§5.7#2πολὺν δὲ κινοῦσι ταῦτα, τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλ᾽ ὀλίγον, διὰ τὸ τὸ ἀγγεῖον δι᾽ οὗ πρῶτον φέρεται τὸ πνεῦμα, τούτοις μὲν διάστημ᾽ ἔχειν μέγα καὶ πολὺν ἀναγκάζεσθαι ἀέρα κινεῖν, τοῖς δ᾽ ἄλλοις εὐταμίευτον εἶναι.
And these move much air, while the others move only a little, because the vessel through which the breath is first carried has a large passage in these, forcing them to move much air, whereas in the others it is easily regulated.
προϊούσης δὲ τῆς ἡλικίας ἰσχύει μᾶλλον τοῦτο τὸ μόριον τὸ κινοῦν ἐν ἑκάστοις, ὥστε μεταβάλλουσιν εἰς τοὐναντίον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ὀξύφωνα βαρυφωνότερα γίνεται αὐτὰ αὑτῶν, τὰ δὲ βαρύφωνα ὀξυφωνότερα· διόπερ οἱ ταῦροι ὀξυφωνότεροι τῶν μόσχων καὶ τῶν θηλειῶν βοῶν.
As age advances, this moving part becomes stronger in each of them, so that they change to the contrary, and the high-voiced ones become deeper than their former selves, while the deep-voiced ones become higher-pitched; wherefore bulls are higher-pitched than calves and female cattle.
ἔστι μὲν οὖν πᾶσιν ἡ ἰσχὺς ἐν τοῖς νεύροις, διὸ καὶ τὰ ἀκμάζοντα ἰσχύει μᾶλλον.
Now strength in all is in the sinews, which is why those in their prime are stronger.
ἄναρθρα γὰρ τὰ νέα μᾶλλον καὶ ἄνευρα.
For the young are more disjointed and lacking in sinews.
ἔτι δὲ τοῖς μὲν νέοις οὔπω ἐπιτέταται, τοῖς δὲ γηράσκουσιν ἤδη ἀνίεται ἡ συντονία· διὸ ἄμφω ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἀδύνατα πρὸς τὴν κίνησιν.
Furthermore, in the young the tension is not yet stretched, while in those growing old the tightness is already relaxed; wherefore both are weak and powerless with respect to movement.
μάλιστα δ᾽ οἱ ταῦροι νευρώδεις, καὶ ἡ καρδίᾳ· διόπερ σύντονον ἔχουσι τοῦτο τὸ μόριον ᾧ κινοῦσι τὸ πνεῦμα, ὥσπερ χορδὴν τεταμένην νευρίνην.
Bulls are especially sinewy, as is their heart; wherefore they have this part with which they move the breath in a state of tension, like a stretched sinewy string.
δηλοῖ δὲ τοιαύτη τὴν φύσιν οὖσα ἡ καρδία τῶν βοῶν τῷ καὶ ὀστῦν ἐγγίνεσθαι ἐν ἐνίαις αὐτῶν· τὰ δ᾽ ὀστᾶ ζητεῖ τὴν τοῦ νεύρου φύσιν.
And that the heart of cattle is of such a nature is shown by the fact that a bone is formed in some of them; for bone seeks the nature of sinew.
ἐκτεμνόμενα δὲ πάντα εἰς τὸ θῆλυ μεταβάλλει, καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀνίεσθαι τὴν ἰσχὺν τὴν νευρώδη ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ ὁμοίαν ἀφίησι φωνὴν τοῖς θήλεσιν.
When castrated, all animals change to the female, and because the sinewy strength in the principle is relaxed, they emit a voice similar to that of females.
ἡ δ᾽ ἄνεσις παραπλησία γίνεται ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις χορδὴν κατατείνας σύντονον ποιήσειε τῷ ἐξάψαι τι βάρος, οἷον δὴ ποιοῦσιν αἱ τοὺς ἱστοὺς ὑφαίνουσαι· καὶ γὰρ αὗται τὸν στήμονα κατατείνουσι προσάπτουσαι τὰς καλουμένας λαιάς.
This relaxation becomes very similar to what would happen if someone, having stretched a string, made it tight by hanging some weight from it, just as weaving women do; for they too stretch the warp by attaching what are called "laiai" (weights).
οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἡ τῶν ὄρχεων φύσις προσήρτηται πρὸς τοὺς σπερματικοὺς πόρους, οὗτοι δ᾽ ἐκ τῆς φλεβός, ἧς ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐκ τῆς καρδίας πρὸς αὐτῷ τῷ κινοῦντι τὴν φωνήν.
For in this way also the nature of the testes is attached to the seminal passages, and these to the vein whose principle is from the heart, close to the very part that moves the voice.
διὸ καὶ τῶν σπερματικῶν πόρων μεταβαλλόντων πρὸς τὴν ἡλικίαν, ἐν ᾗ ἤδη δύνανται τὸ σπέρμα ἐκκρίνειν, συμμεταβάλλει καὶ τοῦτο τὸ μόριον.
Wherefore, when the seminal passages change towards the age at which they are already able to secrete seed, this part also changes along with them.
τούτου δὲ μεταβάλλοντος καὶ ἡ φωνὴ μεταβάλλει, μᾶλλον μὲν τοῖς ἄρρεσιν, συμβαίνει δὲ ταὐτὸ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θηλειῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀδηλότερον, καὶ γίνεται ὃ καλοῦσί τινες τραγίζειν, ὅταν ἀνώμαλος ᾖ ἡ φωνή.
