§1## ΠΕΡΙ ΓΟΝΗΣ.
## ΠΕΡΙ ΦΥΣΙΟΣ ΠΑΙΔΙΟΥ.
## ΠΕΡΙ ΝΟΥΣΩΝ ΤΟ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΟΝ.
1.
\n\n## ON GENERATION\n\n## ON THE NATURE OF THE CHILD\n\n## ON DISEASES, BOOK IV\n\n1.
Νόμος μὲν πάντα κρατύνει·
Custom indeed rules all things.
ἡ δὲ γονὴ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἔρχεται ἀπὸ παντὸς τοῦ ὑγροῦ τοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι ἐόντος τὸ ἰσχυρότατον ἀποκριθέν·
But the seed of man comes from all the fluid present in the body, being the strongest part that is separated.
τούτου δὲ ἱστόριον τόδε, ὅτι ἀποκρίνεται τὸ ἰσχυρότατον, ὅτι ἐπὴν λαγνεύσωμεν σμικρὸν οὕτω μεθέντες, ἀσθενέες γινόμεθα.
Of this, the following is a proof, namely that the strongest part is separated: that when we have sexual intercourse, having released even so small an amount, we become weak.
Ἔχει δὲ οὕτω· φλέβες καὶ νεῦρα ἀπὸ παντὸς τοῦ σώματος τείνουσιν ἐς τὸ αἰδοῖον, οἷσιν ὑποτριβομένοισι καὶ θερμαινομένοισι καὶ πληρευμένοισιν ὥσπερ κνησμὸς ἐμπίπτει καὶ τῷ σώματι παντὶ ἡδονὴ καὶ θέρμη ἐκ τούτου παραγίνεται·
It is as follows: vessels and nerves extend from the whole body to the genital organ, and when these are rubbed, warmed, and filled, a kind of itching falls upon them, and from this, pleasure and heat arise in the whole body.
τριβομένου δὲ τοῦ αἰδοίου καὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κινευμένου, τὸ ὑγρὸν θερμαίνεται ἐν τῷ σώματι καὶ διαχέεται καὶ κλονέεται ὑπὸ τῆς κινήσιος καὶ ἀφρέει, καθάπερ καὶ τἄλλα ὑγρὰ ξύμπαντα κλονεύμενα ἀφρέει·
As the genital organ is rubbed and the person moves, the fluid in the body is warmed, diffused, and agitated by the movement, and it foams, just as all other fluids foam when agitated.
οὕτω δὲ κἀν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἀποκρίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑγροῦ ἀφρέοντος τὸ ἰσχυρότατον καὶ πιότατον, καὶ ἔρχεται εἰς τὸν νωτιαῖον μυελόν· τείνουσι γὰρ ἐς τοῦτον ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ σώματος, καὶ διαχέει ἐκ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου εἰς τὴν ὀσφὺν καὶ ἐς πᾶν τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἐς τὸν μυελὸν, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τείνουσιν ὁδοὶ, ὥστε καὶ ἐπιέναι τοῦ ὑγροῦ ἐς αὐτὸν καὶ ἀποχωρέειν.
In this way, in man too, the strongest and richest part is separated from the foaming fluid and goes into the spinal marrow; for vessels extend into this marrow from the entire body, and it diffuses fluid from the brain into the loins, the whole body, and the marrow, and channels extend from it, so that the fluid both enters it and departs.
Ἐπὴν δὲ ἔλθῃ ἐς τοῦτον τὸν μυελὸν ἡ γονὴ, χωρέει παρὰ τοὺς νεφρούς· ταύτῃ γὰρ ἡ ὁδός ἐστι διὰ φλεβῶν, κἢν οἱ νεφροὶ ἑλκωθῶσιν, ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ αἷμα ξυμφέρεται·
When the seed enters this marrow, it travels past the kidneys; for the path there is through vessels, and if the kidneys are ulcerated, sometimes blood also is carried along.
παρὰ δὲ τῶν νεφρῶν ἔρχεται διὰ τῶν ὀρχίων μεσάτων ἐς τὸ αἰδοῖον· καὶ χωρέει οὐχ ὅπη τὸ οὖρον, ἀλλά οἱ ἄλλη ὁδός ἐστιν αὐτῆς ἐχομένη.
From the kidneys, it comes through the middle of the testicles into the genital organ; and it does not travel where the urine does, but there is another path for it adjacent to that.
Καὶ οἱ ἐξονειρώσσοντες διὰ τάδε ἐξονειρώσσουσιν· ἐπὴν τὸ ὑγρὸν ἐν τῷ σώματι διακεχυμένον ἔῃ καὶ διάθερμον, εἴτε ὑπὸ ταλαιπωρίης, εἴτε καὶ ὑπὸ ἄλλου τινὸς, ἀφρέει· καὶ ἀποκρινο. μένου ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ ὁρᾷν παρίσταται οἷάπερ ἐν τῇ λαγνείῃ· ἔχει γὰρ τὸ ὑγρὸν τοῦτο ὅπερ λαγνεύοντι·
And those who have wet dreams do so for these reasons: when the fluid in the body is diffused and warmed, either by fatigue or by some other cause, it foams; and as it is separated from it, it presents to their sight things such as occur in intercourse; for this fluid is in the same state as in one having intercourse.
