Opuscula logica, physica, allegorica, alia de vita philosophica you ask which of the lives the philosopher must choose, so that in having that one he
And in part, and as each happened to have the capacity, they devised their arts but just as head and thorax and heart and liver are parts of the whol
Superfluous, but the mind is distracted and divided by particular things. if, then, someone of those who have attained a state of knowledge brought th
He thinks like the egyptians, automatic horses are fashioned and well-reined chariots of gods and the sprouting of wings and again their falling off,
But the egyptians [possess] wisdom in a pre-eminent way, as the account also says. for these were the first to immortalize the soul, and by indescriba
Semaram and this is a city of the babylonians for the name means confusion for there first the division of tongues occurred. and having rejected th
We hold that they are of bodies, but to oracles and divinations and whatever they say about theurgy, we pay no heed, as they are forbidden. but the ci
To feel no pain nor misfortune, but in the possession of the true good for one must grasp this alone, which is both ultimate and most honorable and w
Of rational offspring, nor despairing of us for so great a birth, which aristotle himself alone might have conceived and brought forth. for if you hav
Heracles could not have fled to eurystheus for neither was the one of such power, nor did the other require little addition, and for this reason iola
Definitions. but their names are three, therefore also their definitions are three. and let socrates be posited in the argument as defined in three wa
But some who have said in places in their own writings that they are synonymous, have fallen far from the greatness of the truth, fearing a fear there
“substance is a self-subsistent thing.” then, indeed, the more serious and noble of the philosophers are at a loss, how can this be self-subsistent, w
The ultimate cause for all things need the good, and nothing better than goodness comes to us. this, then, which is called god by us, but is called t
And moved only, but since it is near to the soul, it is also self-moved. i have enumerated all these things, at once leading you to great learning, an
If you go up to the former beginning. therefore none of existing things is self-subsistent, as having its generation from itself. but we call substanc
For affective motion is a path to the form, as is any other motion but when it arrives at the form, it stands still and ceases to be affected and alt
A part has its being in relation to a whole for the part is a part of a whole, and the whole is a whole of parts. for substance is defined as existin
Of animate beings, and color they say is the superficial appearance. and that i may again speak to you summarily about the species of quality, state i
11 concerning the second book of the prior analytics you asked what is the purpose of the second book of the prior analytics. its purpose, then, is to
True. however, the universal affirmative is proved in the middle and third figures, but in the first it is not proved. but opposed propositions are fo
Of coordinate terms, if they follow alike in demolition and in establishment for it belongs or does not belong to one and all at the same time for i
The land animal and that difference always signifies a quality of the genus, but the genus does not of the difference for one who says 'land animal'
A different taking and placement of the premises. for one of them is in the first, another in the second, and another in the third figure. concerning
Learning is teaching therefore, to learn is to teach.” these, then, are the fallacies dependent on expression but of the fallacies outside of expres
To make the premise the problem for example, the soul is incorruptible the incorruptible is immortal therefore, the soul is immortal. nothing has
Apostolic or otherwise patristic is not in our accounts but some of those among us who are too exalted have dared to say that the seed, having taken
The head of the animal ruling all the meninges and the brain, whence it radiates from there into this part, if, with the star being well-situated and
Held the generative parts within and fashioned the conceived thing female. for the right cavity of the uterus from above receives the beginning of the
Powers come into being, and sometimes very foolishly but for the more licentious, they are both stronger and bolder, and more precise in practical in
As if making a song for it, he both makes his voice brilliant and crows loudly. and what is more wondrous, the lion fears this one when it sees it, be
10. what is the cause for which falling bodies make larger and smaller circles on still waters? you are puzzled how on still waters any small body tha
Easily crushed, but the crushing does not remain, as with wool or a sponge not crushable but compressible. and those things are compressed which have
Of the power by which we live, that is, of the nutritive and augmentative, but different in principle for it is not in respect to that by which it no
It as much as is sufficient, and secretes the rest. he did not say that the stomach does not process the food, but that it is processed by the lower b
Its being consists in becoming. for it might be like water from melting snow, as one part after another is generated, and just as in this case water i
When they fall on dry land, when they gasp. further, when all breathing creatures die by drowning in liquid, bubbles are formed from the breath exitin
The fire. generation is the first participation in the hot of the nutritive life, life is its persistence. youth is the increase of the first cooling
They leap out. therefore, one must begin with hoarfrost and first discuss its nature. this, accordingly, hardly ever occurs in warm places and in summ
It is indeed warm, as we know, not however a self-acting fire, but it is ignited when moved. since, then, such is the nature of the fuel, and it is mo
Being torn apart, the rain immediately came down as if from a burst sack, and the sound of the bursting produced the thunder. but in that case the clo
Of paradise, but now, envying the earth as well, he tries to drive us out. you, therefore, seem to me to think that i have extended the discourse more
Of vapor but hail of something colder, i mean of water. just as snow is colder than hail, so too is frost than ice but because of the opposition, ha
The matter of the winds being gathered together in a single action, but it comes into being continuously as the vapor changes. and while there are fou
Blows, but from the summer tropic. 22 by the same author, concerning thunder, lightning, thunderbolt, fiery whirlwind, cloud-burst wind, and typhoon.
