Spontaneous Generation: Aristotle on why life is not decay

“Of things that come to be, some come to be by nature, some by art, some spontaneously. But everything that comes to be (1) comes to be by something and (2) comes to be from something and (3) comes to be something.”

Τῶν δὲ γιγνομένων τὰ μὲν φύσει γίγνεται τὰ δὲ τέχνῃ τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου, πάντα δὲ τὰ γιγνόμενα ὑπό τέ τινος γίγνεται καὶ ἔκ τινος καὶ τί.

Aristotle, Metaphysics Ζ 7, 1032a12-4

“When I was young, Cebes, I was wonderfully keen on that wisdom which they call natural history, for I thought it was splendid to know the causes of each thing, why each comes to be and why it perishes and why it is. And often, I would turn myself up and down, looking first into questions like these: do living creatures arise when heat and cold take on a kind of decay, as some people used to say?”

ἐγὼ γάρ, ἔφη, ὦ Κέβης, νέος ὢν θαυμαστῶς ὡς ἐπεθύμησα ταύτης τῆς σοφίας ἣν δὴ καλοῦσι περὶ φύσεως ἱστορίαν: ὑπερήφανος γάρ μοι ἐδόκει εἶναι, εἰδέναι τὰς αἰτίας ἑκάστου, διὰ τί γίγνεται ἕκαστον καὶ διὰ τί ἀπόλλυται καὶ διὰ τί ἔστι. καὶ πολλάκις [96β] ἐμαυτὸν ἄνω κάτω μετέβαλλον σκοπῶν πρῶτον τὰ τοιάδε: ἆρ᾽ ἐπειδὰν τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ψυχρὸν σηπεδόνα τινὰ λάβῃ, ὥς τινες ἔλεγον, τότε δὴ τὰ ζῷα συντρέφεται;

Plato, Phaedo 96a6-b3

“Nothing that is decaying comes to be; rather, what is being concocted does; the process of decay and the thing decaying are residues from what has been concocted. Actually, there isn’t anything that comes to be from the whole (of the material it is made out of), any more than in the case of what has been fashioned by art. For if that were the case, there wouldn’t be any need to produce things. What actually happens is that the useless stuff is removed, in the one case by art, in the other case by nature.

“Animals and plants come to be in earth and in water because in earth there is water, and in water there is pneuma, and in all pneuma, there is psychic heat, and so, in a certain way, all things are full of soul. That’s why they are formed quickly once it has been enveloped.

“When it is enveloped, and when the bodily moisture is heated, it becomes like a frothy bubble. Whether what takes shape is a more or less honourable kind of thing, the difference depends on what envelops the psychic principle. Of this (i.e,. what envelops the psychic principle), the causes are the places and the body which is being enclosed.”

γίγνεται δ' οὐθὲν σηπόμενον ἀλλὰ πεττόμενον· ἡ δὲ σῆψις καὶ τὸ σαπρὸν περίττωμα τοῦ πεφθέντος ἐστίν· οὐθὲν γὰρ ἐκ παντὸς γίγνεται καθάπερ οὐδ' ἐν τοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς τέχνης δημιουργουμένοις – οὐθὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔδει ποιεῖν – νῦν δὲ τὸ μὲν ἡ τέχνη τῶν ἀχρήστων ἀφαιρεῖ, τὸ δ' ἡ φύσις.

Γίγνονται δ' ἐν γῇ καὶ ἐν ὑγρῷ τὰ ζῷα καὶ τὰ φυτὰ διὰ τὸ ἐν γῇ μὲν ὕδωρ ὑπάρχειν ἐν δ' ὕδατι πνεῦμα, ἐν δὲ τούτῳ παντὶ θερμότητα ψυχικήν, ὥστε τρόπον τινὰ πάντα ψυχῆς εἶναι πλήρη· διὸ συνίσταται ταχέως ὁπόταν ἐμπεριληφθῇ.

ἐμπεριλαμβάνεται δὲ καὶ γίγνεται θερμαινομένων τῶν σωματικῶν ὑγρῶν οἷον ἀφρώδης πομφόλυξ. αἱ μὲν οὖν διαφοραὶ τοῦ τιμιώτερον εἶναι τὸ γένος καὶ ἀτιμότερον τὸ συνιστάμενον ἐν τῇ περιλήψει τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς ψυχικῆς ἐστιν. τούτου δὲ καὶ οἱ τόποι αἴτιοι καὶ τὸ σῶμα τὸ περιλαμβανόμενον.

Aristotle, Generation of Animals, 3.11, 762a13—27

“The cause is similar to that in the case of yeast. For yeast goes from being something small to being big, when the more solid part becomes fluid, and the fluid becomes pneumatized. The psychic heat fashions this in the case of animals, but in the case of the yeast, it is the heat of the humour that was blended with it.”

τὸ δ' αἴτιον παραπλήσιον ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῆς ζύμης· καὶ γὰρ ἡ ζύμη ἐκ μικρᾶς μεγάλη γίγνεται τοῦ μὲν στερεωτέρου ὑγραινομένου τοῦ δ' ὑγροῦ πνευματουμένου. δημιουργεῖ δὲ τοῦτο ἡ τοῦ ψυχικοῦ θερμοῦ φύσις ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ζύμαις ἡ τοῦ χυμοῦ τοῦ συγκραθέντος θερμότης.

Aristotle, Generation of Animals 3.4, 755a14-25

“Don’t get me wrong, I respect them…” — Michael of Ephesus on his colleagues

“I don’t mean to sound divisive and contentious, and I don’t say this with any jealousy towards my colleagues—I swear on my teacher’s soul, which I esteem and worship second only to God. But, honestly, speaking from my experience with the other teachers, some of them are completely dumb. They don’t understand at all the actual words written on the page, never mind their deeper meaning. Sure, some of the slightly more clever ones have sporadic thoughts, but they are way off from establishing the text correctly, while the others just wander at random … I don’t need to get into this. Don’t get me wrong, I respect them and I am fond of them, but since Providence thought it was a good idea, my teacher flew away to heaven, while we, with Providence as our guide and helper, ought to get back to the work that lies before us.”

ταῦτα δὲ λέγω οὐ διαφορᾷ ἢ φιλονεικίᾳ ἢ φθόνῳ τῷ πρὸς τοὺς καθ' ἡμᾶς, οὐ μὰ τὴν ἐκείνου ψυχήν, ἣν ἐγὼ μετὰ θεὸν σέβομαί τε καὶ προσκυνῶ, ἀλλ' ἀληθείᾳ καὶ πείρᾳ τῇ πρὸς τούτους μοι γεγονυίᾳ. οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν παντελῶς εἰσιν ἄφωνοι μηδὲν ὅλως ἐννοοῦντες, τί ποτ' ἐστὶν ὅλως τὰ ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις γεγραμμένα καὶ τίς ὁ τούτων νοῦς, τινὲς δὲ τῶν χαριεστέρων τῆς μὲν διανοίας ἐφάπτονται σποράδην, τοῦ δὲ τὴν λέξιν καθιστάνειν πόρρω ποι ἀποπλανῶνται, ἄλλοι δ' ἄλλως· περὶ ὧν οὐ δεῖ με λέγειν. πλὴν καὶ τούτους τιμῶ καὶ ἀσπάζομαι, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος μέν, ὡς ἔδοξε τῇ προνοίᾳ, ἡμῶν ἀπέπτη, ἡμεῖς δ' ὑπὸ ταύτης χειραγωγούμενοι καὶ βοηθούμενοι ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν.

Michael of Ephesus, In parva naturalia commentaria, CAG 22.1, 142,8-142,18 Wendland

Spontaneous Generation: fire animals, animals that look like twigs, and mosquitos

“There is a fact common to animals and plants. Some plants come to be from seed, while others come to be spontaneously, when some seed-like principle is formed; and of these, some grow in (lit. ‘get their nourishment from’) the ground, while others emerge inside other plants, as we said in our exposition on plants. In the same way, some animals come to be from animals in accordance with a shared kind of form, while others come to be spontaneously and not from something of the same kind; of these, some come from decaying earth and plants, as happens with many of the insects, while others come to be inside of animals from the residues in their internal organs.”

Κοινὸν μὲν οὖν συμβέβηκε καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ζῴων, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν φυτῶν· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ σπέρματος ἑτέρων φυτῶν, τὰ δ' αὐτόματα γίνεται, συστάσης τινὸς τοιαύτης ἀρχῆς, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῆς γῆς λαμβάνει τὴν τροφήν, τὰ δ' ἐν ἑτέροις ἐγγίνεται φυτοῖς, ὥσπερ εἴρηται ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῇ περὶ φυτῶν. Οὕτω καὶ τῶν ζῴων τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ ζῴων γίνεται κατὰ συγγένειαν τῆς μορφῆς, τὰ δ' αὐτόματα καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ συγγενῶν, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν ἐκ γῆς σηπομένης καὶ φυτῶν, ὥσπερ πολλὰ συμβαίνει τῶν ἐντόμων, τὰ δ' ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν τοῖς μορίοις περιττωμάτων.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.1, 539a15-539a25

“At first, the decaying slime itself takes on a white color, then black, and finally blood-red. When this happens, things grow from it that are like very tiny, red wisps of seaweed. At this point in time, they wiggle as they cling to things, then, the ’ascarides’ (as they are called) break loose and swim around in the water. After a few days, they stand straight in the water, motionless and rigid, and then, when the shell breaks off, the mosquito sits on it, until the sun or pneuma causes it to move. Then they fly away. For all the rest of the grubs, too, and all the animals that emerge from grubs, the principle of generation comes to be from the sun or the pneuma.”

Τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον αὐτὴ ἡ ἰλὺς σηπομένη χρῶμα λαμβάνει λευκόν, εἶτα μέλαν, τελευτῶσα δ' αἱματῶδες· ὅταν δὲ τοιαύτη γένηται, φύεται ἐξ αὐτῆς ὥσπερ τὰ φυκία μικρὰ σφόδρα καὶ ἐρυθρά· ταῦτα δὲ χρόνον μέν τινα κινεῖται προσπεφυκότα, ἔπειτ' ἀπορραγέντα φέρεται κατὰ τὸ ὕδωρ, αἱ καλούμεναι ἀσκαρίδες. Μεθ' ἡμέρας δ' ὀλίγας ἵστανται ὀρθαὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος ἀκινητίζουσαι καὶ σκληραί, κἄπειτα περιρραγέντος τοῦ κελύφους ἡ ἐμπὶς ἄνω ἐπικάθηται, ἕως ἂν ἥλιος ἢ πνεῦμα κινήσῃ· τότε δ' ἤδη πέτεται. Πᾶσι δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις σκώληξι καὶ τοῖς ζῴοις τοῖς ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων περιρρηγνυμένοις ἡ ἀρχὴ γίνεται τῆς γενέσεως ὑφ' ἡλίου ἢ ὑπὸ πνεύματος.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.32, 551b29-552a11

“In Cyprus, in places where copper-ore is smelted, with heaps of the ore piled on day after day, an animal is engendered in the fire, somewhat larger than a large fly, furnished with wings, which can hop or crawl through the fire.”

Ἐν δὲ Κύπρῳ, οὗ ἡ χαλκῖτις λίθος καίεται, ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἐμβαλλόντων, ἐνταῦθα γίνεται θηρία ἐν τῷ πυρί, τῶν μεγάλων μυιῶν μικρόν τι μείζονα, ὑπόπτερα, ἃ διὰ τοῦ πυρὸς πηδᾷ καὶ βαδίζει.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.19, 552b10-13

“There is a kind of grub, which is called ‘twig-bearer,’ stranger than any animal. Its head projects outside its shell, mottled in colour, and its feet are near the end, as is the case with other grubs, but the rest of its body is encased in a tunic of something like a spider’s web. Around it are tiny dry twigs that seem to have stuck to it as it walked about, but they are fused together with the tunic. Like the shell is to the snail, so is the whole formation to this grub. And it does not fall off, but can be torn off, like natural appendages. And if someone removes the tunic, it dies and becomes as helpless as a snail whose shell was removed. In time, this grub becomes a chrysalis, just like a caterpillar, and then it lives without moving. The winged animal which comes to be from it has not yet been observed.”

Ἔστι δέ τι σκωλήκιον ὃ καλεῖται ξυλοφθόρον, οὐδενὸς ἧττον ἄτοπον τῶν ζῴων. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ κεφαλὴ ἔξω τοῦ κελύφους προέρχεται ποικίλη, καὶ οἱ πόδες ἐπ' ἄκρου, ὥσπερ τοῖς ἄλλοις σκώληξιν, ἐν χιτῶνι δὲ τὸ ἄλλο σῶμα ἀραχνιώδει, καὶ περὶ αὐτὸ κάρφη, ὥστε δοκεῖν προσέχεσθαι βαδίζοντι· ταῦτα δὲ σύμφυτα τῷ χιτῶνί ἐστιν· ὥσπερ κοχλίᾳ τὸ ὄστρακον, οὕτω τὸ ἅπαν τῷ σκώληκι, καὶ οὐκ ἀποπίπτει ἀλλ' ἀποσπᾶται ὥσπερ προσπεφυκότα· καὶ ἐάν τις τὸν χιτῶνα περιέλῃ, ἀποθνήσκει καὶ γίνεται ὁμοίως ἀχρεῖος ὥσπερ ὁ κοχλίας περιαιρεθέντος τοῦ ὀστράκου. Χρόνου δὲ προϊόντος γίνεται καὶ οὗτος ὁ σκώληξ χρυσαλλὶς ὥσπερ αἱ κάμπαι, καὶ ζῇ ἀκινητίζων· ὅ τι δ' ἐξ αὐτοῦ γίνεται τῶν πτερωτῶν ζῴων, οὔπω συνῶπται.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.32, 557b12-25

Contained within the limits of the stars: the cycles of our common matter

Aristotle on the astral limits of life

“It is reasonable that for everything, the times of gestation, generation and life wish to be measured by natural periods. By a period, I mean day, night, month, year and the times measured by these, and in addition the periods of the moon. The periods of the moon are full moon, new moon and the mid-point of the times in between. For at these points the moon contributes to the sun, and the month is a period shared by them both. The moon is a principle because of its association with the sun and participation in its light. It becomes like another, lesser sun. That’s why it contributes to all processes of generation and completion. For heating and cooling up to a certain proportion produce generation, and after this corruption; and the movements of these stars contain their limits, of both the beginning and the end. For just as we observe that the sea and whatever has the nature of wetness are either at rest or in process of change depending on the movement or stillness of the winds, while the air and the winds depend on the period of the sun and the moon, so too the things that grow from them and are in them necessarily follow them.* For it is in accordance with reason that the periods of the less powerful things follow those of the more powerful. For the winds have a kind of life, as well, both a coming-to-be and a process of decline. Of the revolution of these stars, perhaps they have some other principles. Nature wants, therefore, to count generations and endings by the numbers of the stars, but it can’t do so precisely, because of the indeterminateness of matter and because there are many principles which, since they impede natural generation and corruption, are often causes of things that occur contrary to nature.”

* also the most important differentiae of the matter in spontaneous generation.

εὐλόγως δὲ πάντων οἱ χρόνοι καὶ τῶν κυήσεων καὶ γενέσεων καὶ τῶν βίων μετρεῖσθαι βούλονται κατὰ φύσιν περιόδοις. λέγω δὲ περίοδον ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα καὶ μῆνα καὶ ἐνιαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς χρόνους τοὺς μετρουμένους τούτοις, ἔτι δὲ τὰς τῆς σελήνης περιόδους. εἰσὶ δὲ περίοδοι σελήνης πανσέληνός τε καὶ φθίσις καὶ τῶν μεταξὺ χρόνων αἱ διχοτομίαι· κατὰ γὰρ ταύτας συμβάλλει πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον· ὁ γὰρ μεὶς κοινὴ περίοδός ἐστιν ἀμφοτέρων. ἔστι δὲ ἡ σελήνη ἀρχὴ διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον κοινωνίαν καὶ τὴν μετάληψιν τὴν τοῦ φωτός· γίγνεται γὰρ ὥσπερ ἄλλος ἥλιος ἐλάττων· διὸ συμβάλλεται εἰς πάσας τὰς γενέσεις καὶ τελειώσεις. αἱ γὰρ θερμότητες καὶ ψύξεις μέχρι συμμετρίας τινὸς ποιοῦσι τὰς γενέσεις, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὰς φθοράς· τούτων δ' ἔχουσι τὸ πέρας καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς τελευτῆς αἱ τούτων κινήσεις τῶν ἄστρων. ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ θάλατταν καὶ πᾶσαν ὁρῶμεν τὴν τῶν ὑγρῶν φύσιν ἱσταμένην καὶ μεταβάλλουσαν κατὰ τὴν τῶν πνευμάτων κίνησιν καὶ στάσιν, τὸν δ' ἀέρα καὶ τὰ πνεύματα κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῆς σελήνης περίοδον, οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἐκ τούτων φυόμενα καὶ τὰ ἐν τούτοις ἀκολουθεῖν ἀναγκαῖον· κατὰ λόγον γὰρ ἀκολουθεῖν καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀκυροτέρων περιόδους ταῖς τῶν κυριωτέρων. βίος γάρ τις καὶ πνεύματός ἐστι καὶ γένεσις καὶ φθίσις. τῆς δὲ τῶν ἄστρων τούτων περιφορᾶς τάχ' ἂν ἕτεραί τινες εἶεν ἀρχαί. βούλεται μὲν οὖν ἡ φύσις τοῖς τούτων ἀριθμοῖς ἀριθμεῖν τὰς γενέσεις καὶ τὰς τελευτάς, οὐκ ἀκριβοῖ δὲ διά τε τὴν τῆς ὕλης ἀοριστίαν καὶ διὰ τὸ γίγνεσθαι πολλὰς ἀρχὰς αἳ τὰς γενέσεις τὰς κατὰ φύσιν καὶ τὰς φθορὰς ἐμποδίζουσαι πολλάκις αἴτιαι τῶν παρὰ φύσιν συμπιπτόντων εἰσίν.

