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Aristotle · On Sense and Sensibilia §5.12-5.21

Two Classes of Odor and the Cooling of the Human Brain

Passage 9 of 15 · Greek

Summary

The author distinguishes two types of odors: those related to nutrition that cause accidental pleasure in all animals, and those pleasant in themselves which are peculiar to humans and benefit health due to the cooling function of the large human brain.

§5.12Διοριστέον δὲ πῶς ἔστι καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἔστιν· τὸ μὲν γάρ ἐστι κατὰ τοὺς χυμοὺς τεταγμένον αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ εἴπομεν, καὶ τὸ ἡδὺ καὶ τὸ λυπηρὸν κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς ἔχουσιν·
We must define how they exist and how they do not exist; for one kind of them is ordered according to tastes, as we said, and they have pleasantness and unpleasantness accidentally.
διὰ γὰρ τὸ τοῦ θρεπτικοῦ πάθη εἶναι, ἐπιθυμούντων μὲν ἡδεῖαι αἱ ὀσμαὶ τούτων εἰσί, πεπληρωμένοις δὲ καὶ μηδὲν δεομένοις οὐχ ἡδεῖαι, οὐδ’ ὅσοις μὴ καὶ ἡ τροφὴ ἡ ἔχουσα τὰς ὀσμὰς ἡδεῖα, οὐδὲ τούτοις.
For because they are affections of the nutritive part, to those who desire, the odors of these things are pleasant, but to those who are satiated and in no need, they are not pleasant; nor are they pleasant to those for whom the food itself containing the odors is not pleasant.
§5.13Ὥστε αὗται μέν, καθάπερ εἴπομεν, κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς ἔχουσι τὸ ἡδὺ καὶ λυπηρόν, διὸ καὶ πάντων εἰσὶ κοιναὶ τῶν ζῴων· αἱ δὲ καθ’ αὑτὰς ἡδεῖαι τῶν ὀσμῶν εἰσίν, οἷον αἱ τῶν ἀνθῶν·
So these odors, as we said, have pleasantness and unpleasantness accidentally, which is why they are common to all animals; but others are pleasant in themselves, such as those of flowers.
οὐδὲν γὰρ μᾶλλον οὐδ’ ἦττον πρὸς τὴν τροφὴν παρακαλοῦσιν, οὐδὲ συμβάλλεται πρὸς ἐπιθυμίαν οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον μᾶλλον·
For they do not in any degree invite to food, nor do they contribute anything to desire, but rather the contrary.
ἀληθὲς γὰρ ὅπερ Εὐριπίδην σκώπτων εἶπε Στράττις, ὅταν φακῆν ἕψητε, μὴ ἐπιχεῖν μύρον. §5.14Οἱ δὲ νῦν μιγνύντες εἰς τὰ πόματα τὰς τοιαύτας δυνάμεις βιάζονται τῇ συνηθείᾳ τὴν ἡδονήν, ἕως ἂν ἐκ δύ’ αἰσθήσεων γένηται τὸ ἡδὺ ὡς ἓν καὶ ἀπὸ μιᾶς.
For what Strattis said in mocking Euripides is true: "When you boil lentil soup, do not pour in perfume." But those who nowadays mix such properties into drinks force pleasure by habit, until the pleasure arising from two senses becomes as one and from a single sense.
§5.15Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν τὸ ὀσφραντὸν ἴδιον ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς χυμοὺς τεταγμένη καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πρότερον·
Therefore, this object of smell is peculiar to man, but that which is ordered according to tastes belongs also to the other animals, as has been said before.
κἀκείνων μέν, διὰ τὸ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς ἔχειν τὸ ἡδύ, διῄρηται τὰ εἴδη κατὰ τοὺς χυμούς, ταύτης δ’ οὐκέτι, διὰ τὸ τὴν φύσιν αὐτῆς εἶναι καθ’ αὑτὴν ἡδεῖαν ἢ λυπηράν.
And of those, because they have pleasantness accidentally, their species are divided according to tastes, but of this kind they are no longer so, because its nature is in itself pleasant or painful.
Αἴτιον δὲ τοῦ ἴδιον εἶναι ἀνθρώπου τὴν τοιαύτην ὀσμὴν διὰ τὴν ψύξιν τὴν περὶ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον.
And the cause of such odor being peculiar to man is the cooling about the brain.
§5.16Ψυχροῦ γὰρ ὄντος τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου, καὶ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ περὶ αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς φλεβίοις ὄντος λεπτοῦ μὲν καὶ καθαροῦ, εὐψύκτου δέ (διὸ καὶ ἡ τῆς τροφῆς ἀναθυμίασις ψυχομένη διὰ τὸν τόπον τὰ νοσηματικὰ ῥεύματα ποιεῖ), τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πρὸς βοήθειαν ὑγιείας γέγονε τὸ τοιοῦτον εἶδος τῆς ὀσμῆς· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο ἔργον ἐστὶν αὐτῆς ἢ τοῦτο.
For since the brain is cold by nature, and the blood about it in the small veins is thin and pure, but easily cooled (wherefore also the exhalation from food, being cooled because of this region, produces diseased catarrhs), this species of odor has arisen in men to aid health; for there is no other function of it than this.
§5.17Τοῦτο δὲ ποιεῖ φανερῶς· ἡ μὲν γὰρ τροφὴ ἡδεῖα οὖσα, καὶ ἡ ξηρὰ καὶ ἡ ὑγρά, πολλάκις νοσώδης ἐστίν, ἡ δ’ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀσμῆς τῆς καθ’ αὑτὴν εὐώδους ὁπωσοῦν ἔχουσιν ὠφέλιμος ὡς εἰπεῖν ἀεί.
And this it clearly does; for while pleasant food, both dry and moist, is often unhealthy, the pleasure from odor which is sweet-smelling in itself is, so to speak, always beneficial, no matter what state people are in.
§5.18Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γίνεται διὰ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς, οὐ πᾶσιν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ τῶν ἐναίμων οἷον τοῖς τετράποσι καὶ ὅσα μετέχει μᾶλλον τῆς τοῦ ἀέρος φύσεως·
And for this reason it occurs through respiration, not in all animals but in men and in those of the red-blooded animals such as quadrupeds and those which participate more in the nature of air.
ἀναφερομένων γὰρ τῶν ὀσμῶν πρὸς τὸν ἐγκέφαλον διὰ τὴν ἐν αὐταῖς τῆς θερμότητος κουφότητα, ὑγιεινοτέρως ἔχει τὰ περὶ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον· ἡ γὰρ τῆς ὀσμῆς δύναμις θερμὴ τὴν φύσιν ἐστίν.
For when odors are carried up to the brain because of the lightness of the heat in them, the region about this part is kept healthier; for the power of odor is by nature hot.
§5.19Κατακέχρηται δ’ ἡ φύσις τῇ ἀναπνοῇ ἐπὶ δύο, ὡς ἔργῳ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν εἰς τὸν θώρακα βοήθειαν, ὡς παρέργῳ δ’ ἐπὶ τὴν ὀσμήν· ἀναπνέοντος γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐκ παρόδου ποιεῖται διὰ τῶν μυκτήρων τὴν κίνησιν.
And nature uses respiration for two purposes: as its primary function, to aid the chest, and as a secondary function, for odor; for when one respires, it produces the movement through the nostrils as if by the way.
§5.20Ἴδιον δὲ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσεώς ἐστι τὸ τῆς ὀσμῆς τῆς τοιαύτης γένος διὰ τὸ πλεῖστον ἐγκέφαλον καὶ ὑγρότατον ἔχειν τῶν ζῴων ὡς κατὰ μέγεθος·
And such a class of odor is peculiar to the nature of man because he has, in proportion to his size, the largest and moistest brain of all animals.
διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ μόνον ὡς εἰπεῖν αἰσθάνεται τῶν ζῴων ἄνθρωπος καὶ χαίρει ταῖς τῶν ἀνθῶν καὶ ταῖς τῶν τοιούτων ὀσμαῖς· σύμμετρος γὰρ αὐτῶν ἡ θερμότης καὶ ἡ κίνησις πρὸς τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὑγρότητος καὶ ψυχρότητός ἐστιν.
For because of this, man alone, so to speak, of all animals perceives and delights in the odors of flowers and of such things; for their heat and movement are proportionate to the excess of moisture and cold in that region.
§5.21Τοῖς δ’ ἄλλοις ὅσα πλεύμονα ἔχει διὰ τὸ ἀναπνεῖν τοῦ ἑτέρου γένους τῆς ὀσμῆς τὴν αἴσθησιν ἀποδέδωκεν ἡ φύσις, ὅπως μὴ δύο αἰσθητήρια ποιῇ· ἀπόχρη γάρ, ἐπείπερ καὶ ὣς ἀναπνέουσιν, ὥσπερ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὀσφραντῶν, τούτοις τῶν ἑτέρων μόνων ὑπάρχουσα ἡ αἴσθησις.
But to the other animals which have lungs and respire, nature has assigned the perception of the other class of odor, so that she does not make two sensory organs; for it is sufficient, since they respire anyway, that while men have the perception of both kinds of objects of smell, these animals have only that of the other.

