόρια διεσπάσθαι τοῦ γινομένου (τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῷ ἄρρενί φησιν εἶναι τὰ δ’ ἐν τῷ θήλει, διὸ καὶ τῆς ἀλλήλων ὁμιλίας ἐπιθυμεῖν) ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τῶν τοιούτων διῃρῆσθαι τὸ μέγεθος καὶ γίνεσθαι σύνοδον, ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ ψύξιν ἢ θερμασίαν.
And for one who says that the parts of the generated are torn apart (for he says that some are in the male and others in the female, and for this reason they desire intercourse with one another), it is necessary that the size of such parts is also divided and that a coming together occurs, but not on account of cooling or heating.
ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῆς τοιαύτης αἰτίας τοῦ σπέρματος τάχ’ ἂν εἴη πολλὰ λέγειν· ὅλως γὰρ ἔοικεν ὁ τρόπος τῆς αἰτίας πλασματώδης εἶναι.
But concerning such a cause of the semen, there would perhaps be much to say; for in general the manner of the cause seems to be fictitious.
εἰ δ’ ἔστι περὶ σπέρματος οὕτως ἔχον ὥσπερ τυγχάνομεν εἰρηκότες, καὶ μήτ’ ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀπέρχεται μήθ’ ὅλως τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρρενος παρέχει τοῖς γινομένοις ὕλην μηδεμίαν, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον καὶ πρὸς Δημόκριτον, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος οὕτω τυγχάνει λέγων, ὁμοίως ἀπαντητέον οὔτε γὰρ διεσπασμένον ἐνδέχεται τὸ σῶμα τοῦ σπέρματος εἶναι, τὸ μὲν ἐν τῷ θήλει τὸ δ’ ἐν τῷ ἄρρενι, καθάπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς φησὶν εἰπὼν "ἀλλὰ διέσπασται μελέων φύσις, ἡ μὲν ἐν ἀνδρός," οὔτ’ ἐξ ἑκατέρου πᾶν ἀποκρινόμενον, τῷ κρατῆσαί τι μέρος ἄλλου μέρους γίνεσθαι τὸ μὲν θῆλυ τὸ δ’ ἄρρεν.
But if indeed concerning the semen it is as we happen to have stated, and it neither comes away from the whole body nor does that from the male provide any matter at all to the generated, we must reply similarly both to him and to Democritus, and to anyone else who happens to speak in this way; for it is not possible for the body of the semen to be torn apart, some in the female and some in the male, as Empedocles says when he states, 'but the nature of limbs has been torn apart, some in the man's,' nor for the whole to be separated from each of the two, and for one to become female and the other male by some part getting the upper hand over another part.
ὅλως δὲ τό γε τὴν τοῦ μέρους ὑπεροχὴν κρατήσασαν ποιεῖν θῆλυ βέλτιον μὲν ἢ μηθὲν φροντίσαντα τὸ θερμὸν αἰτιᾶσθαι μόνον, τὸ μέντοι συμβαίνειν ἅμα καὶ τὴν τοῦ αἰδοίου μορφὴν ἑτέραν δεῖται λόγου πρὸς τὸ συνακολουθεῖν ἀεὶ ταῦτ’ ἀλλήλοις.
In general, however, to make the excess of a part, by getting the upper hand, produce the female is indeed better than to credit only the heat without giving any thought, yet that the shape of the private part also becomes different at the same time requires an explanation, in order for these always to accompany each other.
εἰ γὰρ ὅτι σύνεγγυς, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἕκαστον ἔδει μορίων ἀκολουθεῖν.
For if it is because they are near, each of the remaining parts ought to have accompanied also.
ἑτέρῳ γὰρ ἕτερον ἐγγὺς τῶν νικώντων, ὥστε ἅμα θῆλύ τ’ ἂν ἦν καὶ τῇ μητρὶ ἐοικός, ἢ ἄρρεν καὶ τῷ πατρί.
For one of the winning parts is near to another, so that it would have been at the same time both female and like the mother, or male and like the father.
ἔτι ἄτοπον καὶ τὸ μόνον ταῦτ’ οἴεσθαι δεῖν γίγνεσθαι τὰ μόρια, καὶ μὴ τὸ σύνολον μεταβεβληκέναι σῶμα, καὶ μάλιστα καὶ πρῶτον τὰς φλέβας, περὶ ἃς ὡς περὶ ὑπογραφὴν τὸ σῶμα περίκειται τὸ τῶν σαρκῶν.
Further, it is absurd also to think that only these parts must be generated, and that the whole body has not changed, and especially and first of all the blood-vessels, around which the body of the flesh lies like an outline.