Aristotle, Generation of Animals 4.10, 777b16–778a6

Athenaeus of Attalia: late Hellenistic medical elaboration

“From Athenaeus’ works:

‘In the springtime, then, the air is wet and hot, in the summer hot and dry, in the autumn cold and dry, and in the winter wet and cold. Again, in each of the seasons, there are three differences: first, middle and last. Middle times have the purest mixture; the first and last ones are made like the adjacent time. And monthly, the moon produces four differences in the air: the first seven-day period, from new-moon until the seventh, it seems like the spring, moist and hot. The second seven-day period until full moon resembles summer; the third seven day period when the moon is waning is cold and dry; and the fourth and last is cold and wet. And during each day, there are differences of the air. For dawn is wet and hot like the spring. For this reason, the bodies of both healthy and sick persons loosen, so that this period of time is most manageable even for those who are feverish. The middle times of the day are likened to summer, those during the afternoon autumn, and around evening winter. And of night, the first resembles evening, the middle seems like winter, and correspondingly the others.’”

ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηναίου.

«ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ ἐαρινῇ ὥρᾳ ὑγρὸς καὶ θερμὸς ὁ ἀήρ, ἐν δὲ τῇ θερινῇ θερμὸς καὶ ξηρός, ἐν δὲ τῇ φθινοπωρινῇ ψυχρὸς καὶ ξηρός, ἐν δὲ τῇ χειμερινῇ ὑγρὸς καὶ ψυχρός. πάλιν δὲ ἐν ἑκάστῃ τῶν ὡρῶν τρεῖς διαφοραὶ γίγνονται· πρώτη καὶ μέση καὶ ὑστάτη. τὰ μὲν οὖν μέσα τὴν εἰλικρινεστάτην τῆς ὥρας ἔχει κρᾶσιν· τὰ δὲ πρῶτα καὶ ὕστατα τῇ γειτνιώσῃ ὥρᾳ ἀφομοιοῦνται. καὶ ἡ σελήνη δὲ κατὰ μῆνα ἐργάζεται διαφορὰς δ ἐν τῷ ἀέρι· ἡ μὲν οὖν α ἑβδομὰς ἀπὸ νεομηνίας μέχρι τῆς ζ παρέοικε τῷ ἔαρι ὑγρὰ καὶ θερμή. ἡ δὲ β´ ἑβδομὰς μέχρι πανσελήνου θερινῇ παραπλήσιος· ἡ δὲ τρίτη ἑβδομὰς φθινούσης σελήνης ψυχρὰ καὶ ξηρά· ἡ δὲ τετάρτη καὶ τελευταῖα ψυχρὰ καὶ ὑγρά. καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην δὲ ἡμέραν διαφοραὶ τοῦ ἀέρος γίγνονται· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ὄρθρος ὑγρὸς καὶ θερμὸς ὡς τὸ ἔαρ· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ σώματα ἀνίεται καὶ τῶν ὑγιαινόντων καὶ τῶν νοσούντων, ὥστε καὶ τοῖς πυρέσσουσιν ὁ καιρὸς οὗτος εὐφορώτατος· τὰ δὲ μέσα τῆς ἡμέρας θέρει παρείκασται, τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὴν δείλην φθινοπώρῳ, τὰ δὲ περὶ ἑσπέραν χειμῶνι καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς δὲ τὰ πρῶτα τῇ ἑσπέρᾳ παρείκασται· τὰ δὲ μέσα χειμῶνι παρέοικε καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀκολούθως.»

Aëtius Amidenus, Libri medicinales 3.162 (332,1–17 Olivieri)

Michael of Ephesus restates the obvious

“The moon, he says, is the principle of the month. For having passed the sun after conjunction, it takes its start. In the text, ‘contain their limits, of both the beginning and the end,’ ‘their’ refers to heating and cooling. For the principle and generation of heat is the waxing of the moon and the sun’s approach towards the northern zodiac, while of cold, the waning of the moon and the retreat of the sun towards the south. And as the sea changes according to the motion of the winds, while the winds, as it says in the Meteorology, are generated according to the periods of the sun and the moon, so too the things that come to be out of water and the others, also the things that are in them, necessarily follow the movements of these stars. For fish, oysters, and crustaceans thrive at the waxing moon, but suffer the opposite at the waning of the moon. And the ground sprouts and plants blossom, and animals are vigorous and procreate at the approach of the sun, but pass away at its retreat. And all the others come-to-be with their cycles. But it’s not the right time to talk about them. He says the winds, earth and seas, are less powerful, and the sun, moon, and the rest of the stars are more powerful.”

ἡ δὲ σελήνη, φησίν, ἐστὶν ἀρχὴ τοῦ μηνός· διελθοῦσα γὰρ τὸν ἥλιον μετὰ τὴν σύνοδον ἀρχὴν ὁ μὴν λαμβάνει. ἐν δὲ τῇ λέξει τῇ «τούτων δ' ἔχουσι τὸ πέρας καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς τελευτῆς» τὸ «τούτων» περὶ τῆς θερμότητος καὶ ψυχρότητος εἴρηται. ἀρχὴ μὲν γὰρ καὶ γένεσίς ἐστι θερμότητος ἥ τε τῆς σελήνης αὔξησις καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἡλίου πρὸς τὰ βόρεια ζῴδια προσέλευσις, ψύξεως δ' ἐκείνης μὲν ἡ μείωσις, τοῦ δὲ ἡλίου ἡ πρὸς τὰ νότια ἀναχώρησις. καὶ ὥσπερ ἡ θάλασσα μεταβάλλει κατὰ τὴν τῶν πνευμάτων κίνησιν, τὰ δὲ πνεύματα γίνεται, ὡς ἐν τοῖς Μετεώροις εἴρηται, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῆς σελήνης περίοδον, οὕτως καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῶν ὑγρῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων γινόμενα καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς ὄντα ἀκολουθεῖν ἀναγκαῖον τῇ τῶν ἀστέρων τούτων κινήσει. εὐθηνοῦσι μὲν γὰρ ἰχθύες, ὄστρεια, μαλακόστρακα ἐν τῇ αὐξήσει, πάσχει δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐν τῇ μειώσει τῆς σελήνης· καὶ βλαστάνει γῆ καὶ φυτὰ ἀνθεῖ, ζῷα δὲ ἡβᾷ καὶ γεννᾷ τῇ τοῦ ἡλίου προσελεύσει, φθίνει δὲ τῇ τούτου ἀποχωρήσει, καὶ τἆλλα πάντα γίνεται ταῖς τούτων περιόδοις, περὶ ὧν νῦν λέγειν οὐ καιρός. ἀκυρότερα δὲ λέγει πνεύματα, γῆν, θάλασσαν, κυριώτερα δὲ ἥλιον, σελήνην καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀστέρας.

Michael of Ephesus, Commentary on Aristotle’s Generation of Animals, 210,5–23 Hayduck

Dionysius of Aegea’s Diktyaka: a guide to the major physiological questions of late antique medicine

Photius, Bibliotecha 211

“I read a work of Dionysius of Aegea. It is entitled Diktyaka (Lattice Works). It was a little book made up of one hundred chapters, of which some maintain some particular hypothesis (there were fifty of these), while the remaining fifty each took up a refutation against each of the things being maintained. It was all arranged so that the refutation was presented after [the initial hypothesis] and in a continuous series.

The style of the discussion hasn’t been embellished, and it didn’t display much charm, especially not as a performance piece. Rather, the work is aiming to be an exercise for the author, and he takes care that the style is plain and coordinated. The book is useful for those who are being trained in the practice of dialectic.

Ἀνεγνώσθη Διονυσίου Αἰγέως· Δικτυακῶν ἔφερε τὴν ἐπιγραφήν. Ἦν δὲ ἄρα τὸ βιβλιδάριον κεφαλαίοις ἀπαρτιζόμενον ρʹ, ὧν τὰ μὲν ἰδίαν ἑκάστην ὑπόθεσιν κατεσκεύαζε (νʹ δὲ ταῦτα ἦν) τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ νʹ ἀνασκευὴν ἕκαστον πρὸς ἑκάστην τῶν κατεσκευασμένων ἐσπούδαζεν, ἑκάστῃ παρασκευῇ ἀντιπαρατιθεμένης παρευθὺ καὶ κατὰ συνέχειαν τῆς ἀνασκευῆς. Ἡ μὲν ἑρμηνεία τοῦ λόγου οὔτε ἐξωράϊσται οὔτε ἔρριπται τοῦ κάλλους, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὅτι οὐδ' ἐπιδεικτικῶς ἀλλ' ἐς τὸ γυμνάσιον τῷ συγγραφεῖ τὸ σπούδασμα τείνει, καὶ ἰσχνότητος αὐτῷ καὶ τῶν συστοίχων μέλει. Χρήσιμον δὲ τὸ βιβλίον τοῖς τὴν διαλεκτικὴν τριβὴν ἀσκουμένοις.

“Here are the hypotheses mentioned:

Ἡ δὲ ὑπόθεσις λέγει ταῦτα

1. That the emission of semen and the production of offspring comes from both parents; and the contrary, that it does not come from both.

ὅτι ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἡ καταβολὴ τοῦ σπέρματος καὶ ζωογονία γίνεται, καὶ τοὐναντίον οὐκ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων.

2. Second, that the secretion of semen comes from the whole body; and the contrary, that it comes from the testicles alone.

Δεύτερον, ὅτι ἀφ' ὅλου τοῦ σώματος ἡ τοῦ σπέρματος ἔκκρισις, καὶ τοὐναντίον ὅτι ἀπὸ μόνων τῶν διδύμων.