And when this changes, the voice also changes, more indeed in males, though the same thing happens also in females, but less noticeably, and there occurs what some call "tragizein" (to crack or change voice) when the voice is uneven.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καθίσταται εἰς τὴν τῆς ἐπιούσης ἡλικίας βαρύτητα ἢ ὀξυφωνίαν.
After this, it settles into the deepness or highness of the succeeding age.
ἀφαιρουμένων δὲ τῶν ὄρχεων ἀνίεται ἡ τάσις τῶν πόρων, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῆς χορδῆς καὶ τοῦ στήμονος ἀφαιρουμένου τοῦ βάρους.
But when the testes are removed, the tension of the passages is relaxed, just as when the weight is removed from the string and the warp.
τούτου δ᾽ ἀνιεμένου καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἡ κινοῦσα τὴν φωνὴν ἐκλύεται κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον.
And when this is relaxed, the principle that moves the voice is also loosed by the same reasoning.
διὰ μὲν οὖν ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν τὰ ἐκτεμνόμενα μεταβάλλει εἰς τὸ θῆλυ τήν τε φωνὴν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην μορφήν, διὰ τὸ συμβαίνειν ἀνίεσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐξ ἧς ὑπάρχει τῷ σώματι ἡ συντονία, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς ὑπολαμβάνουσιν αὐτοὺς τοὺς ὄρχεις εἶναι σύναμμα πολλῶν ἀρχῶν· ἀλλὰ μικραὶ μεταστάσεις μεγάλων αἰτίαι γίνονται, οὐ δι᾽ αὑτάς, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν συμβαίνῃ ἀρχὴν συμμεταβάλλειν.
It is, then, for this cause that castrated animals change to the female both in voice and in their other form, because it happens that the principle from which tension belongs to the body is relaxed, and not as some suppose, because the testes themselves are a knot of many principles; but small changes become the causes of great results, not through themselves, but when it happens that a principle changes along with them.
αἱ γὰρ ἀρχαὶ μεγέθει οὖσαι μικραὶ τῇ δυνάμει μεγάλαι εἰσίν· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἀρχὴν εἶναι, τὸ αὐτὴν μὲν αἰτίαν εἶναι πολλῶν, ταύτης δ᾽ ἄλλο ἄνωθεν μηθέν.
For principles, though small in size, are great in power; for this is what it is to be a principle: to be itself the cause of many things, while there is nothing else above it.
τοῦ δὲ φύσει τὰ μὲν τοιαῦτα συνίστασθαι τῶν ζῴων ὥστε βαρύφωνα εἶναι, τὰ δ᾽ ὀξύφωνα, συμβάλλεται καὶ ἡ θερμότης τοῦ τόπου καὶ ἡ ψυχρότης.
In the natural constitution of animals such that some are deep-voiced and others high-voiced, the heat and cold of the locality also contribute.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ θερμὸν πνεῦμα διὰ παχύτητα ποιεῖ βαρυφωνίαν, τὸ δὲ ψυχρὸν διὰ λεπτότητα τοὐναντίον.
For hot breath makes a deep voice through thickness, while cold breath, on the contrary, makes a high voice through thinness.
δῆλον δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐλῶν· οἱ γὰρ θερμοτέρῳ τῷ πνεύματι χρώμενοι, καὶ τοιοῦτον προϊέμενοι οἷον οἱ αἰάζοντες, βαρύτερον αὐλοῦσιν.
This is clear also in the case of flutes; for those who use warmer breath, and emit it in such a way as those who lament, play deeper.
τῆς δὲ τραχυφωνίας αἴτιον, καὶ τοῦ λείαν εἶναι τὴν φωνήν, καὶ πάσης τῆς τοιαύτης ἀνωμαλίας, τὸ τὸ μόριον καὶ τὸ ὄργανον δι᾽ οὗ φέρεται ἡ φωνὴ ἢ τραχὺ ἢ λεῖον εἶναι ἢ ὅλως ὁμαλὸν ἢ ἀνώμαλον.
The cause of hoarseness, and of the voice being smooth, and of all such unevenness, is that the part and organ through which the voice is carried is either rough or smooth, or altogether even or uneven.
δῆλον δ᾽ ὅταν ὑγρότης τις ὑπάρχῃ περὶ τὴν ἀρτηρίαν ἢ τραχύτης γένηται ὑπό τινος πάθους· τότε γὰρ καὶ ἡ φωνὴ γίνεται ἀνώμαλος.
This is clear when some moisture is present about the windpipe, or when it becomes rough through some affection; for then the voice also becomes uneven.
τῆς δ᾽ εὐκαμψίας, ἂν μαλακὸν ἢ σκληρὸν ᾖ τὸ ὄργανον.
And flexibility is due to the organ being soft or hard.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ μαλακὸν δύναται ταμιεύεσθαι καὶ παντοδαπὸν γίνεσθαι, τὸ δὲ σκληρὸν οὐ δύναται.
For the soft can be regulated and become of all kinds, while the hard cannot.
καὶ τὸ μὲν μαλακὸν καὶ μικρὸν δύναται καὶ μέγα φθέγγεσθαι, διὸ καὶ ὀξὺ καὶ βαρύ· ταμιεύεται γὰρ ῥᾳδίως τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ αὐτὸ γινόμενον ῥᾳδίως μέγα καὶ μικρόν· ἡ δὲ σκληρότης ἀταμίευτον.
And the soft can utter both a small and a great voice, and therefore both high and deep; for it easily regulates the breath, and itself easily becomes great and small; but hardness is unregulated.
περὶ μὲν οὖν φωνῆς
Concerning voice, then...