It is cold by nature, but becomes warm in a warm season. the etesian winds blow especially in summer because the sun, going towards the north, melts t
The color in the purple dye but the halo has only the color white. and the <halo is formed on smooth and uniform clouds, but the> rainbow is formed o
Since from a dense surface vision is more easily and quickly reflected, but from a smooth surface one and the same color is preserved. since, therefor
The great generation of the smoky exhalation. and the milky way, which is what the comet is around one star and what the halo is around the moon or su
And brastae. epicliniae are those that shake sideways in a wave-like manner, brastae those that shake and move up and down. among them are some that a
Of water, it showed that which contained it unharmed, but that which was contained within it disappeared. and not least of all, falling upon vessels h
With many swellings and hollows and all sorts of shapes, it sends forth every kind of sound. and already waters have burst forth when earthquakes happ
The entire support of the universe has been shaken, and the secure seat of our nature needs a supporting hand and foundation. thus our affairs have co
Directing the parts of creation concerned with becoming is borne more disorderly. and indeed this: unusual stars are made new in the super-terrestrial
Of all things, however, that some are divided from each other, but he has harmonized all things melodiously, or rather, he has received them harmonize
We assign the entire power of what is done to more immediate causes. but just as we derive other things and nature itself from god, so indeed do we re
Not only the sword, but it has also been brought upon us, and terrible arrows, truly full of deadly poison, have been shot into our hearts, and the fi
Having conceived of what was to be, he worked for whatever purpose, but it turned out, along with the other need, also into what is now admired. one m
The ceiling also contributes to the matter, not being too high, but as if lying upon and not dissipating the voice. but, one might say, these are powe
He calls certain things paradoxes. and he makes a certain detection of unseen thieves, by cutting off and salting the tongues of tadpoles, then at the
For three whole days. a smith's anvil will be most easily dissolved when smeared with goat's blood. and a rooster would never crow if its nostrils are
If a crow caws twice, it indicates a share in good and pleasant deeds but if once or three or five times, it portends the opposite for you but if it
We know, but we do not encounter them, i will begin from those more familiar to us. for example, the diamond this has a glassy and gleaming color, an
It cures ulcers when drunk with milk, and it is desiccative and astringent and an antidote to acute fevers. sardonyx: this stone has a white line in i
Of the so-called elements i have undertaken for you an explanation. and i am not unaware that all who repay someone for the good they have received fr
They are fitting, and the nature above the all, which in being participated in guards that which is unparticipated, is symbolically and ineffably hidd
For these too show that from every side the first cause is equal and similar to itself and has in nothing departed from its own nature, but it is most
Echoing the diphthongs, it draws along much sound from the breath, and for this reason those are suitable for lamentations, but these simple vowels, p
The soul might know, it is goaded and maddened and is somehow unrestrained in its impulses, whence it proceeds towards all things with full speed, run
Of the second is divided in the middle and the split of the divided parts, beginning from the same impulse, proceeds to the greatest distance. for ju
For the active principle comes from close attention. but to close the eyes to such an extent as not to seem to “dwell in a small body” according to th
And you have become like ˉo, a perfected and pure intellect, both turning back into itself and restored to itself, and you have been freed from the na
Of the stream as was possible, but you have not yet drawn up the whole, but an immense sea is what has been left, which indeed is undiminished forever
Admonishing symbolically to grasp the things that appear. but the chi suggests a philosophy greater than the phi, for since that which appears often a
From there we shall also find the continuity of the preceding things in relation to this. for since the phi indicated that which appears, the chi that
But we have also set beside it something of the perfect, we have stamped this in a type and image and have fashioned the body of the discourse twofold
And this in dreams, if the soul follows the things seen, if it knows that it has been initiated, if it seems to see a light, if it supposes an intangi
It passes over places or comes to be in places, but that it undertakes relationships with bodies that are by nature adapted to change places. and as i
In that. and this was said, i think, by plato well and with deep thought. therefore, you will not give extension to eternity, nor unfold it, nor stret