3. That concoction is produced by heat; and that this is not the case.

Γʹ ὅτι ἡ πέψις θερμασίᾳ γίγνεται καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

4. That concoction is produced by friction; and not by friction.

Δʹ ὅτι τρίψει ἡ πέψις γίνεται, καὶ ὅτι οὐ τρίψει.

5. That concoction is produced by decay; and not by decay.

Εʹ ὅτι σήψει ἡ πέψις, καὶ ὅτι οὐ σήψει.

6. That concoction is produced by a special property of the pneuma; and that this is not the case.

ϛʹ ὅτι τοῦ πνεύματος ἰδιότητι ἡ πέψις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

7. That concoction is produced by a special quality of humours; and that this is not the case.

Ζʹ ὅτι χυμῶν ἰδιότητι ἡ πέψις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

8. That concoction is produced by a special property of heat; and that this is not the case.

Ηʹ ὅτι θερμασίας ἰδιότητι ἡ πέψις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

9. That assimilation of food is produced by heat; and that this is not the case.

Θʹ ὅτι θερμασίᾳ ἡ ἀνάδοσις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

10. That assimilation of food is produced by drawing the heat to itself; and that this is not the case.

Ιʹ ὅτι ἡ ἀνάδοσις τῷ τὴν θερμασίαν ἐφ' ἑαυτὴν ἕλκειν, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

11. That assimilation is produced by the pneuma; and that this is not the case.

Ιαʹ ὅτι τῷ πνεύματι ἡ ἀνάδοσις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

12. That assimilation is produced by juxtaposition of the arteries; and that this is not the case.

Ιβʹ ὅτι τῇ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν παραθέσει ἡ ἀνάδοσις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

13. That assimilation is produced by absence in the void; and that assimilation is not produced by absence of what is not evident.

Ιγʹ ὅτι τῇ κατὰ κενὸν ἀπουσίᾳ ἡ ἀνάδοσις, καὶ ὅτι οὐ κατὰ τὸ ἄδηλον ἀπουσίᾳ ἡ ἀνάδοσις.

14. That the formation of cataracts occur due to the atrophy of the optic pore ; and that this is not the case.

Ιδʹ ὅτι δι' ἀτροφίαν τοῦ ὁρατικοῦ πόρου ἡ ἀπογλαύκωσις συμβαίνει, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

15. That the formation of cataracts is caused by the impact of blood on the optic pore; and that this is not the case.

Ιεʹ ὅτι παρ' ἔμπτωσιν αἵματος εἰς τὸν ὁρατικὸν πόρον ἡ ἀπογλαύκωσις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

16. That the formation of cataracts occurs due to the thickness of fluids and transpiration; and that this is not the case.

Ιϛʹ ὅτι καθ' ὑγρῶν πάχος καὶ διαπνοὴν ἡ ἀπογλαύκωσις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

17. That phrenitis is produced by obstruction of the meninges and deterioration of the blood; and that this is not the case.

Ιζʹ ὅτι ἡ φρενῖτις κατὰ διάτασιν τῆς μήνιγγος καὶ φθορὰν τοῦ αἵματος γίνεται, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

18. That phrenitis occurs due to an abundance of heat; and that this is not the case.

Ιηʹ ὅτι κατὰ θερμασίας πλεονασμὸν ἡ φρενῖτις συμβαίνει, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

19. That phrenitis occurs because of inflammation; and that this is not the case.

Ιθʹ ὅτι διὰ φλεγμονὴν ἡ φρενῖτις, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

20. That lethargy is produced by inflammation; and that this is not the case.

Κʹ ὅτι ὁ λήθαργος διὰ φλεγμονὴν γίνεται, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

21. That people become lethargic due to exertion and destruction; and that this is not the case.

Καʹ ὅτι κατὰ διάτασιν οἱ ληθαργικοὶ καὶ φθοράν, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

22. That desire to drink and eat involves the whole body; and that it involves only the stomach.

Κβʹ ὅτι περὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα ἡ τοῦ πιεῖν καὶ φαγεῖν συνίσταται ὄρεξις, καὶ ὅτι περὶ μόνον τὸν στόμαχον.

23. That desire to eat and drink involves thought.

Κγʹ ὅτι ἡ τοῦ φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν ὄρεξις περὶ διάνοιαν.

24. That thirst is produced by a lack of fluids; and that this is not the case.

Κδʹ ὅτι καθ' ὑγρῶν ἔνδειαν τὸ δίψος, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

25. That some double activity is observed about the stomach; or that this is not the case.

Κεʹ ὅτι περὶ τὸν στόμαχον διπλῆ τις ὁρᾶται ἐνέργεια, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

26. That the principle of the nerves in the cavity is the internal membrane; and that this is not the case, but it is the external one.

Κϛʹ ὅτι ἡ ἐντὸς μῆνιγξ ἡ ἐν τῷ κοιλώματι ἀρχὴ τῶν νεύρων ἐστί, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως ἀλλ' ἡ ἐκτός.

27. That drugs purify when they are distributed; and that this is not the case, but through the impact.

Κζʹ ὅτι ἀναδιδόμενα τὰ φάρμακα καθαίρει, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν πρόσπτωσιν.

28. That one should not use purgatives; and that one should use them.

Κηʹ ὅτι οὐ χρηστέον τοῖς καθαρτικοῖς, καὶ ὅτι χρηστέον.

29. That one should use a dose of wine in cases of patient's with fever; and the contrary, that this is ill advised.

Κθʹ ὅτι οἴνου δόσει χρηστέον ἐπὶ τῶν πυρεσσόντων, καὶ τοὐναντίον ὅτι ἀσύμφορον.

30. That a bath is advantageous for those with fever; and that it is ill advised.

Λʹ ὅτι λουτρὸν τοῖς πυρέσσουσι λυσιτελεῖ, καὶ ὅτι ἀσύμφορον.

31. That one must wash when diseases intensify; and that this is not suitable.

Λαʹ ὅτι δεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἐπιτάσεσι τῶν νόσων κλύζειν, καὶ ὅτι οὐ προσῆκον.

32. That one must not use anointing at the beginning [of an illness]; and that this is useful.

Λβʹ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ κατ' ἀρχὰς ὑπαλείψει χρῆσθαι, καὶ ὅτι συμφέρον.

33. That one must apply a plaster to the head; and that one must not, but use only incense.

Λγʹ ὅτι δεῖ καταπλάττειν τὴν κεφαλήν, καὶ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ, τοῖς δ' ὀσφραντοῖς μόνον χρῆσθαι.

34. That emetics are ill advised; and that they are useful.

Λδʹ ὅτι ἐμετοποιία ἀσύμφορον, καὶ ὅτι συμφέρον.

35. That the heart does not send out blood; and that it does send it out.

Λεʹ ὅτι οὐκ ἐπιπέμπει ἡ καρδία αἷμα, καὶ ὅτι ἐπιπέμπει.

36. That the heart does not send out pneuma, but the arteries draw it in; and that the contrary is the case.

Λϛʹ ὅτι οὐχ ἡ καρδία τὸ πνεῦμα ἐπιπέμπει, ἀλλ' αἱ ἀρτηρίαι ἕλκουσι, καὶ ὅτι ἔμπαλιν.

37. That the heart moves itself; and that it does not move itself.

Λζʹ ὅτι ἐξ ἑαυτῆς ἡ καρδία κινεῖται, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἐξ ἑαυτῆς.

38. That the blood naturally exists in the arteries; and that the arteries are not vessels for blood.

Ληʹ ὅτι κατὰ φύσιν αἷμα ἐν ἀρτηρίαις ὑπάρχει, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ αἵματος αἱ ἀρτηρίαι ἀγγεῖον.

39. That all the vessels are simple in their bulk; and that they are woven.

Λθʹ ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἀγγεῖα ἐν τῷ ὄγκῳ ἁπλᾶ ἐστι, καὶ ὅτι πλέγματά ἐστι.

40. That an animal's ability to sense and move comes about through the nerves; and that this is not the case.

Μʹ ὅτι διὰ τῶν νεύρων ἡ αἴσθησις καὶ ἡ κίνησις τοῦ ζῴου, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

41. That the heart is the principle of the veins; and that it is not the principle.

Μαʹ ὅτι ἀρχὴ φλεβῶν ἡ καρδία καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀρχή.

42. That the liver is the principle of the veins; and that it is not the principle.

Μβʹ ὅτι ἧπαρ ἀρχὴ φλεβῶν, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀρχή.

43. That the ventricle / belly is the principle o the veins; and that it is not the principle.

Μγʹ ὅτι κοιλία φλεβῶν ἀρχή, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀρχή.

44. That the membrane is the principle of all vessels; and that it is not the principle.

Μδʹ ὅτι πάντων τῶν ἀγγείων ἀρχὴ μῆνιγξ, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀρχή.

45. That the lungs are the principle of the arteries; and that they are not the principle.

Μεʹ ὅτι πνεύμων ἀρτηριῶν ἀρχή, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀρχή.

46. That the artery along the spine is the principle of the arteries; and that it is not the principle.

Μϛʹ ὅτι ἡ παρὰ τὴν ῥάχιν ἀρτηρία ἀρτηριῶν ἀρχή, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀρχή.

