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7

has implanted by nature the means for its salvation; but man alone among all creatures is slower than those that are swift, smaller than those that are bulky, and more easily captured than those secured with innate weapons. And how, someone will say, has such a one been allotted dominion over all? But I think it is not at all difficult to show that what seems lacking in our nature is the very starting-point for ruling over our subjects. For if man had such power as to outrun the horse in speed, and to have a foot unworn because of its hardness, resting on some kind of hoofs or claws, and to bear horns and stings and talons on himself; in the first place, he would be a sort of beastly and unapproachable creature, with such things growing naturally on his body. Secondly, he would have disregarded dominion over others, needing none of the cooperation of his subjects. But as it is, for this reason the needs of life have been distributed among each of those yoked to us, so as to make dominion over them a necessity. The slowness of his awkward body brought the horse to his service and tamed it. The nakedness of his flesh made the supervision of sheep necessary, filling what is lacking in our nature from the annual yield of wool. And the fact that our resources for life are brought in from elsewhere yoked the beasts of burden to such services. Moreover, the inability to eat grass like the cattle made the ox a subordinate for our life, making life easy for us by its own labors. And since there was a need for teeth and a bite to overcome some of the other animals, because of the weakness of his teeth, the dog provided its own jaw with its speed for our need, becoming a sort of living sword for man.

But iron has been devised by men to be stronger and sharper than the projection of horns and the point of talons, not always grown on us, as those are on beasts, but allying itself for a time, for the rest it remains by itself. And instead of the crocodile's hide, it is possible to make even that creature itself a weapon, by putting on its skin at the right moment. But if not, iron is also fashioned for this purpose by art, which, having served for a time in war, again left the soldier free from its burden in peace. The feather of birds also serves our life, so that we are not left behind even by the speed of winged creatures through our ingenuity 144. For some of them become tame and cooperate with hunters; and others are subjected to our needs through them by our ingenuity. But art, by devising winged arrows for us, bestows winged speed upon our needs by means of the bow. And the fact that our feet are delicate and easily worn in walking makes the cooperation from our subjects necessary. For from them it is possible to fit sandals to the feet.

CHAPTER 8.

Why man's form is upright, and that hands exist because of reason; in which

also some philosophy concerning the difference of souls. Man's form is upright, and it extends toward heaven, and looks upward. These things too are signs of rule, and they signify his royal dignity. For the fact that man alone among beings is like this, while all others have their bodies inclined downwards, clearly shows the difference in dignity, between those who submit to the dominion, and the authority that stands over them. For in all other animals the front limbs of the body are feet, because their stooping posture absolutely required support; but in the constitution of man, the limbs became hands. For in his upright form one base was sufficient for his need, resting his stance securely on two feet. Otherwise

7

σωτηρίαν παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐμπέφυκε· μόνος δὲ πάντων ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῶν μὲν ταχυδρομούν των ἀργότερος, τῶν δὲ πολυσαρκούντων βραχύτερος, τῶν δὲ τοῖς συμφύτοις ὅπλοις ἠσφαλισμένων εὐαλω τότερος. Καὶ πῶς, ἐρεῖ τις, ὁ τοιοῦτος τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν κατὰ πάντων κεκλήρωται; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν οἶμαι χαλεπὸν δεῖξαι, ὅτι τὸ δοκοῦν ἐπιδεὲς τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, ἀφορμὴ πρὸς τὸ κρατεῖν τῶν ὑποχειρίων ἐστίν. Εἰ γὰρ οὕτω δυνάμεως εἶχεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὡς τῇ μὲν ὠκύτητι παρατρέχειν τὸν ἵππον, ἄτριπτον δὲ ὑπὸ στεῤῥότητος ἔχειν τὸν πόδα, ὁπλαῖς τισιν ἢ χηλαῖς ἐρειδόμενον, κέρατα δὲ καὶ κέντρα καὶ ὄνυχας ἐν ἑαυτῷ φέρειν· πρῶτον μὲν θηριώδης τις ἂν ἦν, καὶ δυσάντητος, τοιούτων αὐτοῦ τῷ σώματι συμ πεφυκότων. Ἔπειτα δὲ παρεῖδεν ἂν τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχὴν, οὐδὲν τῆς συνεργίας τῶν ὑποχειρίων δεό μενος. Νυνὶ δὲ τούτου χάριν ἐφ' ἕκαστον τῶν ὑπ εζευγμένων ἡμῖν αἱ τοῦ βίου χρεῖαι κατεμερίσθησαν, ὡς ἀναγκαίαν ποιεῖν τὴν κατ' ἐκείνων ἀρχήν. Τὸ μὲν βραδὺ τοῦ σώματος δυσκίνητον, τὸν ἵππον τῇ χρείᾳ προσήγαγέ τε καὶ ἐδαμάσατο. Ἡ δὲ τῆς σαρκὸς γυμνότης ἀναγκαίαν τὴν τῶν προβάτων ἐπιστασίαν ἐποίησεν, ἐκ τῆς ἐτησίου τῶν ἐρίων φορᾶς τῆς ἡμε τέρας φύσεως ἀναπληροῦσαν τὸ λεῖπον. Τὸ δὲ τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἡμῖν τὰς πρὸς τὸν βίον καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρων εἰσ άγεσθαι, τὰ ἀχθοφόρα τῶν ζώων ταῖς τοιαύταις ὑπ ηρεσίαις ὑπέζευξεν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν βοσκημάτων ποηφαγεῖν, ὑποχείριον τῷ βίῳ τὸν βοῦν ἀπειργάσατο, τοῖς ἰδίοις πόνοις τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῖν ἐξευμαρίζοντα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ὀδόντων καὶ δήγματος ἦν χρεία πρὸς τὸ καταγωνίζεσθαί τινα τῶν ἄλλων ζώων, διὰ τῆς τῶν ὀδόντων βλάβης, παρέσχεν ὁ κύων μετὰ τοῦ τάχους τὴν ἰδίαν γένυν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ χρείᾳ, οἷόν τις ἔμψυχος μάχαιρα τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ γενό μενος.