Of an artful discourse, having the quality of transformation, just as if someone were to make salt waters drinkable. but moses indeed worked this wond
He makes the discourse, some reporting the service they have administered, others receiving a providential power from him. and what a truly golden flo
For having received from god the administration of things here, they both govern the things here and are not separated from divine things. therefore,
He adds the better things. such is the second opinion of the greeks concerning zeus. the third is perhaps more historical and more true for they gene
The tongue is unruly with fire, because this alone of the elements naturally bubbles and resounds continually for the earth, being stationary and unm
And true opinion, the conclusion of the intellect, is all rational and divine but imagination and sensation and all that needs a body for its existen
Flew away, it became a fair-faced virgin, like an incorruptible and pure mind, naked of its outer covering, but what was held back is a beast, hairy a
The theologians of the greeks, cancer and capricorn, but plato said two openings of these, cancer is the one through which souls descend, and caprico
Investigating things above heaven and things below the earth. and one of you nibbles at the golden chain, another at the swinging, and simply another
The better things, but the better things are not turned towards the worse, so long as it maintains its own order. thus, therefore, body ascends to sou
That through loving-kindness, having placed himself in the middle of the universe, according to plato, as a kind of paradigm he draws us to himself th
Flowing along with time, die and perish, but the word alone blossoms and grows young again and becomes mightier. but since it comes to us who have bee
A hollow sound, but not of something that has already been moved and has stopped. but homer does the opposite in his verses for he says, when he had
Of thought under a sober bacchic frenzy—so that i may say something of the more secret things—, but in order to show that for homer the bow has been n
Forms are forerunners of tracks, but now the form upon the forms, so indeed for the poet all things are at once, the bending, the stretching, the twa
Of existing things, some have a disputed existence, like a starless sphere, like the antipodes—for these are disputed, whether they exist or not—, whi
The subject is private and public problems, and its end is to persuade, while for grammar, the subject is all greek words, and its end is to never mak
It has as its subject matter things that simply are, but as its remote subject matter things that are of a certain kind, such as divine and human affa
He wills, he is able. upon which the fourth definition also follows. after plato and pythagoras, then, who defined philosophy in two ways, comes the w
A certain property having come into being for species, this they called a property, for example, to laugh belongs to man alone. seeing that some thing
It is likewise thus for the rest. synopsis of the ten categories the ancients, seeing that of things from nature some are self-subsistent, while other
Differing in number, and makes the species, such as man but if the utterance is super-substantial, that is, contemplated upon the substance, it is ei
Reads, but also he himself differs from himself when he is a child and when he has grown up, and sometimes when he is sitting, and sometimes when he i
Let us discuss. homonyms are things of which the name alone is common, but the account of the substance corresponding to the name is different, for ex
But it is in no subject, for example, man. it is predicated of some subject, that is, it is categorized, but it is in no subject, which he understands
For genera that are not subordinate to one another, the differentiae, both constitutive and divisive, are different, as for example animal and knowled
Signifying, which is also predicated of accidents, insofar as these too are called substances as having their existence in it. substance is also the n
A property. therefore he also says, it is common to every substance not to be in a subject. for as we have already said above, that which is 'in a s
They brought on the battle for the moist and cold quality, having fallen upon the hot and dry quality, destroyed the other quality. but it is not a p
Were the contraries in the same thing—, but he said receptive in order to show its potentiality. and having stated this property of substance, he ad
Of it as if some cornerstone for you say three and three are six and having said the three only, you are silent, and again you add another three,
Such a one, but if perhaps a quality of the soul for it is a certain disposition or state having its constitution. but it is necessary to know that a
Have quantity, nothing is contrary to them. but if straightness and curvedness are found concerning the line, and odd and even concerning number, yet
A little, and these are among the relatives for the great is said in relation to the small and the little is known in relation to the much. but he en
Admits of contrariety and the things concerning it will admit of relation, {for like is said more and less and} <for instance> vice is contrary to vir