47. That the heart is the principle of the arteries; and that it is not the principle.

Μζʹ ὅτι ἡ καρδία ἀρχὴ ἀρτηριῶν, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀρχή.

48. That it is not the heart, but the membrane around the brain that is the principle of the nerves; and that it is not the principle.

Μηʹ ὅτι οὐχ ἡ καρδία ἀρχὴ νεύρων, ἀλλ' ἡ περιέχουσα τὸν ἐγκέφαλον μῆνιγξ, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀρχή.

49. That the intellectual faculty is not in the region of the heart, but the head; and the opposite.

Μθʹ ὅτι οὐ περὶ καρδίαν τὸ διανοητικὸν ἀλλὰ περὶ κεφαλήν, καὶ ὅτι ἀνάπαλιν.

50. That the intellectual faculty is situated in the middle of the brain; and that this is not the case.

Νʹ ὅτι τὸ διανοητικόν ἐστι περὶ τὴν μέσην τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου κοιλίαν, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτως.

Here, then, are the hypotheses set in opposition.”

Ταῦτα καὶ ἡ ὑπόθεσις διατείνεται.

The Spontaneously Generated Animals of Aristotle’s Historia Animalium

This list contains all the animals in Aristotle’s History of Animals which he says are generated spontaneously.

Each entry contains: (1) the name of the animal (or whatever it is called in the text); (2) the kind of animal it is; (3) an English translation of the name; (4) the matter and its differentia, i.e., that out of which the animal comes to be and (usually) where it comes to be; (5) the reference in Hist. an.

Spontaneously generated animals exist at the boundary between living and non-living world. They are alive, but not quite living: living, according to Aristotle, means sharing in divine activity, and this requires the eternal reproduction of the species. Spontaneously generated animals do not reproduce. They’re essentially ephemeral.

Aristotle thinks all spontaneously generated animals have the same mother and father. Their father—their efficient cause—is the heat from the celestial realm. This is primarily the heat from the sun, but it also includes the heat and motion distributed to the winds, and perhaps with some influence from the moon and other planets as well. The mother—their material cause—is the earth, but not just any material on the earth. It is usually some kind of slime or otherwise decaying stuff, and it’s here where the variety comes in. Aristotle thinks the kind of material from which an animal is spontaneously generated, along with the place in which that materials is found, are the two most important differentiae for explaining why different kinds of things are spontaneously generated: sometimes we get flies (like from dead animals), somtimes moths (from wool clothes), sometimes eels (from muddy slime), and sometimes worms (from improperly digested food in your intestines). This is similar to earlier Greek theories of reproduction where what determined whether a child was male or female was where the father’s semen landed in the womb (right for boys, left for girls, obvs.).

Malcolm Wilson’s book on the Meteorology makes a really cool point about this. Aristotle explains spontaneously generated animals the same way he explains meteorological phenomena (meteorology, in the broad Aristotelian sense of sublunary physics of non-living things). In meteorology, the sun produces different effects because its orientation to a given point on the earth changes throughout the year, and because the material it acts on differs in kind and in (especially) in place. When the sun’s heat acts on water on the surface of the earth, we get evaporation, clouds and rain. When it acts on water within the earth, we can get various metals. It is the same pattern of explanation.

NB: Of fishes, only the eels from book VI are included. There are some issues with the text. Also, in Gen. an. he says other fish generate spontaneously.

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 ἀκαρί, τό | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   mite

                material   old cheese and wood (ἐπὶ κηρίῳ παλαιουμένῳ καὶ ἐν ξύλῳ) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b6-10

ἀσκαρίς, ἡ (1) | ἔντομα   ascaris

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a8-13

ἀσκαρίς, ἡ (2) | ἔντομα   ascaris

material   mud of wells and where there is a confluence of water with an earthy deposit (ἔν τε τῇ ἰλύϊ τῶν φρεάτων καὶ ὅπου ἂν σύρρευσις γένηται ὕδατος γεώδη ἔχουσα ὑπόστασιν) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b27-552a11

material   deposit of a mixed and heterogeneous kind, as in kitchens and fields, for these kinds of places putrefy quickly (ἐν τοῖς ἔχουσι παντοδαπὴν ὑπόστασιν, οἷον ἐν μαγειρείοις τε γίνεται καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις· σήπεται γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα θᾶττον) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a11-552a15

βάλανος, ἡ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   barnacle

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

βόστρυχος, ὁ | ἔντομα   lit. ‘curly’ (?), male fly of the glow worm (?)

material   glow-worm (ἐκ τῶν πυγολαμπίδων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b23-26

ἔγχελυς, ἡ | ἰχθῦς   eel

material   earth's guts, so-called, produced spontaneously in sediment and in humid earth (ἐκ τῶν καλουμένων γῆς ἐντέρων, ἃ αὐτόματα συνίσταται ἐν τῷ πηλῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ τῇ ἐνίκμῳ) | Hist. an. 6.16, 570a13

ἕλμινς, ἡ καλουμένη | ἔντομα   worm

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a7-13

ἕλμινς ἡ ὀνομαζομένη πλατεῖα | ἔντομα   flatworm

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a8-13

ἕλμινς, ἡ στρογγυλή | ἔντομα   roundworm

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a8-13

ἐμπίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   gnat

material   ascarides (ἐκ τῶν ἀσκαρίδων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b27

ἔντομόν τι (1) |   a kind of insect

material   dew falling on leaves (ἐκ τῆς δρόσου τῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς φύλλοις πιπτούσης) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (2)|   a kind of insect

material   decaying slime and dung (ἐν βορβόρῳ καὶ κόπρῳ σηπομένοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (3) |   a kind of insect

material   wood, either growing or dry (ἐν ξύλοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (4) |   a kind of insect

material   animal hair (ἐν θριξὶ ζῴων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (5) |   a kind of insect

material   animal flesh (ἐν σαρκὶ τῶν ζῴων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (6) |   a kind of insect

material   excreted residues (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἐκκεχωρισμένοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἐφήμερον, τό | ἔντομα   mayfly

material   sack-like things larger than grapes, which flow down the river Hypanis in the Cimmerian Bosophorus to the sea near the summer solstice (οἷον θύλακοι μείζους ῥαγῶν, ἐξ ὧν ῥηγνυμένων ἐξέρχεται ζῷον πτερωτὸν τετράπουν, περὶ δὲ τὸν Ὕπανιν ποταμὸν τὸν περὶ Βόσπορον τὸν Κιμμέριον ὑπὸ τροπὰς θερινὰς καταφέρονται ὑπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552b17-23

ζωσδάριόν τι (1) | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   a little animal

material   books (ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b6-10

ζωσδάριόν τι (2) | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   a little animal

material   dry things moistening, moist things drying, which are life-promoting (?) (ἔν τε τοῖς ξηροῖς ὑγραινομένοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὑγροῖς ξηραινομένοις, ὅσα ἔχει αὐτῶν ζωήν) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b10-12

θηρίον τι | ἔντομα   a kind of beast

material   fire in Cyprus where copper-ore is smelted, thrown on heaps each day (ἐν τῷ πυρί ἐν Κύπρῳ, οὗ ἡ χαλκῖτις λίθος καίεται, ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἐμβαλλόντων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552b10-13

κανθαρίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   cantharis

material   caterpillars found on fig trees, pear trees, fir trees, and dog rose (ἐκ τῶν πρὸς ταῖς συκαῖς καμπῶν καὶ ταῖς ἀπίοις καὶ ταῖς πεύκαις καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐν τῇ κυνακάνθῃ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a31-b4

κάνθαρος, ὁ | ἔντομα   dung-beetle

material   grubs from dung rolled into a ball (ἣν κυλίουσι κόπρον, ἐν ταύτῃ φωλοῦσί τε τὸν χειμῶνα καὶ ἐντίκτουσι σκωλήκια, ἐξ ὧν γίνονται κάνθαροι) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a17-19

καράβιος, ὁ | ἔντομα   stag-beetle

material   grubs that live in dry wood (ἐκ δὲ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τοῖς ξύλοις τοῖς αὔοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b16-18

καρκίνιον, τὸ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   hermit crab

material   earth and mud (ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.15, 548a14-15

κνίδν, ἡ | τὰ μὴ ἔχοντα ὄστρακον   sea anemone

material   earth and mud in the hollows of rocks (ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἰλύος ἐν ταῖς σήραγξι τῶν πετρῶν) | Hist. an. 5.15, 548a22-27

κόγχη, ἡ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   cockle

material   sandy mud (ἐν τῇ ἀμμώδει (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

κόρις, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   bug

material   moisture as it thickens outside the bodies of animals (ἐκ τῆς ἰκμάδος τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ζῴων συνισταμένης ἐκτός) | Hist. an. 5.31, 556b24-28

κροτών, ὁ | ἔντομα   tick

material   dog's tooth grass (ἐκ τῆς ἀγρώστεως) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a15

κυνοραιστής, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   dog tick

material   dogs (ἐν δὲ τοῖς κυσὶν) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a17-18

κώνωψ, ὁ | ἔντομα   conops (bee and wasp endoparasite)

material   grubs which comes to be in the mud of vinegar (ἐκ σκωλήκων οἳ γίνονται ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὸ ὄξος ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552b4-5

