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Aristotle · History of Animals §4.7#2

Structures of Insects and Unclassified Marine Creatures

Passage 61 of 189 · Greek

Summary

This chunk describes the external structures (wings, antennae, legs, cuticle) and internal anatomy (gut, lack of visceral organs/fat, and the unique feeding and vocal structures of cicadas) of insects, followed by descriptions of rare, unclassifiable marine creatures, concluding the general treatise on the parts of animals.

§4.7#2ἀνορροπύγιος δὲ ἡ πτῆσις αὐτῶν πάντων ἐστί, καὶ τὸ πτερὸν οὐκ ἔχει καυλὸν οὐδὲ σχίσιν.
The flight of all of them is without an upturned tail, and the wing has neither a shaft nor a cleft.
Ἔτι κεραίας πρὸ τῶν ὀμμάτων ἔχει ἔνια, οἷον αἵ τε ψυχαὶ καὶ οἱ κάραβοι.
Furthermore, some have antennae in front of their eyes, such as butterflies and beetles.
Ὅσα δὲ πηδητικὰ αὐτῶν ἐστί, τούτων τὰ μὲν ἔχει τὰ ὄπισθεν σκέλη μείζω, τὰ δὲ πηδάλια καμπτόμενα εἰς τοὔπισθεν ὥσπερ τὰ τῶν τετραπόδων σκέλη.
And of those that are leaping, some have their hind legs larger, and others have their leaping-legs bending backwards like the legs of quadrupeds.
Πάντα δ’ ἔχει τὰ πρανῆ πρὸς τὰ ὕπτια διάφορα, ὥσπερ καὶ τἆλλα ζῷα.
And all of them have their upper parts different from their lower parts, just as other animals do.
Ἡ δὲ τοῦ σώματος σὰρξ οὔτε ὀστρακώδης ἐστὶν οὔθ’ οἷον τὸ ἐντὸς τῶν ὀστρακωδῶν, οὕτω σαρκώδης, ἀλλὰ μεταξύ.
And the flesh of their body is neither shell-like nor so fleshy as the interior of the testaceans, but intermediate.
Διὸ καὶ οὔτ’ ἄκανθαν ἔχουσιν οὔτ’ ὀστοῦν οὔθ’ οἷον σήπιον οὔτε κύκλῳ ὄστρακον· αὐτὸ γὰρ αὑτὸ τὸ σῶμα διὰ τὴν σκληρότητα σώζει, καὶ οὐ προσδεῖται ἑτέρου ἐρείσματος.
Therefore they have neither a spine nor a bone, nor anything like the cuttle-bone, nor a shell around them; for the body itself preserves itself by its hardness, and does not need any other support.
Δέρμα δ’ ἔχουσι μέν, πάμπαν δὲ τοῦτο λεπτόν.
And though they have a skin, this is altogether thin.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν ἔξωθεν αὐτῶν μόρια ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτ’ ἐστίν, ἐντὸς δὲ εὐθὺς μετὰ τὸ στόμα ἔντερον τοῖς μὲν πλείστοις εὐθὺ καὶ ἁπλοῦν μέχρι τῆς ἐξόδου ἐστίν, ὀλίγοις δ’ ἑλιγμὸν ἔχει.
So then, their external parts are these and of this sort; but internally, immediately after the mouth, the gut in most of them is straight and simple as far as the outlet, while in a few it has a winding.
Σπλάγχον δ’ οὐδὲν ἔχει τῶν τοιούτων οὐδὲ πιμελήν, ὥσπερ οὐδ’ ἄλλο τῶν ἀναίμων οὐδέν.
And none of such creatures has any internal organ or fat, just as no other of the bloodless animals does.
Ἔνια δ’ ἔχει καὶ κοιλίαν, καὶ ἀπὸ ταύτης τὸ λοιπὸν ἔντερον ἢ ἁπλοῦν ἢ εἱλιγμένον, ὥσπερ αἱ ἀκρίδες.
Some, however, have also a stomach, and from this the remainder of the gut is either simple or winding, as for instance locusts.
Ὁ δὲ τέττιξ μόνον τῶν τοιούτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων στόμα οὐκ ἔχει, ἀλλ’ οἷον τοῖς ὀπισθοκέντροις τὸ γλωττοειδές, τοῦτο μακρὸν καὶ συμφυὲς καὶ ἀδιάσχιστον, δι’ οὗ τῇ δρόσῳ τρέφεται μόνον· ἐν δὲ τῇ κοιλίᾳ οὐκ ἴσχει περίττωμα.
But the cicada alone of such and of other animals does not have a mouth, but has a tongue-like part like that in sting-tailed creatures, which is long, continuous, and undivided, through which it feeds on dew alone; and in its stomach it holds no residue.
Ἔστι δ’ αὐτῶν πλείω εἴδη, καὶ διαφέρουσι μεγέθει καὶ μικρότητι καὶ τῷ τοὺς μὲν καλουμένους ἀχέτας ὑπὸ τὸ διάζωμα διῃρῆσθαι καὶ ἔχειν ὑμένα φανερόν, τὰ δὲ τεττιγόνια μὴ ἔχειν.
And there are several species of them, and they differ in largeness and smallness, and in that those called achetae are divided under the diaphragm and have an obvious membrane, whereas the tettigoniae do not have it.
Ἔστι δ’ ἔνια ζῷα περιττὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ, ἃ διὰ τὸ σπάνια εἶναι οὐκ ἔστι θεῖναι εἰς γένος.
There are also some extraordinary animals in the sea, which because of their rarity cannot be placed in a class.
Ἤδη γάρ φασί τινες τῶν ἐμπειρικῶν ἁλιέων οἱ μὲν ἑωρακέναι ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ ὅμοια δοκίοις, μέλανα, στρογγύλα τε καὶ ἰσοπαχῆ· ἕτερα δὲ καὶ ἀσπίσιν ὅμοια, τὸ μὲν χρῶμα ἐρυθρά, πτερύγια δ’ ἔχοντα πυκνά· καὶ ἄλλα ὅμοια αἰδοίῳ ἀνδρὸς τό τε εἶδος καὶ τὸ μέγεθος, πλὴν ἀντὶ τῶν ὄρχεων πτερύγια ἔχειν δύο, καὶ λαβέσθαι ποτὲ τοιοῦτον τοῦ πολυαγκίστρου τῷ ἄκρῳ.
For indeed, some experienced fishermen say, some that they have seen in the sea things like beams, black, round, and of uniform thickness; and others say they have seen things like shields, red in colour, and having dense fins; and others like a man's penis both in appearance and size, except that instead of testicles they have two fins, and that such a thing was once caught on the end of a multi-hooked line.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν μέρη τῶν ζῴων πάντων τά τ’ ἐντὸς καὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς περὶ ἕκαστον γένος καὶ ἰδίᾳ καὶ κοινῇ τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον.
So then, the parts of all animals, both internal and external, in respect to each class, both individually and in common, are in this way.