Κεράτων δὲ προβολῆς καὶ ὀνύχων ἀκμῆς ἰσχυρότερός τε καὶ τομώτερος ἐπινενόηται τοῖς ἀν θρώποις ὁ σίδηρος, οὐκ ἀεὶ συμπεφυκὼς ἡμῖν, ὥσπερ τοῖς θηρίοις ἐκεῖνα, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ καιροῦ συμμαχήσας, τὸ λοιπὸν ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ μένει. Καὶ ἀντὶ τῆς τοῦ κροκοδεί λου φωλίδος, ἔστι μὲν καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον ὅπλον ποιήσασθαι, κατὰ καιρὸν τὴν δορὰν περιθέμενον. Εἰ δὲ μὴ, σχηματίζεται καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο παρὰ τῆς τέχνης ὁ σίδηρος, ὃς ἐπὶ καιροῦ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ὑπηρετή σας, πάλιν ἐλεύθερον τοῦ ἄχθους ἐπ' εἰρήνης τὸν ὁπλίτην κατέλιπεν. Ὑπηρετεῖ δὲ τῷ βίῳ καὶ τὸ πτερὸν τῶν ὀρνέων, ὡς μηδὲ τοῦ πτηνοῦ τάχους δι' ἐπινοίας 144 ἡμᾶς ἀπολείπεσθαι. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῶν τιθασσὰ γίνεται, καὶ συνεργεῖ τοῖς θηρεύουσι· τὰ δὲ δι' ἐκεί νων ταῖς χρείαις ἡμῶν δι' ἐπινοίας ὑπάγεται. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πτερόεντας ἡμῖν τοὺς ὀϊστοὺς ἡ τέχνη δι' ἐπινοίας ποιησαμένη, τὸ πτηνὸν τάχος ταῖς ἡμετέραις χρείαις διὰ τοῦ τόξου χαρίζεται. Τὸ δὲ εὐπαθεῖς καὶ εὐτρί πτους ἡμῖν πρὸς τὴν πορείαν εἶναι τὰς βάσεις, ἀναγ καίαν ποιεῖ τὴν ἐκ τῶν ὑποχειρίων συνεργίαν. Ἐκεῖ θεν γάρ ἐστι τοῖς ποσὶ περιαρμόσαι τὰ πέδιλα.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ηʹ.

∆ιὰ τί ὄρθιον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ σχῆμα, καὶ ὅτι διὰ τὸν λόγον αἱ χεῖρες· ἐν ᾧ

τις καὶ περὶ δια φορᾶς ψυχῶν φιλοσοφία. Ὄρθιον δὲ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὸ σχῆμα, καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνατείνεται, καὶ ἄνω βλέπει. Ἀρχικὰ καὶ ταῦτα, καὶ τὴν βασιλικὴν ἀξίαν ἐπισημαίνονται. Τὸ γὰρ μόνον ἐν τοῖς οὖσι τοιοῦτον εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις ἅπασι πρὸς τὸ κάτω νενευκέναι τὰ σώματα, σαφῶς δείκνυσι τὴν τῆς ἀξίας διαφορὰν, τῶν τε ὑποκυπτόντων τῇ δυναστείᾳ, καὶ τῆς ὑπερανεστώ σης αὐτῶν ἐξουσίας. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοις ἅπασι τὰ ἔμπροσθεν κῶλα τοῦ σώματος πόδες εἰσὶ, διότι τὸ κε κυφὸς ἐδεῖτο πάντως τοῦ ὑπερείδοντος· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῆς χεῖρες τὰ κῶλα ἐγένοντο. Τοῦ γὰρ ὀρθίου σχήματος αὐτάρκης ἦν πρὸς τὴν χρείαν μία βάσις, διπλοῖς ποσὶν ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ τὴν στάσιν ἐρείδουσα. Ἄλλως δὲ