λεπάς, ἡ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   limpet

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

μηλολόνθη, ἡ | ἔντομα   cockchafer, may-bug

material   grubs in cow or donkey dung (ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τοῖς βολίτοις καὶ τῶν ὀνίδων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a15-17

μυῖα, ἡ | ἔντομα   fly

material   grubs in dung separated into piles (ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τῇ κόπρῳ τῇ χωριζομένῃ κατὰ μέρος) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a20-29

μύωψ, ὁ | ἔντομα   horse-fly

material   wood (ἐκ τῶν ξύλων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a29

νεκύδαλος, ὁ | ἔντομα   silk-moth

material   large grub that has horns and differs from other grubs (ἐκ δέ τινος σκώληκος μεγάλου, ὃς ἔχει οἷον κέρατα καὶ διαφέρει τῶν ἄλλων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b9-12

νηρείτης, ὁ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   sea snail

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

ξυλοφόρος, ὁ | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   twig-bearer (bagworm moth?)

material   ? | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b12-25

οἶστρος, ὁ | ἔντομα   gadfly

material   flat litte animals that skim across rivers (ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς πλατέων ζωδαρίων τῶν ἐπιθεόντων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b21-23

οἶστρος, ὁ τῶν θύννων | ἔντομα ὅσα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   gadfly of the tunny

material   mud, not from fish (ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσι οὐκ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἰχθύων ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a27-29

ὀρσοδάκνη, ἡ | ἔντομα   leaf beetle (?)

material   grub underdoing change that came to be in kale-stalks (ἐκ τῶν σκωληκίων μεταβαλλόντων· τὰ δὲ σκωλήκια ταῦτα γίνεται ἐν τοῖς καυλοῖς τῆς κράμβης. ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a29-31

ὄστρεον, τό | ὀστρακοδέρμα   oyster

material   slimy mud (ἐν τῇ βορβορώδει (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

πρασοκουρίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   leek-bane

material   (grubs growing on) kale (ἐκ τῶν κραμβῶν (sc. τῶν σκωλήκων)) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b19-21

πτερωτὸν ζῷον τι | ἔντομα   a kind of winged-animal

material   grubs in pulses (ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀσπρίοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a19-20

πυγολαμπίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   glow-worm

material   black, hairy, small caterpillar (ἐκ δὲ μελαινῶν τινων καὶ δασειῶν οὐ μεγάλων καμπῶν) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b23-26

σῆς, ὁ | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα clothes moth

material   wool and woolen clothes (ἐν ἐρίοις καὶ ἐξ ἐρίων) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b1-6

σκώληξ τις | ἔντομα   a kind of grub

material   unputrefiable stuff, like old snow (ἐν τοῖς δοκοῦσιν ἀσηπτοτάτοις εἶναι, οἷον ἐν χιόνι τῇ παλαιᾷ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 554b6-10

material   snow in Media (ἐκ τῆς ἐν Μηδίᾳ χιόνος) | Hist. an. 5.19, 554b6-10

σπόγγος, ὁ | τὰ μὴ ἔχοντα ὄστρακον   sponge

material   feed on mud and earth and grow either near rocks or shore (φύονται δ' ἢ πρὸς πέτρᾳ πάντες ἢ ἐν ταῖς θισί, τρέφονται δ' ἐν τῇ ἰλύϊ) | Hist. an. 5.15, 548a29-b10

τήθυον, τό | ὀστρακοδέρμα   sea squirt, ascidian

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

φθείρ, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   louse

material   flesh (ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν) | Hist. an. 5.31, 556b24-28

material   (flesh of) animals other than humans (ἐγγίνονται δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἐν πολλοῖς) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a10-17

material   the animal itself (i.e., not cross-species) (ἐν τοῖς ἔχουσιν ἐξ αὐτῶν γίνονται τῶν ζῴων) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a18-21

φθείρ θαλάσσιος, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   sea louse

material   mud, not fish (unlike other lice) (ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσι οὐκ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἰχθύων ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a21-27

φθείρ, ὁ καλεῖται ἄγριος | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   wild louse

                material   ? | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a4-10

ψήν, ὁ | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   fig wasp

material   grub from fruit of wild fig (τὰ δ' ἐρινεὰ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἐρινεοῖς ἔχουσι) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b25-31

ψύλλα, ἡ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   flea

material   putrefaction, a small amount (ἐξ ἐλαχίστης σηπεδόνος) | Hist. an. 5.31, 556b24-28

ψυχή, ἡ καλουμένη | ἔντομα   butterfly

material   caterpillars that grow on green leaves, especially cabbage, which some people call kale (ἐκ τῶν καμπῶν αἳ γίνονται ἐπὶ τῶν φύλλων τῶν χλωρῶν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῆς ῥαφάνου, ἣν καλοῦσί τινες κράμβην) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a13-16

Pseudo-Galen, what is nature?

“Nature is an artistic fire proceeding on the way to generation and actively moving out of itself. According to Plato, it is defined differently: nature is divine art; or, nature is a sort of artistic power. A different definition: nature is inflamed pneuma moving out of itself, generating, completing and maintaining the human being in accordance with spermatic powers. Or it is defined in this way: nature is a power moving out of itself, a cause of generation, formation, and completion producing and completing a human being. Nature is said to be mixture, and nature is said to be state. Nature is also said to be a motion in accordance with effort. Nature is said to be the power controlling an animal. It can also be defined in this way: nature is the inflamed pneuma moving out of itself, generating, completing and maintaining a human being in accordance with spermatic principles determining lifetime and size.”

Φύσις ἐστὶ πῦρ τεχνικὸν ὁδῷ βαδίζον εἰς γένεσιν καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ ἐνεργητικῶς κινούμενον. ἑτέρως κατὰ Πλάτωνα. φύσις ἐστὶ θεία τέχνη. ἢ φύσις ἐστὶν οἵα τεχνικὴ δύναμις. ἑτέρως. φύσις ἐστὶ πνεῦμα ἔνθερμον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ κινούμενον καὶ κατὰ τὰς σπερματικὰς δυνάμεις γεννῶν τε καὶ τελειοῦν καὶ διατηροῦν τὸν ἄνθρωπον. ἢ οὕτως. φύσις ἐστὶ δύναμις ἐξ ἑαυτῆς κινουμένη, αἰτία γενέσεώς τε καὶ διαπλάσεως καὶ τελειότητος γεννῶσά τε καὶ τελειοῦσα τὸν ἄνθρωπον. φύσις καὶ ἡ κρᾶσις λέγεται, φύσις καὶ ἡ ἕξις. φύσις καὶ ἡ καθ' ὁρμὴν κίνησις. φύσις καὶ ἡ διοικοῦσα τὸ ζῶον δύναμις λέγεται. δύναται δὲ καὶ οὕτως ὁρίσασθαι. φύσις ἐστὶ πνεῦμα ἔνθερμον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ κινούμενον κατὰ σπερματικοὺς λόγους γεννῶν τε καὶ τελειοῦν καὶ διατηροῦν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐν χρόνοις καὶ μεγέθεσιν ὡρισμένους.

Ps.-Galen, Medical Definitions 95 (XIX 371 Kühn)

Theophrastus, what is the best season for growing things?

“It’s no wonder that it’s spring — the season is very life-promoting and especially fertile, because it is wet and warm.”

τὸ μὲν οὖν ἔαρ οὐδὲ θαυμάζεται, ζωτικωτάτη γὰρ ἡ ὥρα καὶ μάλιστα γόνιμος, ὑγρά τις οὖσα καὶ θερμή.

Theophrastus, Causes of Plants, 1.13.4

“The climate needs to have a certain warmth and wetness, just like spring. Everyone agrees that spring is best for sprouting.”

δεῖ γὰρ δὴ τὴν ὥραν ὑγρότητά τινα καὶ θερμότητα ἔχειν ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ ἔαρ. αὕτη μὲν ὁμολογουμένη μάλιστα πρὸς βλάστησιν.

Theophrastus, Causes of Plants, 1.13.5

Aristotle on Ctesias on the Manticore and Unicorn

Ctesias of Knidos was a Greek physician and writer of tales and legends from far-away lands. He is often compared negatively to Herodotus. Herodotus, it is said, wrote histories. Ctesias wrote something else entirely.

He lived sometime in the fifth and fourth centuries. Originally from Knidos, a Greek city in what is now south-western Turkey, he likely practiced medicine as an Asclepiad. At some point in the fifth century he was brought to the Persian Court as a physician, although the circumstances of his move are not clear. Some sources refer to him as physician at the court of Artaxerxes II, a prominent post. If these sources are right, it explains his familiarity with the Persian kingdom. In all, he likely stayed and travelled with the court for 17 years.

When he returned to Knidos at the beginning of the fourth century, he wrote a work called the Indica, the first Greek-language description of the lands, people, animals and plants east of Persia, almost a century before reports would come back from Alexander’s expedition. The book circulated widely. It contained fantastic tales about the strangeness of the lands to the east at the end of the earth—tales Ctesias’ audience would have desired because of how weird and terrifying they were, but whose reality they could (most of the time) safely ignore because of how remote they were. The bestiary he introduced to the Greek world and ultimately to ours includes not just the manticore and the unicorn, but also a bird that can speak in human tongues and a race of half-human, half-dog people called the Cynocephaloi.

