§55.
5.
Σκεψώμεθα γοῦν καὶ τὴν ὁμολογουμένως ἰητρικὴν, τὴν ἀμφὶ τοὺς κάμνοντας εὑρημένην, ἣ καὶ οὔνομα καὶ τεχνίτας ἔχει, εἰ κρατέειν καὶ αὐτὴ τῶν αὐτέων ἐθέλει, καὶ ὁπόθεν ποτὲ ἦρκται.
Let us, then, consider also the universally acknowledged art of medicine, which was discovered for the sick and has both a name and craftsmen, to see if it too wishes to master the same principles, and from what origin it ever began.
Ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ, ὅπερ ἐν ἀρχῇ εἶπον, οὐδ᾿ ἂν ζητῆσαι δοκέοι ἰητρικὴν οὐδεὶς, εἰ ταὐτὰ διαιτήματα τοῖσί τε κάμνουσι καὶ τοῖσιν ὑγιαίνουσιν ἥρμοζεν.
For to me, as I said at the beginning, it seems that no one would have even searched for medicine if the same lifestyles had suited both the sick and the healthy.
Ἔτι γοῦν καὶ νῦν ὅσοι ἰητρικῇ μὴ χρέονται, οἵ τε βάρβαροι καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἔνιοι τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, ὅν περ οἱ ὁγιαίνοντες, διαιτέονται πρὸς ἡδονὴν, καὶ οὔτ᾿ ἂν ἀπόσχοιντο οὐδενὸς ὧν ἐπιθυμέουσιν, οὔθ᾿ ὑποστείλαιντο ἄν.
Even now, at any rate, all those who do not use medicine—both barbarians and some of the Greeks—live in the same manner as the healthy, for their pleasure, and would neither abstain from anything they desire nor restrict themselves.
Οἱ δὲ ζητήσαντές τε καὶ εὑρόντες ἰητρικὴν, τὴν αὐτέην κείνοισι διάνοιαν ἔχοντες περὶ ὧν μοι ὁ πρότερος λόγος εἴρηται, πρῶτον μὲν οἶμαι, ὑφεῖλον τοῦ πλήθεος τῶν σιτίων αὐτέων τουτέων, καὶ ἀντὶ πλεόνων ὀλίγα ἐποίησαν·
But those who searched for and discovered medicine, having the same understanding as those of whom my previous discourse spoke, first, I think, subtracted from the quantity of these very foods, and made little instead of much.
ἐπεὶ δ᾿ αὐτέοισι τοῦτό ἐστι μὲν ὅτε πρός τινος τῶν καμνόντων ἤρκεσε, καὶ φανερὸν ἐγένετο ὠφελῆσαν, οὐ μέντοι πᾶσί γε· ἀλλ᾿ ἦσάν τινες οὕτως ἔχοντες, ὡς μὴ ὀλίγων σιτίων δύνασθαι ἐπικρατέειν· ἀσθενεστέρου δὲ δή τινος οἱ τοιοίδε ἐδόκεον δέεσθαι, ερον τὰ ῥοφήματα, μίξαντες ὀλίγα τῶν ἰσχυρῶν πολλῷ τῷ ὕδατι, καὶ ἀφαιρεόμενοι τὸ ἰσχυρὸν τῇ κρήσει τε καὶ ἑψήσει.
But when this sufficed for some of the sick, and it became clear that it was beneficial, yet not for all, but there were some in such a condition that they could not master even a small amount of food; and since such people seemed to need something weaker, they discovered gruels, mixing a small amount of strong foods with a large amount of water, and removing the strength by blending and boiling.
Ὁκόσοι δὲ μηδὲ τῶν ῥοφημάτων ἐδύναντο ὑποκρατέειν, ἀφεῖλον καὶ ταῦτα, καὶ ἀφίκοντο ἐς πόματα, καὶ ταῦτα τῇσί τε κρήσεσι καὶ τῷ πλήθεϊ διαφυλάσσοντες ὡς μετρίως ἔχῃ, μήτε πλείω τῶν δεόντων μήτε ἀκρητέστερα προσφερόμενοι, μηδ᾿ ἐνδεέστερα.
