§1## ΠΕΡΙ ΝΕΟΤΗΤΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΓΗΡΩΣ. ΠΕΡΙ ΖΩΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΘΑΝΑΤΟΥ.
Περὶ δὲ νεότητος καὶ γήρως καὶ περὶ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου λεκτέον νῦν· ἅμα δὲ καὶ περὶ ἀναπνοῆς ἀναγκαῖον ἴσως τὰς αἰτίας εἰπεῖν· ἐνίοις γὰρ τῶν ζῴων διὰ τοῦτο συμβαίνει τὸ ζῆν καὶ τὸ μὴ ζῆν.
## ON YOUTH AND OLD AGE. ON LIFE AND DEATH. We must now speak of youth and old age, and of life and death; and at the same time, it is perhaps necessary to state the causes of respiration, since in some animals living and not living happen because of this.
Ἐπεὶ δὲ περὶ ψυχῆς ἐν ἑτέροις διώρισται, καὶ δῆλον ὅτι οὐχ οἷόν τ’ εἶναι σῶμα τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτῆς, ἀλλ’ ὅμως ὅτι γ’ ἔν τινι τοῦ σώματος ὑπάρχει μορίῳ, φανερόν, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τινὶ τῶν ἐχόντων δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς μορίοις.
Since the soul has been defined elsewhere, and it is clear that its essence cannot be body, yet it is nevertheless manifest that it exists in some part of the body, and indeed in some one of those parts which have power among the parts.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα τῆς ψυχῆς ἢ μόρια ἢ δυνάμεις, ὁποτέρως ποτὲ δεῖ καλεῖν, ἀφείσθω τὰ νῦν· ὅσα δὲ ζῷα λέγεται καὶ ζῆν, ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀμφοτέρων τούτων τετυχηκόσι (λέγω δ’ ἀμφοτέρων τοῦ τε ζῷον εἶναι καὶ τοῦ ζῆν) ἀνάγκη ταὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ ἓν μόριον καθ’ ὅ τε ζῇ καὶ καθ’ ὃ προσαγορεύομεν αὐτὸ ζῷον.
Now, the other parts or powers of the soul—whichever one should call them—may be dismissed for the present; but as for all things that are called animals and said to live, in those which have obtained both of these (I mean both being an animal and living), it is necessary that the part by which they live and the part by which we address them as animal be one and the same part.
Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ζῷον ᾗ ζῷον, ἀδύνατον μὴ ζῆν· ᾗ δὲ ζῇ, ταύτῃ ζῷον ὑπάρχειν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον· τὰ γὰρ φυτὰ ζῇ μέν, οὐκ ἔχει δ’ αἴσθησιν, τῷ δ’ αἰσθάνεσθαι τὸ ζῷον πρὸς τὸ μὴ ζῷον διορίζομεν.
For an animal, qua animal, cannot fail to live; but in so far as it lives, it is not necessary for it to be an animal on this account; for plants live, but do not possess sensation, and it is by sensation that we distinguish the animal from what is not animal.
Ἀριθμῷ μὲν οὖν ἀναγκαῖον ἓν εἶναι καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ μόριον, τῷ δ’ εἶναι πλείω καὶ ἕτερα· οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸ τὸ ζῴῳ τε εἶναι καὶ τὸ ζῆν.
In number, then, it is necessary that this part be one and the same, but in being more than one and different; for being an animal and living are not the same.
Ἐπεὶ οὖν τῶν ἰδίων αἰσθητηρίων ἕν τι κοινόν ἐστιν αἰσθητήριον, εἰς ὃ τὰς κατ’ ἐνέργειαν αἰσθήσεις ἀναγκαῖον ἀπαντᾶν, τοῦτο δ’ ἂν εἴη μέσον τοῦ πρόσθεν καλουμένου καὶ ὄπισθεν (ἔμπροσθεν μὲν γὰρ λέγεται ἐφ’ ὅ ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἡ αἴσθησις, ὄπισθεν δὲ τὸ ἀντικείμενον), ἔτι δὲ διῃρημένου τοῦ σώματος τῶν μὲν ζώντων πάντων τῷ τ’ ἄνω καὶ κάτω (πάντα γὰρ ἔχει τὸ ἄνω καὶ τὸ κάτω, ὥστε καὶ τὰ φυτά), δῆλον ὅτι τὴν θρεπτικὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχοι ἂν μέσῳ τούτων· καθ’ ὃ μὲν γὰρ εἰσέρχεται μόριον ἡ τροφή, ἄνω καλοῦμεν, πρὸς αὐτὸ βλέποντες ἀλλ’ οὐ πρὸς τὸ περιέχον ὅλον, κάτω δὲ καθ’ ὃ τὸ περίττωμα ἀφίησι τὸ πρῶτον.
Since, then, there is some one common sense-organ for the special sense-organs, into which the actual sensations must meet, and this would be in the middle of what is called front and back (for "front" is said of where our sensation is, and "back" is the opposite), and further, since the body of all living things is divided by the upper and the lower (for all have the upper and the lower, so that even plants do), it is clear that the nutritive principle would be in the middle of these; for the part through which food enters, we call "upper", looking at the part itself and not at the surrounding whole, and "lower" is that through which it first discharges the residue.
Ἔχει δ’ ἐναντίως τοῖς φυτοῖς τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς ζῴοις· τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώπῳ διὰ τὴν ὀρθότητα μάλιστα ὑπάρχει τοῦτο τῶν ζῴων, τὸ ἔχειν τὸ ἄνω μόριον πρὸς τὸ τοῦ παντὸς ἄνω, τοῖς δ’ ἄλλοις μεταξύ· τοῖς δὲ φυτοῖς ἀκινήτοις οὖσι καὶ λαμβάνουσιν ἐκ τῆς γῆς τὴν τροφὴν ἀναγκαῖον ἀεὶ κάτω τοῦτ’ ἔχειν τὸ μόριον.
This is in an opposite state for plants and for animals; for in man, because of his erectness, this most of all animals belongs to him, namely to have the upper part toward the upper part of the universe, but in other animals it is intermediate; while in plants, which are motionless and receive their food from the earth, it is necessary always to have this part below.
Ἀνάλογον γάρ εἰσιν αἱ ῥίζαι τοῖς φυτοῖς καὶ τὸ καλούμενον στόμα τοῖς ζῴοις, δι’ οὗ τὴν τροφὴν τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῆς γῆς λαμβάνει, τὰ δὲ δι’ αὑτῶν.
For the roots in plants are analogous to the so-called mouth in animals, through which the former take their food from the earth, and the latter through themselves.