I find it especially interesting that his stories are repeated by Aristotle. Aristotle’s History of Animals includes several animals he took from Ctesias’ writings, even though he says Ctesias is not not worth believing (οὐκ ἀξιόπιστος). There is a puzzle here. Aristotle calls Ctesias an untrustworthy source, but at the same time he includes his observations, often without comment and, even more puzzling, often without any indication they are not to be trusted.

The unicorn is one example. Ctesias is clearly Aristotle’s source for his discussion of the unicorn. We know this based on what Aristotle says about the unicorn’s knucklebones and because of the proximity of Aristotle’s unicorn discussion to one about the manticore, which Aristotle says he took from Ctesias. It looks like Aristotle was jotting down notes as he was reading Ctesias’ work.

It is curious, then, that Aristotle does not cite Ctesias as his source for the unicorn passage. Moreover, he gives no indication the report is questionable or not to be trusted. In fact, he doesn’t make it look like a report at all. So the question is: what does the fact that he includes accounts of animals from foreign lands based on the testimony of someone he does not trust mean for Aristotle’s way of collecting facts and doing science?

It’s a question that’s been raised a lot before, and one I think is always worth raising again. What is Aristotle’s attitude to his sources of information about the natural world beyond his experience? And why does he think some stories are worth believing and not others?

(Not-quite) Biogeography

“Animals differ according to place. In certain places, some animals do not exist at all; in some places, they do exist, but they are smaller, or shorter-lived, or they do not thrive. And sometimes a difference like this occurs in neighbouring places, for example, in areas of Miletus that neighbour each other, in one place cicadas exist, in another they do not. There is a river that runs through Cephalenia, where on one side cicadas exist, but on the other they do not. In Boeotia, many moles live around the Orchomenos, but in neighbouring Lebadiake, there aren’t any; even if someone introduces them, they do not wish to make their burrows there. In Ithaca, hares (if someone releases them after introducing them) are not able to live, but are observed dead, turned towards the sea where they had been brought in. In Sicily, there are no horse-ants, while in Cyrene, croaking frogs did not exist before. In all of Libya, there are no wild pigs, no deer, no wild goats. And in India, as Ctesias — who isn’t worth believing — says, there are neither wild nor tame pigs, but massive bloodless [animals] all covered in scales.”

Διαφέρει δὲ τὰ ζῷα καὶ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἔν τισιν ἔνια οὐ γίνεται παντάπασιν, οὕτως ἐν ἐνίοις τόποις γίνεται μὲν ἐλάττω δὲ καὶ ὀλιγοβιώτερα, καὶ οὐκ εὐημερεῖ. Καὶ ἐνίοτε ἐν τοῖς πάρεγγυς τόποις ἡ διαφορὰ γίνεται τῶν τοιούτων, οἷον τῆς Μιλησίας ἐν τόποις γειτνιῶσιν ἀλλήλοις ἔνθα μὲν γίνονται τέττιγες ἔνθα δ' οὐ γίνονται, καὶ ἐν Κεφαληνίᾳ ποταμὸς διείργει, οὗ ἐπὶ τάδε μὲν γίνονται τέττιγες, ἐπ' ἐκεῖνα δ' οὐ γίνονται. Ἐν δὲ Πορδοσελήνῃ ὁδὸς διείργει, ἧς ἐπ' ἐκεῖνα μὲν γαλῆ γίνεται, ἐπὶ θάτερα δ' οὐ γίνεται. καὶ ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίᾳ ἀσπάλακες περὶ μὲν τὸν Ὀρχομενὸν πολλοὶ γίνονται, ἐν δὲ τῇ Λεβαδιακῇ γειτνιώσῃ οὐκ εἰσίν, οὐδ' ἄν τις κομίσῃ, ἐθέλουσιν ὀρύττειν. Ἐν Ἰθάκῃ δ' οἱ δασύποδες, ἐάν τις ἀφῇ κομίσας, οὐ δύνανται ζῆν, ἀλλὰ φαίνονται τεθνεῶτες πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ ἐστραμμένοι, ᾗπερ ἂν εἰσαχθῶσιν. Καὶ ἐν μὲν Σικελίᾳ ἱππομύρμηκες οὐκ εἰσίν, ἐν δὲ Κυρήνῃ οἱ φωνοῦντες βάτραχοι πρότερον οὐκ ἦσαν. Ἐν δὲ Λιβύῃ πάσῃ οὔτε σῦς ἄγριός ἐστιν οὔτ' ἔλαφος οὔτ' αἲξ ἄγριος· ἐν δὲ τῇ Ἰνδικῇ, ὡς φησὶ Κτησίας οὐκ ὢν ἀξιόπιστος, οὔτ' ἄγριος οὔτε ἥμερος ὗς, τὰ δ' ἄναιμα καὶ τὰ φολιδωτὰ πάντα μεγάλα.

Aristotle, History of Animals 8.28, 605b22-606a10

At the Bodleian in Oxford. MS. Bodley 764, Folio 25r 13th century. This post is an excuse to put up pictures from this manuscript.

Aristotle on Ctesias on the Martichora, or the Manticore

“There is such a thing, if we must trust Ctesias. He says that the beast among the Indians, whose name is ‘martichora,’ has triple-rows of teeth on both sides. In size, he says it is as big as a lion, equally hairy, and having smaller feet. Its face and ears are human-like, its eyes shining blue, its colour like cinnabar. Its tail is similar to that of a land-scorpion, and in it, it has a stinger and it can shoot the spines like arrows. Its cry is like the sound of a shepherd’s-pipe and a war-trumpet at the same time, and it runs as quickly as a deer. It is savage and a man-eater.”

Ἔστι δέ τι, εἰ δεῖ πιστεῦσαι Κτησίᾳ· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ τὸ ἐν Ἰνδοῖς θηρίον, ᾧ ὄνομα εἶναι μαρτιχόραν, τοῦτ' ἔχειν ἐπ' ἀμφότερά φησι τριστοίχους τοὺς ὀδόντας· εἶναι δὲ μέγεθος μὲν ἡλίκον λέοντα καὶ δασὺ ὁμοίως, καὶ πόδας ἔχειν ὁμοίους, πρόσωπον δὲ καὶ ὦτα ἀνθρωποειδές, τὸ δ' ὄμμα γλαυκόν, τὸ δὲ χρῶμα κινναβάρινον, τὴν δὲ κέρκον ὁμοίαν τῇ τοῦ σκορπίου τοῦ χερσαίου, ἐν ᾗ κέντρον ἔχειν καὶ τὰς ἀποφυάδας ἀπακοντίζειν, φθέγγεσθαι δ' ὅμοιον φωνῇ ἅμα σύριγγος καὶ σάλπιγγος, ταχὺ δὲ θεῖν οὐχ ἧττον τῶν ἐλάφων, καὶ εἶναι ἄγριον καὶ ἀνθρωποφάγον.

Aristotle, History of Animals 2.1, 501a24-b1

At the Bodleian in Oxford. MS. Bodley 764, Folio 22r

Aristotle on the Indian Donkey, or the Unicorn

“Some animals have horns, others do not. The majority of those that have horns are naturally cloven-hooved, like the ox, the stag and the goat. We have not observed any single-hooved, two-horned animals. But there are a few animals that are single-horned and single-hooved, like the Indian donkey. The oryx is single-horned and double-hooved. And the Indian donkey is the only single-hooved animal that has a knucklebone.”*

Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὰ μὲν κερατοφόρα τῶν ζῴων τὰ δ’ ἄκερα. Τὰ μὲν οὖν πλεῖστα τῶν ἐχόντων κέρατα διχαλὰ κατὰ φύσιν ἐστίν, οἷον βοῦς καὶ ἔλαφος καὶ αἴξ· μώνυχον δὲ καὶ δίκερων οὐθὲν ἡμῖν ὦπται. Μονοκέρατα δὲ καὶ μώνυχα ὀλίγα, οἷον ὁ Ἰνδικὸς ὄνος. Μονόκερων δὲ καὶ διχαλὸν ὄρυξ. Καὶ ἀστράγαλον δ’ ὁ Ἰνδικὸς ὄνος ἔχει τῶν μωνύχων μόνον.

Aristotle, History of Animals 2.1, 499b15-20

*Aristotle does not name his source, but Aelian attributes the same claim to Ctesias and I bet Aristotle is getting it from him.

Aelian on the Indian Donkey, or Unicorn

“I have heard that in India there are wild donkeys as big as horses. The rest of their body is white, but the head is very nearly purple and their eyes exude a deep blue colour. They have a horn on their forehead almost a meter long and the lower part of the horn is white, the upper part a deep, dark red, and the middle a dreadful black.

I hear the Indians drink from these colourful-patterned horns — not all of them, but the mightiest of the Indians — and on sections of them they inlay gold as if adorning the arms of a beautiful statue with bracelets. They say the one who has tasted from this horn becomes ignorant and unburdened of incurable diseases. He is not seized by convulsion or what is called the sacred disease nor destroyed by poisons. Even if he had drunk something harmful earlier, he vomits this up and he becomes healthy.

It is believed that the other donkeys across the whole world, both tame and savage, and the other single-hoofed beasts, do not have knucklebones and do not have bile in the liver. But Ctesias says the horned Indian donkey has knucklebones and is not without bile. The knucklebones are said to be black, and if someone grinds them up, they are even like this inside.