And for all those who could not master even gruels, they took these away as well, and arrived at drinks, maintaining these to be moderate in their blending and quantity, administering neither more than necessary nor too unmixed, nor indeed insufficient.
§66.
6.
Εὖ δὲ χρὴ τοῦτο εἰδέναι, ὅτι τισὶ τὰ ῥοφήματα ἐν τῇσι νούσοισιν οὐ ξυμφέρει, ἀλλ᾿ ἄντικρυς, ὅταν ταῦτα προσαίρωνται, παροξύνονται σφίσιν οἵ τε πορετοὶ καὶ τὰ ἀλγήματα· καὶ δῆλον τὸ προσενεχθὲν τῇ μὲν νούσῳ τροφή τε καὶ αὔξησις γενόμενον, τῷ δὲ σώματι φθίσις τε καὶ ἀρρωστίη.
But one must know this well, that for some people gruels are not beneficial in illnesses, but on the contrary, when they take them, their fevers and pains are provoked; and it is clear that what was administered became nourishment and growth for the disease, but wasting and weakness for the body.
Ὁκόσοι δ᾿ ἀν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ διαθέσει ἐόντες προσενέγκωνται ξηρὸν σιτίον, ἢ μᾶζαν, ἢ ἄρτον, καὶ πάνυ σμικρὸν, δεκαπλασίως ἀν μᾶλλον καὶ ἐπιφανέστερον κακωθεῖεν ἢ ῥοφέοντες, δι᾿ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ διὰ τὴν ἰσχὺν τοῦ βρώματος πρὸς τὴν διάθεσιν·
And as many men in this condition as ingest solid food, whether barley-cake or bread, even a very small amount, would be harmed ten times more and more conspicuously than if they took gruels, for no other reason than the strength of the food in relation to their condition.
καὶ ὅτῳ ῥοφέειν ξυμφέρει, ἐσθίειν δ᾿ οὖ, εἰ πλείω φάγοι, πολὺ ἂν μᾶλλον κακωθείη ἢ ὀλίγα· καὶ εἰ ὀλίγα δὲ, πονήσειεν ἄν.
And for one whom it benefits to take gruels, but not to eat, if he should eat more, he would be harmed much more than if he ate little, and even if he ate little, he would suffer.
Πάντα δὴ τὰ αἴτια τοῦ πόνου ἐς τὸ αὐτὸ ἀνάγεται, τὰ ἰσχυρότατα μάλιστά τε καὶ ἐπιφανέστατα λυμαίνεσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τὸν ὑγιέα ἐόντα, καὶ τὸν νοσέοντα.
Indeed, all the causes of pain are reduced to the same point: that the strongest things harm man most severely and conspicuously, both the healthy and the sick.
§77.
7.
Τί οὖν φαίνεται έτεροῖον διανοηθεὶς ὁ καλεύμενος ἰητρὸς καὶ ὁμολογημένως χειροτέχνης, ὃς ἐξεῦρε τὴν ἀμφὶ τοὺς κάμνοντας δίαιτάν τε καὶ τροφὴν, ἢ κεῖνος ὁ ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς τοῖσι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποισι τροφὴν, ᾗ νῦν χρεόμεθα, ἐξ ἐκείνης τῆς ἀγρίης καὶ θηριώδεος εὑρών τε καὶ παρασκευάσας διαίτης;
In what way, then, does the so-called physician and universally acknowledged craftsman, who discovered the lifestyle and nourishment for the sick, appear to have thought differently from that first discoverer who, from that wild and beast-like lifestyle, found and prepared for all mankind the nourishment we now use?
ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ φαίνεται ὡυτὸς τρόπος, καὶ ἕν τι καὶ ὅμοιον τὸ εὕρημα.
For to me, indeed, the method appears to be the same, and the discovery to be one and similar.
