§4.3#3εἰρήκασι δέ τινες τῶν φυσιολόγων καὶ ἕτεροι περὶ τούτων, διὰ τίν᾽ αἰτίαν ὅμοια καὶ ἀνόμοια γίγνεται τοῖς γονεῦσιν.
Some of the physiologers and others have spoken about these matters, as to what cause makes offspring resemble or not resemble their parents.
δύο δὴ τρόπους λέγουσι τῆς αἰτίας.
They present two ways of explaining this cause.
ἔνιοι μὲν γάρ φασιν, ἀφ᾽ ὁποτέρου ἂν ἔλθῃ σπέρμα πλέον, τούτῳ γίγνεσθαι μᾶλλον ἐοικός, ὁμοίως παντί τε πᾶν καὶ μέρει μέρος, ὡς ἀπιόντος ἀφ᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν μορίων σπέρματος· ἂν δ᾽ ἴσον ἔλθῃ ἀφ᾽ ἑκατέρου, τοῦτο δ᾽ οὐδὲτέρῳ γίγνεσθαι ὅμοιον.
Some say that from whichever of the two parents more semen comes, the offspring resembles that parent more, the whole resembling the whole and part resembling part, on the assumption that semen comes off from each of the parts; but if an equal amount comes from both, the offspring resembles neither.
εἰ δὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ ψεῦδος καὶ μὴ ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀπέρχεται, δῆλον ὡς οὐδὲ τῆς ὁμοιότητος καὶ ἀνομοιότητος αἴτιον ἂν εἴη τὸ λεχθέν.
But if this is false, and semen does not come off from every part, it is clear that the alleged cause cannot be the cause of resemblance and non-resemblance.
ἔτι δὲ πῶς ἅμα θῆλυ μὲν πατρὶ ἐοικὸς ἄρρεν δὲ μητρὶ ἐοικός, οὐκ εὐπόρως δύνανται διορίζειν.
Furthermore, they cannot easily explain how at the same time a female can resemble the father and a male the mother.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὥσπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς λέγοντες ἢ Δημόκριτος περὶ τοῦ θήλεος καὶ ἄρρενος τὴν αἰτίαν ἄλλον τρόπον ἀδύνατα λέγουσιν· οἱ δὲ τῷ πλεῖον ἢ ἔλαττον ἀπιέναι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρρενος ἢ θήλεος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γίγνεσθαι τὸ μὲν θῆλυ τὸ δ᾽ ἄρρεν, οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιεν ἀποδεῖξαι τίνα τρόπον τό τε θῆλυ τῷ πατρὶ ἐοικὸς ἔσται καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν τῇ μητρί· ἅμα γὰρ ἐλθεῖν πλέον ἀπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων ἀδύνατον.
For those who, like Empedocles or Democritus, explain the cause of the female and male in another way, say what is impossible; and those who say that the female and male are produced because more or less semen comes off from the male or the female respectively, cannot show in what way the female will resemble the father and the male the mother, for it is impossible for more to come from both at the same time.
ἔτι δὲ διὰ τίν᾽ αἰτίαν ἐοικὸς γίνεται τοῖς προγόνοις ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ καὶ τοῖς ἄποθεν;
Furthermore, for what cause does the offspring resemble its ancestors as a rule, and even those further back?
οὐ γὰρ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνων γ᾽ ἀπελήλυθεν οὐθὲν τοῦ σπέρματος.
For certainly no semen came off from them.
ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον οἱ τὸν λειπόμενον τρόπον λέγοντες περὶ τῆς ὁμοιότητος καὶ τἆλλα βέλτιον καὶ τοῦτο λέγουσιν.
Rather, those who explain resemblance in the remaining way speak better both on other points and on this.
εἰσὶ γάρ τινες οἵ φασι τὴν γονὴν μίαν οὖσαν οἷον πανσπερμίαν εἶναί τινα πολλῶν· ὥσπερ οὖν εἴ τις κεράσειε πολλοὺς χυμοὺς εἰς ἓν ὑγρόν, κἄπειτ’ ἐντεῦθεν λαμβάνοι, καὶ δύναιτ᾽ ἂν λαμβάνειν μὴ ἴσον ἀεὶ ἀφ᾽ ἑκάστου, ἀλλ᾽ ὁτὲ μὲν τοῦ τοιοῦδε πλέον ὁτὲ δὲ τοῦ τοιοῦδε, ὁτὲ δὲ τοῦ μὲν λαβεῖν τοῦ δὲ μηθὲν λαβεῖν, τοῦτο συμβαίνειν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γονῆς πολυμιγοῦς οὔσης· ἀφ᾽ οὗ γὰρ ἂν τῶν γεννώντων πλεῖστον ἐγγένηται, τούτῳ γίνεσθαι τὴν μορφὴν ἐοικός.
For there are some who say that the semen, while being one, is a kind of universal mixture of many things; just as if one were to mix many juices into one liquid and then take from it, one would not always take an equal amount from each, but sometimes more of this and sometimes of that, and sometimes some of one but none of another, so they say this happens in the case of the semen which is a manifold mixture; for the offspring resembles in form whichever parent's elements are present in the greatest quantity.