They are swifter not only than donkeys, but even horses and deer. They start with a slow pace, but bit by bit they get faster, and to pursue them is, to put it poetically, to chase the uncatchable. When the female gives birth and leads the newborns around, the fathers, who heard with them, also guard the offspring. The donkeys spend their time in most desolate of the plains of India. When the Indian people go on a hunt for them, the [parents] let the tender and still young [offspring] graze behind them, while they fight for them, and go meet the enemy horsemen and strike with their horns. Their horns are so strong. Nothing can withstand a strike from them; instead, they give way and are broken in two, and sometimes they’re shattered and made useless. In the past, they have hit the horses’ ribs, even tearing them open and spilling their vital organs. That is why the horsemen dread getting close to them – the penalty for getting to close is a most pitiable death, and both they and the horses are destroyed. They are able to kick terribly as well. And their bite goes down so deep, that everything they get hold of is ripped off. When full grown, one cannot catch them alive; instead, they are shot with javelins and arrows, and when the Indians have stripped their horn from the corpse, they handle them in the way I mentioned. The meat from the Indian donkey is inedible; the reason: it is naturally very bitter.”

Ὄνους ἀγρίους οὐκ ἐλάττους ἵππων τὰ μεγέθη ἐν Ἰνδοῖς γίνεσθαι πέπυσμαι. καὶ λευκοὺς μὲν τὸ ἄλλο εἶναι σῶμα, τήν γε μὴν κεφαλὴν ἔχειν πορφύρᾳ παραπλησίαν, τοὺς δὲ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀποστέλλειν κυανοῦ χρόαν. κέρας δὲ ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῷ μετώπῳ ὅσον πήχεως τὸ μέγεθος καὶ ἡμίσεος προσέτι, καὶ τὸ μὲν κάτω μέρος τοῦ κέρατος εἶναι λευκόν, τὸ δὲ ἄνω φοινικοῦν, τό γε μὴν μέσον μέλαν δεινῶς.

ἐκ δὴ τῶνδε τῶν ποικίλων κεράτων πίνειν Ἰνδοὺς ἀκούω, καὶ ταῦτα οὐ πάντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς τῶν Ἰνδῶν κρατίστους, ἐκ διαστημάτων αὐτοῖς χρυσὸν περιχέαντας, οἱονεὶ ψελίοις τισὶ κοσμήσαντας βραχίονα ὡραῖον ἀγάλματος. καί φασι νόσων ἀφύκτων ἀμαθῆ καὶ ἄπειρον γίνεσθαι τὸν ἀπογευσάμενον ἐκ τοῦδε τοῦ κέρατος· μήτε γὰρ σπασμῷ ληφθῆναι ἂν αὐτὸν μήτε τῇ καλουμένῃ ἱερᾷ νόσῳ, μήτε μὴν διαφθαρῆναι φαρμάκοις. ἐὰν δέ τι καὶ πρότερον ᾖ πεπωκὼς κακόν, ἀνεμεῖν τοῦτο, καὶ ὑγιᾶ γίνεσθαι αὐτόν.

πεπίστευται δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ὄνους καὶ ἡμέρους καὶ ἀγρίους καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μώνυχα θηρία ἀστραγάλους οὐκ ἔχειν, οὐδὲ μὴν ἐπὶ τῷ ἥπατι χολήν, ὄνους δὲ τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς λέγει Κτησίας τοὺς ἔχοντας τὸ κέρας ἀστραγάλους φορεῖν, καὶ ἀχόλους μὴ εἶναι· λέγονται δὲ οἱ ἀστράγαλοι μέλανες εἶναι, καὶ εἴ τις αὐτοὺς συντρίψειεν, εἶναι τοιοῦτοι καὶ τὰ ἔνδον.

εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ὤκιστοι οἵδε οὐ μόνον τῶν ὄνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἵππων καὶ ἐλάφων: καὶ ὑπάρχονται μὲν ἡσυχῆ τοῦ δρόμου, κατὰ μικρὰ δὲ ἐπιρρώννυνται, καὶ διώκειν ἐκείνους τοῦτο δὴ τὸ ποιητικὸν μεταθεῖν τὰ ἀκίχητά ἐστιν. ὅταν γε μὴν ὁ θῆλυς τέκῃ, καὶ περιάγηται τὰ ἀρτιγενῆ, σύννομοι αὐτοῖς οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν φυλάττουσι τὰ βρέφη. διατριβαὶ δὲ τοῖς ὄνοις τῶν Ἰνδικῶν πεδίων τὰ ἐρημότατά ἐστιν. ἰόντων δὲ τῶν Ἰνδῶν ἐπὶ τὴν ἄγραν αὐτῶν, τὰ μὲν ἁπαλὰ καὶ ἔτι νεαρὰ ἑαυτῶν νέμεσθαι κατόπιν ἐῶσιν, αὐτοὶ δὲ ὑπερμαχοῦσι, καὶ ἴασι τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν ὁμόσε, καὶ τοῖς κέρασι παίουσι. τοσαύτη δὲ ἄρα ἡ ἰσχὺς ἡ τῶνδέ ἐστιν. οὐδὲν ἀντέχει αὐτοῖς παιόμενον, ἀλλὰ εἴκει καὶ διακόπτεται καὶ ἐὰν τύχῃ κατατέθλασται καὶ ἀχρεῖόν ἐστιν. ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἵππων πλευραῖς ἐμπεσόντες διέσχισαν καὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα ἐξέχεαν. ἔνθεν τοι καὶ ὀρρωδοῦσιν αὐτοῖς πλησιάζειν οἱ ἱππεῖς: τὸ γάρ τοι τίμημα τοῦ γενέσθαι πλησίον θάνατός ἐστιν οἴκτιστος αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἀπόλλυνται καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ ἵπποι. δεινοὶ δέ εἰσι καὶ λακτίσαι. δήγματα δὲ ἄρα ἐς τοσοῦτον καθικνεῖται αὐτῶν, ὡς ἀποσπᾶν τὸ περιληφθὲν πᾶν. ζῶντα μὲν οὖν τέλειον οὐκ ἂν λάβοις, βάλλονται δὲ ἀκοντίοις καὶ οἰστοῖς, καὶ τὰ κέρατα ἐξ αὐτῶν Ἰνδοὶ νεκρῶν σκυλεύσαντες ὡς εἶπον περιέπουσιν. ὄνων δὲ Ἰνδῶν ἄβρωτόν ἐστι τὸ κρέας: τὸ δὲ αἴτιον, πέφυκεν εἶναι πικρότατον.

Aelian, On the Nature of Animals 4.52

Plato on Providential Ecology

Disobedient Stomachs

“What comes next needs to be pursued along the same lines, and that is: how has the rest of our body come to be? It would be more fitting than anything else if it had been composed following a rationale like the following: those who were putting our kind together were aware of the intemperance for food and drink that would exist within us, and that we would want much more than what is moderate or necessary because of our gluttony. Therefore, to prevent wasting away swiftly through disease and the immediate and complete coming to an end of the incomplete race of mortals, the gods, foreseeing these problems, set up a receptacle, called the “lower belly,” to serve as a container for surplus food and drink; and they coiled the entrails around as they made them, in order to prevent food from passing through too quickly, a situation which would quickly compel the body to need even more food and produce insatiable desire, a gastric-gluttony on account of which the whole race would be rendered unphilosophical, uncultured and disobedient to what is most divine in us.”

τὸ δ᾽ ἑξῆς δὴ τούτοισιν κατὰ ταὐτὰ μεταδιωκτέον: ἦν δὲ τὸ τοῦ σώματος ἐπίλοιπον ᾗ γέγονεν. ἐκ δὴ λογισμοῦ τοιοῦδε συνίστασθαι μάλιστ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸ πάντων πρέποι. τὴν ἐσομένην ἐν ἡμῖν ποτῶν καὶ ἐδεστῶν ἀκολασίαν ᾔδεσαν οἱ συντιθέντες ἡμῶν τὸ γένος, καὶ ὅτι τοῦ μετρίου καὶ ἀναγκαίου διὰ μαργότητα πολλῷ χρησοίμεθα πλέονι: ἵν᾽ οὖν μὴ φθορὰ διὰ νόσους ὀξεῖα γίγνοιτο καὶ ἀτελὲς τὸ γένος εὐθὺς τὸ θνητὸν τελευτῷ, ταῦτα προορώμενοι τῇ τοῦ περιγενησομένου πώματος ἐδέσματός τε ἕξει τὴν ὀνομαζομένην κάτω κοιλίαν ὑποδοχὴν ἔθεσαν, εἵλιξάν τε πέριξ τὴν τῶν ἐντέρων γένεσιν, ὅπως μὴ ταχὺ διεκπερῶσα ἡ τροφὴ ταχὺ πάλιν τροφῆς ἑτέρας δεῖσθαι τὸ σῶμα ἀναγκάζοι, καὶ παρέχουσα ἀπληστίαν, διὰ γαστριμαργίαν ἀφιλόσοφον καὶ ἄμουσον πᾶν ἀποτελοῖ τὸ γένος, ἀνυπήκοον τοῦ θειοτάτου τῶν παρ᾽ ἡμῖν.

Plato, Timaeus 72E-73A