Ὁ μὲν, ὅσων μὴ ἠδύνατο ἡ φύσις ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη ἐπικρατέειν ὑγιαίνουσα ἐμπιπτόντων, διά ἀγριότητά τε καὶ ἀκρησίην, ὁ δὲ, ὅσων ἡ διάθεσις, ἐν οἵῃ ἂν ἑκάστοτε ἕκαστος τύχῃ διακείμενος, μὴ ἦν δυνατὸς ἐπικρατέειν, ταῦτα ἐζήτησεν ἀφελεῖν.
The latter sought to remove whatever the human nature, when healthy, could not master when it fell in, because of its wildness and unmixed state; while the former sought to remove whatever the condition, in which each person happened to be situated at any given time, was not able to master.
Τί δὴ τοῦτ᾿ ἐκείνου διαφέρει ἀλλ᾿ ἢ πλέον τό γε εἶδος, καὶ ὅτι ποικιλώτερον, καὶ πλέονος πραγματείης, ἀρχὴ δὲ κείνη ἡ πρότερον γενομένη;
How then does this differ from that, except in that its form is more varied, involves more business, and that that other was the prior origin?
§88.
8.
Εἰ δέ τις σκέπτοιτο τὴν τῶν καμνόντων δίαιταν πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑγιαινόντων, εὕροι ἂν οὐ βλαβερωτέρην ἤ περ τὴν τῶν ὑγιαινόντων πρὸς τὴν τῶν θηρίων τε καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ζώων.
But if one were to consider the lifestyle of the sick in comparison to that of the healthy, one would find it no more harmful than that of the healthy in comparison to that of wild beasts and other animals.
Ἀνὴρ γὰρ κάμνων νουσήματι μήτε τῶν χαλεπῶν τε καὶ ἀφόρων, μήτ᾿ αὖ τῶν παντάπασιν εὐηθέων, ἀλλ᾿ ἢ αὐτέῳ ἐξαμαρτάνοντι μέλλει ἐπίδηλον ἔσεσθαι, εἰ ἐθέλει καταφαγεῖν ἄρτον, καὶ κρέας, ἢ ἄλλο τι ὧν οἱ ὑγιαίνοντες ἐσθίοντες ὠφελέονται, μὴ πολλὸν, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ ἔλασσον, ἢ ὑγιαίνων ἂν ἠδύνατο·
For a man sick with a disease that is neither of the severe and unendurable kinds, nor again of the completely mild, but in which it is bound to be obvious if he makes a mistake, if he insists on eating bread, meat, or anything else from which the healthy benefit by eating—not much, but much less than he would have been able to when healthy—will quickly show it in his error.
ἄλλος τε τῶν ὑγιαινόντων φύσιν ἔχων μήτε παντάπασιν ἀσθενέα, μήτ᾿ αὖ ἰσχυρὴν, φαγών τι ὧν βοῦς ἢ ἵππος φαγὼν ὠφελέοιτό τε καὶ ἰσχύοι, ὀρόβους, ἢ κριθὰς, ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν τοιουτέων μὴ πολὺ, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μεῖβον ἢ δύναιτο· οὐκ ἂν ἧσσον ὁ ὑγιαίνων τοῦτο ποιήσας πονήσειέ τε κα κινδυνεύσειε κείνου τοῦ νοσέοντος, ὃς τὸν ἄρτον ἢ τὴν μᾶζαν ἀκαίρως προσηνέγκατο.
And another, a healthy man having a nature neither completely weak nor again strong, if he eats something from which an ox or a horse would benefit and gain strength, such as vetch, barley, or anything of that sort—not much, but much more than he is able—the healthy man doing this would suffer and run into danger no less than that sick man who inappropriately took the bread or the barley-cake.
Ταῦτα δὴ πάντα τεκμήρια, ὅτι αὕτη ἡ τέχνη πᾶσα ἡ ἰητρικὴ τῇ αὐτέῃ ὁδῷ ζετεομένη εὑρίσκοιτο ἄν.
All these things, indeed, are proofs that this whole art of medicine, being searched for along the same path, can be discovered.