Unless the correspondence is proper and exact and related to that of which it is said for example, if slave is rendered not as of a master but o
Perception, neither falling under perception nor being receptive of perception. but if perception is removed, it will not remove the perceptible objec
And these simple utterances, in turn, differ from each other by certain generic differences. for some of them signify substance, such as the utterance
And it is properly its own characteristic for substance alone, while remaining incorruptible, changes, for example, a man, altering nothing of his hu
The shape of a quality and the form existing around each thing. it differs in that shape is properly applied to inanimate things, while form is proper
Into the future like tomorrow. on position there are three kinds of position: reclining, standing, sitting for if it has all its parts upright, it
Of that which is for even when socrates is sick we say that “socrates is not healthy”. it applies also to that which is not we are able to say that
To the 'some' and the 'no one' to the 'not all' is called subaltern. therefore, with so many pairs arising from the quantified propositions, we pass o
A particle from the simple negation that says a man is not just to the predicate, to just, and to make another affirmation which is called by tran
Can also be separated, but others not, for example you can say of one who has died at the same time a dead man, but separately it is not possible to c
Negative and again if a syllogism is found composed of a universal premise and a particular one, the conclusion also becomes particular in proportion
Otherwise his heat is contradicted but zeus is the aether, an active element mixed with the quality of both dryness and heat. therefore, these elemen
To zeus. for which reason he does not linger much in the upper regions, but is cast down «from the divine threshold,» as the poet says a little later.
And produces milk. honey is not pungent of itself but well-tempered, but the tongue makes it more pungent by its own heat. there is a honey called gal
Mother of pentheus, because many when exceedingly drunk turned to murder. dionysus is naked because of the revealing of the drinker's reasoning. he de
A straightened intestine presses therefore when it is relaxed, the retained pneuma slips out. when we yawn or urinate we shiver, because some part of
And of belching <***>, is sneezing sacred? because flatulence is of the lower belly, belching of the upper, and sneezing of the head, which is most di
By a principle of heat. from diseased nourishment, reddish hair, from healthy, black. the ethiopians have woolly hair, because the hair, being dried b
The voices of irrational animals were found by imitation, for instance children call an ox from its mooing and a dog from its barking. those who are s
Strength is taken away. but the yellow bile is from the system of badly constructed flesh, so that it makes no difference to remove much bile and fles
Purges downwards, but the white one does the opposite and purges upwards. of the viviparous quadrupeds, none is suffocated by the uterus, because for
If they do not make a sound while suckling, they do not release milk, because they force everything with their breath, and they make a sound while hol
They use up moisture both in flight and in the sprouting of their feathers from then on, the dung also comes out with moisture. children form stones
The brain. perfect men do not tolerate this. some drunkards see double the muscles <of the> eyes, being filled by the great moisture and becoming sla
Has given a cure. why does still water make circles when a stone is thrown? the stone, by the tension of its throw, pushes away the water from afar be
Grow hair, because being of a cleansing nature they wipe away the phlegmatic excess. why do scars not also grow hair on humans as they do on irrationa
Is brought down. therefore the humor, having been carried into the bronchi of the lung and having filled it, generates the affection. but from peripne
Because of the perpetual motion of the lung and of the heart and because of the cough being cleansed by the sputum. when the fevers diminish, hairs an
Of the one grieving, or through weakness and incidentally as in the case of a stumbling of the toe, a bubo for when nature rushes with the blood, the
To which the ancients also gave their right hands, setting forth the perfection of the number. in the case of ringing ears, we insert the finger, beca
They have the greater part in potentiality and in actuality in the belly and liver, the alterative [power], in the sp<l>een, stomach, gall bladder an
For in the liver, as the blood is concocted by commensurate heat and moisture, a spirit is generated this, ascending through the hollow vein with the
Is spread out, that of the mouth of the stomach is wrapped around, but that of the belly becomes spherical. the same is also true for a cithara, which
To exercise reason with experience, [then] if by chance some condition befalls you, applying the reason and exercising it and finding it to be true.”