ἀλλ’ οὔ μοι περὶ ὀνειρωσσόντων καὶ παντὸς τοῦ νοσήματος τί ἐστὶ, καὶ ὁκόσα ἐργάζεται, καὶ διότι πρὸ λαγνείης.
But it is not my purpose here to discuss those who have wet dreams, what the whole disease is, how much it effects, and why it happens before intercourse.
Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐς τοῦτό μοι εἰρέαται. §22.
These things indeed have been said by me up to this point.\n\n2.
Οἱ δὲ εὐνοῦχοι διὰ ταῦτα οὐ λαγνεύουσιν, ὅτι σφέων ἡ δίοδος ἀμαλδύνεται τῆς γονῆς· ἔστι γὰρ δι’ αὐτῶν τῶν ὀρχίων ἡ ὁδός·
Eunuchs do not have sexual intercourse for these reasons, because their passage for the seed is destroyed; for the path is through the testicles themselves.
καὶ νεῦρα τείνει λεπτὰ καὶ πυκνὰ ἐς τὸ αἰδοῖον ἐκ τῶν ὀρχίων, οἶσιν ἀείρεται καὶ καθίεται, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν τῇ τομῇ ἀποτέμνεται, διὸ οὐχ ὑπάρχουσιν οἱ εὐνοῦχοι χρηστοί·
And thin and dense nerves extend from the testicles to the genital organ, by which it is raised and lowered, and these are cut off in the castration, which is why eunuchs are of no use for this.
τῶν δὲ τάδε ἐκτριβέντων ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς γονῆς ἐμπέφρακται· πωροῦνται γὰρ οἱ ὄρχιες· καὶ τὰ νεῦρα σκληρὰ καὶ μωρὰ γενόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ πώρου οὐ δύναται τείνειν καὶ χαλᾷν.
But in those whose testicles have been crushed, the path of the seed is blocked; for the testicles become hardened, and the nerves, becoming hard and inactive because of the hardening, cannot tense and relax.
Ὁκόσοι δὲ παρ οὖς τετμημένοι εἰσὶν, οὗτοι λαγνεύουσι μὲν καὶ ἀφιᾶσιν, ὀλίγον δὲ καὶ ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἄγονον· χωρέει γὰρ τὸ πλεῖστον τοῦ γόνου ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς παρὰ τὰ οὔατα ἐς τὸν νωτιαῖον μυελόν· αὕτη δὲ ἡ δίοδος ὑπὸ τῆς τομῆς οὐλῆς γενομένης στερεὴ γέγονεν.
Those who have been cut behind the ears can indeed have intercourse and ejaculate, but only a little, weak, and infertile amount; for most of the seed travels from the head past the ears into the spinal marrow, and this passage has become blocked because of the scar formed by the incision.
Τοῖσι δὲ παισὶ λεπτὰ τὰ φλέβια ἐόντα καὶ πληρευμένα κωλύει τὴν γονὴν ἰέναι, καὶ ὁ κνησμὸς οὐχ ὁμοίως παραγίνεται· διὰ ταῦτα οὐδὲ κλονέεται ἐν τῷ σώματι τὸ ὑγρὸν ἐς ἀπόκρισιν τῆς γονῆς·
In children, since their small vessels are thin and filled, this prevents the seed from passing, and the itching does not occur in the same way; for these reasons the fluid in the body is not agitated for the separation of the seed.
καὶ τῇσι παρθένοισι, μέχρις ἂν νέαι ἔωσιν, οὐ χωρέει τὰ καταμήνια δι’ αἴτιον τωὐτό.
And in virgins, as long as they are young, the menses do not flow for the same reason.
Ἐπὴν δὲ αὔξωνται καὶ παρθένος καὶ παῖς, αἱ φλέβες αἱ ἐς τὸ αἰδοῖον τείνουσαι τοῦ παιδὸς καὶ τῆς παρθένου ἐπὶ τὰς μήτρας εὔροαι γίνονται ὑπὸ τῆς αὔξης καὶ στομοῦνται, καὶ ὁδὸς καὶ δίοδος διὰ στενῶν γίνεται, καὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν κλόνησιν τότε ἴσχει, εὐρυχωρίη γάρ οἱ τότε γίνεται ἔνθα κλονήσεται·
But when both virgin and boy grow, the vessels extending to the genital organ of the boy, and those of the virgin extending to the womb, become free-flowing because of the growth and open up, and a path and passage is made through what was narrow, and the fluid then receives agitation, for there is then a wide space where it can be agitated.
καὶ τῷ παιδὶ χωρέει, ἐπὴν ἁδρὸς ἔῃ, διὰ τόδε, καὶ τῇ παρθένῳ τὰ καταμήνια.
And for this reason, the seed flows for the boy when he is mature, and the menses flow for the virgin.
Ταῦτα δέ μοι οὕτως ἀποπέφανται.
These things have been thus demonstrated by me.