Notes

  1. §4.7#2τὰ δὲ πηδάλια καμπτόμενα — In the contrastive structure of demonstrative pronouns (τούτων τὰ μὲν ... τὰ δὲ ...), the latter `τὰ δὲ` is used substantively to mean 'and others (of the leaping ones)'. The word `πηδάλια`, literally meaning 'rudders', here functions as an accusative object denoting 'leaping-legs', governed by the omitted verb `ἔχει`, with `καμπτόμενα` acting as its object-complement participle.
  2. §4.7#2ἀλλ’ οἷον τοῖς ὀπισθοκέντροις τὸ γλωττοειδές, τοῦτο — Following the negation `οὐκ ἔχει`, the strong contrastive `ἀλλ’` introduces a clause where the verb `ἔχει` is omitted. `οἷον` introduces 'something like...', and the dative `τοῖς ὀπισθοκέντροις` (in sting-tailed creatures) is a dative of possession or reference modifying `τὸ γλωττοειδές` (the tongue-like part). `τοῦτο` acts as a demonstrative pronoun in apposition, picking up this object as the subject of the subsequent adjectives.
  3. §4.7#2καὶ τῷ τοὺς μὲν καλουμένους ἀχέτας ὑπὸ τὸ διάζωμα διῃρῆσθαι καὶ ἔχειν ὑμένα φανερόν, τὰ δὲ τεττιγόνια μὴ ἔχειν — The dative article `τῷ` nominalizes the two contrasting accusative-and-infinitival clauses (`τοὺς μὲν ... διῃρῆσθαι καὶ ἔχειν` and `τὰ δὲ ... μὴ ἔχειν`), functioning as a dative of respect/cause governed by the verb `διαφέρουσι` (they differ). `τοὺς μὲν καλουμένους ἀχέτας` and `τὰ δὲ τεττιγόνια` serve as the subject accusatives of their respective infinitives.
  4. §4.7#2οἱ μὲν ἑωρακέναι ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ ὅμοια δοκίοις — In apposition to the main subject `τινες τῶν ἐμπειρικῶν ἁλιέων` (some of the experienced fishermen), the nominative masculine plural `οἱ μὲν` specifies a subgroup governing the indirect discourse infinitive `ἑωρακέναι`. The subsequent `ἕτερα δὲ` is not a change of the human subject, but rather the introduction of another observed object (neuter plural), serving as the accusative object (or subject of a nested infinitive) of the supplied verb of seeing.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, History of Animals §4.7#2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg014.humanitext-grc1:4.7%232

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