But to be prone to sweat and quick to move. older men protrude the lower lip, because their nature is relaxed, and the lower lip is larger and fleshie
Of thick-parted bodies, but of the sensitive pneuma it is a thickener and for this reason productive of sleep. if an ulcer forms on the meninx, it is
apostolic or otherwise patristic is not in our accounts; but some of those among us who are too exalted have dared to say that the seed, having taken hold of the womb, is immediately ensouled, so that neither of the parts of the composite precedes the other or comes after. But among the wise of the Greeks, some say embryos are ensouled when they are formed, others when they are about to move in the womb, and others when they are detached from the womb and shaped for birth. But the more perfect among them say that they receive the rational soul after birth, and that they change suddenly as if being kindled or rekindled by a divine light; but within the womb they live, but with a vegetative and entirely irrational life, as if rooted to the womb by the root of the navel, being supplied with nourishment, but are neither to be nor to be called animals, being imperfect for the participation of the more divine soul. For the rational soul is not, like some bird, pushed into and takes up residence in any chance cage, but is implanted by a secret union into what is suitably disposed for its reception. How could an ensouled embryo be brought to life in a moist place, with its mouth and nostrils completely shut and closed? How could they even breathe in, if there were any clean air there? But one must not, they say, infer animate life from its movements; for it does not have the power of imagination or impulse, but just as the coils of the intestines have movement when they are filled and the barks of trees move when they are rent and the plants themselves grow and turn or fold their leaves and again unfold, like the lotus according to the revolution of the luminary; but when it comes outside the womb, detached from its root, it immediately partakes of the rational soul and is a pure animal. 2. For what reason are some infants defective, and others complete? You rightly wonder concerning infants still being carried, for what reason some of them are defective in the nature of their body, while others come out with extra limbs, and some are maimed at the time of their formation, while others are complete and are formed in the beauty of their shape; and in general you are at a loss seeking the causes of newborns being one way or another. It is possible, then, to blame for these things both the parents, being in good or bad condition, and the womb itself, the natural workshop of our formation, being defective or pure; and no less shall we take into account as a cause also the states of those who unite and the times of their union; and the varied mixture of the seed gives us varied results. But Hermes, writing to Ammon the wise about this, blames other things than these for such results. For he says that, since that