ἃς οὐ διὰ τὴν ὑστέραν εὔλογον γενέσθαι ποιάς τινας, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον δι’ ἐκείνας τὴν ὑστέραν.
It is not reasonable that these vessels become of a certain quality because of the uterus, but rather the uterus because of them.
ὑποδοχὴ γὰρ αἵματός τινος ἑκάτερον, προτέρα δ’ ἡ τῶν φλεβῶν.
For each of the two is a receptacle of a certain blood, but that of the vessels is prior.
τὴν δὲ κινοῦσαν ἀρχὴν ἀναγκαῖον ἀεὶ προτέραν εἶναι καὶ τῆς γενέσεως αἰτίαν τῷ ποιὰν εἶναί τινα.
And it is necessary that the moving principle is always prior and the cause of generation by being of a certain quality.
συμβαίνει μὲν οὖν ἡ διαφορὰ τῶν μερῶν τούτων πρὸς ἄλληλα τοῖς θήλεσι καὶ τοῖς ἄρρεσιν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀρχὴν οἰητέον οὐδ’ αἰτίαν εἶναι ταύτην, ἀλλ’ ἑτέραν, κἂν εἰ μηθὲν ἀποκρίνεται σπέρμα μήτε ἀπὸ τοῦ θήλεος μήτ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρρενος, ἀλλ’ ὅπως δή ποτε συνίσταται τὸ σπέρμα τὸ γιγνόμενον.
Therefore, the difference of these parts from each other happens to females and males, but we must not think that this difference is the principle or the cause, but another, even if no semen is separated either from the female or from the male, but in whatever way indeed the generated semen is constituted.
ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς λόγος καὶ πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας τὸ μὲν ἄρρεν ἀπὸ τῶν δεξιῶν εἶναι τὸ δὲ θῆλυ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀριστερῶν, ὅσπερ καὶ πρὸς Ἐμπεδοκλέα καὶ πρὸς Δημόκριτον.
And the same argument applies also to those who say that the male comes from the right and the female from the left, just as to Empedocles and to Democritus.
εἴτε γὰρ μηδεμίαν ὕλην συμβάλλεται τὸ ἄρρεν, οὐθὲν ἂν λέγοιεν οἱ λέγοντες οὕτως· εἴτε καὶ συμβάλλεται, καθάπερ φασίν, ὁμοίως ἀναγκαῖον ἀπαντᾶν καὶ πρὸς τὸν Ἐμπεδοκλέους λόγον, ὃς διορίζει τὸ θῆλυ πρὸς τὸ ἄρρεν θερμότητι καὶ ψυχρότητι τῆς ὑστέρας.
For if indeed the male contributes no matter, those who speak in this way would say nothing; and if indeed it does contribute, as they say, it is necessary to reply similarly also to the argument of Empedocles, who distinguishes the female from the male by the heat and cold of the uterus.
οἱ δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσι, τοῖς δεξιοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς ὁρίζοντες, ὁρῶντες διαφέροντα τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν καὶ μορίοις ὅλοις, ὧν διὰ τίν’ αἰτίαν ὑπάρξει τοῖς ἐκ τῶν ἀριστερῶν, τοῖς δ’ ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν οὐχ ὑπάρξει τὸ σῶμα τὸ τῆς ὑστέρας;
And they do the same thing, defining by the right and the left, seeing that the female and the male differ also in whole parts; for which cause among these will the body of the uterus belong to those from the left, but will not belong to those from the right?
ἂν γὰρ ἔλθῃ μὲν μὴ σχῇ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ μόριον, ἔσται θῆλυ οὐκ ἔχον ὑστέραν καὶ ἄρρεν ἔχον, ἂν τύχῃ.
For if it should come but not have this part, there will be a female not having a uterus and a male having one, if it so happens.
ἔτι δ’ ὅπερ εἴρηται καὶ πρότερον, ὦπται καὶ θῆλυ ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ μέρει τῆς ὑστέρας καὶ ἄρρεν ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ καὶ ἄμφω ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ μέρει, καὶ τοῦτ’ οὐχ ὅτι ἅπαξ ἀλλὰ πλεονάκις, ἢ τὸ ἄρρεν μὲν ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς, τὸ θῆλυ δ’ ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς· οὐχ ἧττον δὲ ἀμφότερα γίνεται ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς.
And further, as has been said before, a female has been seen in the right part of the uterus, and a male in the left, and both in the same part, and this not just once but many times, or while the male is in the right and the female in the left, nonetheless both are generated in the right parts.