Notes

  1. 5.12διὰ γὰρ τὸ τοῦ θρεπτικοῦ πάθη εἶναι — This is a prepositional phrase with an articular infinitive, διὰ τὸ ... εἶναι, expressing cause ('because they are...'). The subject of the infinitive εἶναι is 'odors' (αἱ ὀσμαί) understood from the context, and the genitive τοῦ θρεπτικοῦ ('of the nutritive') modifies the predicate noun πάθη ('affections of the nutritive').
  2. 5.13οὐδὲν γὰρ μᾶλλον οὐδ’ ἦττον — While 'οὐδὲν μᾶλλον οὐδ' ἧττον' literally means 'neither more nor less,' it functions adverbially here to express a strong negation ('not at all'). It emphasizes that pleasant odors in themselves have absolutely no role in inviting one to food.
  3. 5.15κἀκείνων μέν — κἀκείνων is a crasis of καὶ ἐκείνων ('and of those'). This genitive plural refers to the odors ordered according to tastes (common to other animals) and functions as a partitive genitive dependent on the entire clause διῄρηται τὰ εἴδη ('of those, their species are divided...').
  4. 5.16τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πρὸς βοήθειαν ὑγιείας γέγονε — The subject of the verb γέγονε ('has arisen/been made') is 'tὸ τοιοῦτον εἶδος τῆς ὀσμῆς' ('this species of odor'). The dative 'τοῖς ἀνθρώποις' functions as a dative of advantage ('for men'), and 'πρὸς βοήθειαν ὑγιείας' ('to aid health') is a prepositional phrase expressing purpose.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, On Sense and Sensibilia §5.12-5.21. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg041.humanitext-grc1:5.12-5.21

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