οὗτος δὲ ὁ λόγος οὐ σαφὴς μὲν καὶ πλασματίας ἐστὶ πολλαχῇ, βούλεται δὲ καὶ βέλτιον λέγειν μὴ ἐνεργείᾳ ὑπάρχειν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ δύναμιν, ἣν λέγει πανσπερμίαν· ἐκείνως μὲν γὰρ ἀδύνατον, οὕτως δὲ δυνατόν·
This theory, though not clear and fictional in many ways, intends to speak better by saying that they exist not in actuality but in potentiality, which it calls a universal mixture; for in the former way it is impossible, but in this way it is possible.
οὐ ῥᾴδιον δὲ οὐδὲ τρόπον ἕνα τῆς αἰτίας ἀποδιδόντας τὰς αἰτίας εἰπεῖν περὶ πάντων, τοῦ τε γίνεσθαι θῆλυ καὶ ἄρρεν, καὶ διὰ τί τὸ μὲν θῆλυ τῷ πατρὶ πολλάκις ὅμοιον τὸ δ᾽ ἄρρεν τῇ μητρί, καὶ πάλιν τῆς πρὸς τοὺς προγόνους ὁμοιότητος, ἔτι δὲ διὰ τίν᾽ αἰτίαν ὁτὲ μὲν ἄνθρωπος μὲν τούτων δ᾽ οὐθενὶ προσόμοιος, ὁτὲ δὲ προϊὸν οὕτως τέλος οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος ἀλλὰ ζῷόν τι μόνον φαίνεται τὸ γιγνόμενον, ἃ δὴ καὶ λέγεται τέρατα.
But it is not easy for those who assign only one way of cause to state the causes of all things—of the offspring becoming female and male, and why the female is often like the father and the male like the mother, and again of the resemblance to ancestors, and furthermore, for what cause sometimes a human being is produced but resembles none of these, and sometimes, proceeding further in this way, in the end the offspring does not even appear to be a human being but only some animal, which indeed are called monsters.
καὶ γὰρ ἐχόμενον τῶν εἰρημένων ἐστὶν εἰπεῖν περὶ τῶν τοιούτων τὰς αἰτίας.
For it is possible to state the causes of such cases in connection with what has been said.
τέλος γὰρ τῶν μὲν κινήσεων λυομένων, τῆς δ᾽ ὕλης οὐ κρατουμένης, μένει τὸ καθόλου μάλιστα· τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὸ ζῷον.
For in the end, when the movements are dissolved and the matter is not mastered, what remains is most of all the universal; and this is the animal.
τὸ δὲ γιγνόμενον κριοῦ κεφαλήν φασιν ἢ βοὸς ἔχειν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως ἑτέρου ζῴου, μόσχον παιδὸς κεφαλὴν ἢ πρόβατον βοός.
They say that the offspring has the head of a ram or a bull, and similarly in other cases that of another animal, such as a calf with a child's head or a sheep with a bull's head.
ταῦτα δὲ πάντα συμβαίνει μὲν διὰ τὰς προειρημένας αἰτίας, ἔστι δ᾽ οὐθὲν ὧν λέγουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐοικότα μόνον· ὅπερ γίγνεται καὶ μὴ πεπηρωμένων, διὸ πολλάκις οἱ σκώπτοντες εἰκάζουσι τῶν μὴ καλῶν ἐνίους τοὺς μὲν αἰγὶ φυσῶντι πῦρ, τοὺς δ᾽ οἰῒ κυρίττοντι.
But all these things happen due to the causes mentioned before, and they are none of the things they say, but only resemble them; which happens even to those who are not deformed, wherefore those who mock often liken some of the ugly people, some to a goat breathing fire, and others to a ram butting.
φυσιογνώμων δέ τις ἀνῆγε πάσας εἰς δύο ζῴων ἢ τριῶν ὄψεις, καὶ συνέπειθε πολλάκις λέγων.
A certain physiognomist referred all faces to those of two or three animals, and often persuaded people by his words.
ὅτι δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἀδύνατον γίγνεσθαι τέρας τοιοῦτον, ἕτερον ἐν ἑτέρῳ ζῷον, δηλοῦσιν οἱ χρόνοι τῆς κυήσεως πολὺ διαφέροντες ἀνθρώπου καὶ προβάτου καὶ κυνὸς καὶ βοός· ἀδύνατον δ᾽ ἕκαστον γενέσθαι μὴ κατὰ τοὺς οἰκείους χρόνους.
But that it is impossible for such a monster to be produced—one animal inside another—is shown by the periods of gestation, which differ greatly for human, sheep, dog, and bull; and it is impossible for each to be produced except according to its proper period.
τὰ μὲν οὖν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον λέγεται τῶν τεράτων, τὰ δὲ τῷ πολυμερῆ τὴν μορφὴν ἔχειν, πολύποδα καὶ πολυκέφαλα γινόμενα.
Some of the monsters, then, are spoken of in this way, while others are due to having a multiform structure, being born with many feet or many heads.
πάρεγγυς δ᾽ οἱ λόγοι τῆς αἰτίας καὶ παραπλήσιοι τρόπον τινά εἰσιν οἵ τε περὶ τῶν τεράτων καὶ οἱ περὶ τῶν ἀναπήρων ζῴων·
The explanations of the cause are close and in some way similar in the case of monsters and in the case of deformed animals.