which is being carried is formed not only by partial but also by universal nature, and a certain varied distribution of the power of the planets flows down into it, from this it becomes of such a kind or such another according to the difference of the causes. If the account is unclear, we must make this still clearer to you. The Greeks, excellent in wisdom, dividing our nature, assign it to super-cosmic natures and to cosmic bodies and orders, and further also to the planets; and they assign our eyes to the Sun and Moon, and the sense of smell to Aphrodite and the membrane around the skull to Kronos, and so also to the others another part of the body; and they say that not only the planets, but also their decans and the fixed stars cast certain rays upon that which is being formed as an infant. And since the decans are varied in appearance, and the configurations of the planets are varied, and their relations to the fixed stars are different, the ray cast from each upon that which is being carried, if it descends from a beneficent configuration, has made the part of the infant most complete, over which the shining one was allotted to rule, but if not, defective. as for instance of the star called Zeus
ἀποστολικὸν ἢ ἄλλως πατρικὸν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς παρ' ἡμῖν λόγοις· ἐθάρρησαν δέ τινες τῶν ἄγαν ἐν ἡμῖν μεταρσίων αὐτίκα ψυχοῦσθαι
τὸ σπέρμα τῆς μήτρας ἐπιλαβόμενον, ὡς μηδέτερον τῶν μερῶν τοῦ συνθέτου πρεσβεύειν θατέρου ἢ ὑστερεῖν. τῶν δέ γε παρ' Ἕλλησι
σοφῶν οἱ μὲν μορφωθέντα ψυχοῦσι τὰ ἔμβρυα, οἱ δὲ αὐτίκα μέλλοντα κινηθῆναι κατὰ γαστρός, οἱ δὲ τῆς μήτρας ἀποσπασθέντα καὶ
διατυπωθέντα πρὸς ὄλισθον. οἱ δέ γε τελεώτεροι τούτων μετὰ τὸν τοκετὸν τὴν λογικὴν ψυχὴν μεταλαμβάνειν φασί, καὶ μεταβάλλειν
ἀθρόως ὥσπερ ὑπὸ φωτὸς θείου ἀναπτόμενα ἢ ζωπυρούμενα· ἔνδοθεν δὲ τῆς μήτρας ζῆν μέν, ἀλλὰ τὴν φυτικὴν ζωὴν καὶ παντάπασιν
ἄλογον, ὥσπερ ἐκ ῥίζης τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ κατερριζωμένα τῇ μήτρᾳ, τὴν τροφὴν χορηγούμενα, ζῷα δὲ μήτε εἶναι μήτε ὀνομάζεσθαι, ἀτελῆ
ὄντα πρὸς μετουσίαν τῆς θειοτέρας ψυχῆς. οὐ γὰρ ἡ λογικὴ ψυχὴ ὥσπερ τι πτηνὸν εἰς τὸ τυχὸν ζωγρεῖον εἰσωθεῖται καὶ ἐνοικίζεται,
ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ ἐπιτηδείως ἔχον πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνης καταδοχὴν ἀπορρήτῳ συνόδῳ ἐμφύεται. πῶς ἂν καὶ ἐν ὑγρῷ χωρίῳ ζωογονηθείη ἂν ἐζωωμένον
ἔμβρυον, μεμυκὸς δὲ καὶ παντάπασι συγκεκλεισμένον τό τε στόμα καὶ τὰς ῥῖνας; πῶς ἂν καὶ εἰσπνεύσοιεν, εἴ τις καὶ εἴη ἐκεῖσε,
ἀὴρ καθαρός; οὐ χρὴ δέ, φασίν, ἀπὸ τῶν κινήσεων αὐτοῦ τεκμαίρεσθαι τὰς ἐμψύχους ζωάς· οὐ γὰρ κατὰ φαντασίαν αὐτὸ ἢ ὁρμητικὴν
ἔχει δύναμιν, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ καὶ ἐντέρων ἕλικες πληρούμενοι κίνησιν ἔχουσι καὶ δένδρων φλοιοὶ κινοῦνται τῷ ῥήγνυσθαι καὶ αὐτὰ
δὲ τὰ φυτὰ αὐξάνεται καὶ περιστρέφεται ἢ συμπτύσσεται τοῖς φύλλοις καὶ αὖθις ἀναπλοῦται, ὥσπερ ὁ λωτὸς κατὰ τὴν τοῦ φωστῆρος
περιστροφήν· ἐπὰν δὲ ἔξω τῆς μήτρας γένηται τῆς ῥίζης ἀποσπασθέν, αὐτίκα τῆς λογικῆς μεταλαγχάνει ψυχῆς καὶ ζῷόν ἐστι καθαρόν.
