§27ἔτι δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὰς φορὰς καὶ τὰ μεγέθη καὶ τὰ σχήματα καὶ τὰς ἀποστάσεις καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἀστρολογία δείκνυσι, τούτοις κατάλοιπον τά τε πρῶτα κινοῦντα καὶ τὸ τίνος ἕνεκα λέγειν καὶ τίς ἡ φύσις ἑκάστου καὶ ἡ πρὸς ἄλληλα θέσις καὶ ἡ τοῦ σύμπαντος οὐσία καὶ ὑποβαίνοντι δὴ πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα καθ᾽ ἕκαστον τῶν εἰδῶν ἡμέρων ἄχρι ζώων καὶ φυτῶν.
Moreover, regarding movements, magnitudes, shapes, distances, and whatever other things astronomy demonstrates, remaining for these is to speak of the first movers and the 'for the sake of what', and what the nature of each is, and their position relative to one another, and the substance of the whole, and indeed for one descending to the other things, according to each of the species, from the tame ones down to animals and plants.
εἰ οὖν ἀστρολογία συνεργεῖ μὲν οὐκ ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις δὲ τῆς φύσεως, ἕτερα τὰ κυριώτατ᾽ ἂν εἴη καὶ πρότερα· καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ ὁ τρόπος ὡς οἴονταί τινες οὐ φύσικὸς ἢ οὐ πᾶς.
If, then, astronomy cooperates indeed, but not in the first principles of nature, other things would be the most primary and prior; for indeed, as some think, the method also is not physical, or not entirely so.
καίτοι τό γε κινεῖσθαι καὶ ἁπλῶς τῆς φύσεως οἰκεῖον καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.
Yet being moved is proper to nature simply, and especially to the heaven.
διὸ εἰ ἡ ἐνέργεια τῆς οὐσίας ἑκάστου καὶ τὸ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ὅταν ἐνεργῇ καὶ κινεῖται καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς ζώοις καὶ φυτοῖς. εἰ δὲ μὴ, ὁμώνυμα, δῆλον ὅτι κἂν ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐν τῇ περιφορᾷ κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν εἴη, χῶριζόμενος δὲ καὶ ἠρεμῶν ὁμώνυμος· οἷον γὰρ ζωή τις ἡ περιφορὰ τοῦ παντός. §28ἆρ᾽ οὖν εἴ γε μηδ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ζώυις τὴν ζωὴν ἢ ὡδὶ ζητητέον, οὐδ᾽ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ τοῖς οὐρανίοις τὴν φορὰν ἢ τρόπον τινὰ ἀφωρισμένον;
Wherefore, if movement is the activity of the substance of each, and each thing, when it is active, also moves, just as in animals and plants—but if not, they are homonymous—it is clear that the heaven too would exist according to its substance when in its revolution, but if separated and at rest, it is homonymous; for the revolution of the whole is, as it were, a kind of life. Is it then the case that, if not even in animals must life be sought in this way, neither in the heaven and the heavenly bodies must movement, or some defined way, be sought in this way?
συνάπτει δέ πως ἡ νῦν ἀπορία καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀκινήτου κίνησιν.
And the present difficulty connects also in a way with movement by the unmoved.
ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ πάνθ᾽ ἕνεκά του καὶ μηθὲν μάτην, ἄλλως θ᾽ ὁ ἀφορισμὸς οὐ ῥᾴδιος καθάπερ πλεονάκις λέγεται — πόθεν δ᾽ ἄρξασθαι χρῆν καὶ εἰς ποῖα τελευτᾶν; — καὶ δὴ τῷ ἔνια μὴ δοκεῖν ἔχειν οὕτως ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν συμπτωματικῶς τὰ δ᾽ ἀνάγκῃ τινὶ καθάπερ ἔν τε τοῖς οὐρανίοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὴν γῆν πλείοσι. §29τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκα αἱ ἔφοδοι καὶ ἀνάρροιαι θαλάττης ἢ τίνος αἰ προχωρήσεις ἢ ἀναξηράνσεις τῆς ὑγρότητος καὶ ὅλως πρὸς ἄλλοτ᾽ ἄλλο μεταβολαὶ καὶ φθοραὶ καὶ γενέσεις, ἢ αἱ μὲν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ γῇ ἀλλοιώσεις καὶ μεταβολαὶ γίγνονται πρὸς ἄλλοτ᾽ ἄλλο μεθισταμένων;
But concerning the principle that 'everything is for the sake of something and nothing is in vain,' not only is its definition not easy, as is often said—where should one begin and at what things should one end?—but also because some things do not seem to be so, but some occur by coincidence and others by a certain necessity, as both in heavenly things and in the majority of things about the earth. For for the sake of what are the tides and ebbs of the sea? Or for the sake of what are the advances or drying up of moisture, and in general, the changes to different things at different times, and destructions, and generations? Or do the alterations and changes on the earth itself occur as the heavenly bodies shift to different places at different times?