βʹ. Ποίᾳ αἰτίᾳ τῶν βρεφῶν τὰ μέν εἰσιν ἐλλιπῆ, τὰ δὲ ἄρτια Θαυμάζεις εὐλόγως περὶ τῶν ἔτι κυομένων βρεφῶν, τίνι ποτὲ λόγῳ
τὰ μὲν αὐτῶν ἐλλιπῆ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ σώματος, τὰ δὲ σὺν περιττοτέροις ἔξεισι μέλεσι, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἅμα τῇ συστάσει πεπήρωται, τὰ
δὲ ἄρτιά εἰσι καὶ ἐν μορφῆς κάλλει διατετύπωται· καὶ ὅλως διαπορεῖς ἐπιζητῶν τὰς αἰτίας τῶν οὕτως ἢ ἐκείνως ἐχόντων νεογιλῶν.
ἔξεστι μὲν οὖν τούτων καὶ γονέας αἰτιάσασθαι καλῶς ἢ κακῶς ἔχοντας καὶ αὐτὴν δὴ τὴν νηδύν, τὸ φυσικὸν τῆς συμπήξεως ἡμῶν ἐργαστήριον,
πλημμελῶς ἢ εἰλικρινῶς ἔχουσαν· οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον εἰς λόγον αἰτίας θήσομεν καὶ τὰς ἕξεις τῶν μιγνυμένων καὶ τοὺς καιροὺς τοῦ
συνδυασμοῦ· καὶ ἡ τοῦ σπέρματος δὲ παντοδαπὴ κρᾶσις παντοδαπὰ ἡμῖν τὰ ἀποτελέσματα δίδωσιν. ἀλλ' ὅ γε Ἑρμῆς, Ἄμμωνι τῷ σοφῷ
περὶ τούτου ἐπιστέλλων, ἄλλ' ἄττα αἰτιᾶται τῶν τοιούτων ἀποτελεσμάτων ἢ ταῦτα. φησὶ γὰρ ὡς, ἐπειδὴ τὸ κυόμενον οὐχ ὑπὸ τῆς
μερικῆς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ὁλικῆς διαπλάττεται φύσεως, καὶ τῆς τῶν πλανήτων δὲ δυνάμεως διαμερισμός τις ποικίλος εἰς αὐτὸ
καταρρεῖ, ἐντεῦθεν τοιόνδε ἢ τοιοῦτον πρὸς τὴν διαφορὰν τῶν αἰτιῶν γίνεται. εἰ δὲ ἀσαφὴς ὁ λόγος, ἔτι σοι τοῦτο σαφηνιστέον
ἡμῖν. οἱ περιττοὶ τὴν σοφίαν Ἕλληνες, διαμερίζοντες τὴν φύσιν ἡμῶν, ὑπερκοσμίοις φύσεσι καὶ ἐγκοσμίοις σώμασί τε καὶ τάξεσιν,
ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῖς πλάνησι ταύτην διαπερατοῦσι· καὶ τοὺς μὲν ὀφθαλμοὺς ἡμῶν Ἡλίῳ καὶ Σελήνῃ ἀνατιθέασιν, Ἀφροδίτῃ δὲ τὴν ὄσφρησιν
καὶ τὸν περικράνιον ὑμένα τῷ Κρόνῳ, ὣς δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄλλο τι μέρος τοῦ σώματος· καὶ οὐ τοὺς πλανήτας μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ
τοὺς δεκάρχους αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς ἀπλανεῖς βάλλειν τινὰς ἀκτῖνας εἰς τὸ βρεφουργούμενον λέγουσιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ποικίλοι μὲν τὴν ἰδέαν
οἱ δέκαρχοι, ποικίλα δὲ τῶν πλανήτων τὰ σχήματα, διάφοροί τε τούτων αἱ πρὸς τοὺς ἀπλανεῖς σχέσεις, ἡ βαλλομένη παρ' ἑκάστου
ἀκτὶς εἰς τὸ κυόμενον εἰ μὲν ἐξ ἀγαθοποιοῦ κατέλθῃ σχήματος, ἀρτιώτατον τὸ μέρος τῷ βρέφει πεποίηκεν, οὗ κυριεύειν ὁ ἐπιλάμπων
ἔλαχεν, εἰ δ' οὖν, κολοβόν. οἷον τοῦ καλουμένου ∆ιὸς ἀστέρος