καὶ ἕτερα δ᾽οὐκ ὀλίγα παρόμοια τούτοις.
And there are not a few other things similar to these.
ἔστι δ᾽ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ζώοις τὰ μὲν ὥσπερ μάταια καθάπερ τοῖς ἄρρεσιν οἱ μαστοὶ καὶ τοῖς θήλεσιν ἡ πρόεσις εἴπερ μὴ συμβάλλεται, καὶ πώγωνος δ᾽ ἐνίοις ἢ ὅλως τριχῶν ἔκφυσις ἔν τισι τόποις· ἔτι δὲ κεράτων μεγέθη καθάπερ τῶν ἐλάφων· τοῖς δὲ καὶ λελωβημένοις κινήσει τε καὶ παραιωρήσει καὶ ἐπιπροσθήσει τῶν ὀμμάτων· καὶ ὡς ἔνια δὴ βίᾳ ἢ παρὰ φνσιν ὥσπερ ὁ ἐρωδιὸς ὀχεύει καὶ τὸ ἡμερόβιον ζῇ καὶ ἕτερα οὐκ ὀλίγα λάβοι τις ἂν τοιαῦτα. §30καὶ τὸ μέγνστον δὴ καὶ μάλιστα δοκοῦν περὶ τὰς τροφὰς καὶ γενέσεις τῶν ζώων· οὐθενὸς γὰρ ταῦθ᾽ ἕνεκα ἀλλὰ συμπτώματα καὶ δι᾽ ἑτέρας ἀνάγκας.
And even in animals themselves, some things are as if in vain, just as breasts in males, and in females emission if indeed it does not contribute, and in some the growth of a beard, or in general the growth of hair in certain places; and further, the sizes of horns as in stags; and for some, being impaired indeed by the movement, hanging down, and obstruction of the eyes; and how some indeed mate by force or contrary to nature, just as the heron mates, and the day-fly lives, and one could grasp not a few other such things. And indeed the greatest thing, and what especially seems to be so, is concerning the nourishment and generations of animals; for these are for the sake of nothing, but are coincidences and through other necessities.
ἔδει γὰρ εἴπερ τούτων χάριν ἀεὶ κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως.
For it would be necessary, if indeed they were for the sake of these, that they always occur in the same way and likewise.
ἔτι δ᾽ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς καὶ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἀψύχοις ὡρισμένην τιν᾽ ἔχουσι φύσιν, ὥσπερ δοκοῦσι καὶ μορφαῖς καὶ εἴδεσι καὶ δυνάμεσι, τίνος ἕνεκα ταῦτα ζητήσειεν ἄν τις.
Further, in plants, and even more in inanimate things, which have a certain defined nature, just as they seem to have in both shapes, forms, and powers, for the sake of what would anyone seek these?
αὐτὸ γὰρ τοῦτο ἄπορον τὸ μὴ ἔχειν λόγον καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐν ἑτέροις μὴ ποιοῦσι προτέροις καὶ τιμιωτέροις.
For this very thing is a difficulty: that they have no explanation, and they do not produce these in other prior and more honorable things.
ἦ καὶ ἔοικεν ὁ λόγος ἔχειν τι πιστὸν ὡς ἄρα τῷ αὐτομάτῳ ταῦτα καὶ τῇ τοῦ ὅλου περιφορᾷ λαμβάνει τινὰς ἰδέας ἢ πρὸς ἄλληλα διαφοράς.
Or indeed does the argument seem to have some credibility, namely that by chance and by the revolution of the whole these things receive certain forms or differences from one another?