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and gatherers of the uncompounded and those who ponder the infinite, whence the circular assembly and revolution of the heavenly bodies, not from one mass of atoms being irrationally hurled forth in this way, but of so great a circular chorus proceeding equally in rhythm and whirling around together, whence did innumerable, unordered, and unintentional fellow travelers, unknown to one another, come together? And well did the prophet place among the impossible and unprovable things the coming together of even two strangers: “Will two,” he says, “walk together at all, unless they know one another?” 14.25.17 Having said these things and having added countless others to them, he next constructs the problem at greater length from the individual elements of the universe, from the various animals in them, and indeed from the nature of man. From these I will add a few more brief points to what has been said and bring the present discourse to a close.

14.26.1 20. FROM THE NATURE OF MAN

“And they see neither themselves nor the things concerning themselves. For if one of the founders of this impious dogma were to consider who he is and from whence he came, he would have thought what the one who was conscious of himself thought, and would have said not to the atoms, but to his father and maker: ‘Your hands have fashioned me and made me,’ and he would have further elaborated, as that one did, on the wondrous manner of his own creation: ‘Or did you not milk me like milk, and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and mercy, and your visitation has preserved my spirit.’ 14.26.2 For how many atoms and of what kind did the father of Epicurus pour forth from himself when he begat Epicurus? And how, being enclosed in his mother’s womb, were they compacted, shaped, formed, moved, and made to grow, and the small drop, having summoned many atoms of Epicurus, clothed him with some that became skin and flesh, while by others that were ossified 14.26.3 he is held erect, and by others he was bound together, being stitched with sinews, and it fitted together the many other limbs and viscera and inward parts and organs of sense, some within, others without, through which the body was brought to life? Of these nothing idle or useless was added, since not even the most insignificant parts, neither hair nor nails, but all contribute, some to the benefit of the constitution, others to the beauty of the appearance. 14.26.4 For Providence is careful not only of utility, but also of beauty. For the hair is a defense and covering for everyone’s head, and the beard is a mark of seemliness for the philosopher. And it harmonized the nature of the whole human body from all its necessary parts and bestowed upon all the limbs both their communion with one another 14.26.5 and measured out the provision from the whole. Of these the general functions are evident even to the unlearned from the power which experience has: the supremacy of the head, and around the brain, like a ruler in an acropolis, the bodyguard of the senses; sight approaching, hearing reporting, taste as if levying tribute, smell as if tracking and investigating, 14.26.6 and touch ordering everything subject to it—for now we shall but briefly run over a few of the works of all-wise Providence, which we shall treat more accurately in a little while, God willing, when we address the one who seems more eloquent; 14.26.7 the service of the hands, through which all sorts of tasks and resourceful crafts are accomplished, their individual powers being articulated into a single cooperation, the burden-bearing of the shoulders and the graspings of the fingers and the bendings of the elbows, turning both inward toward the body and pointing outward, in order to draw in and to

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καὶ τῶν ἀσυνθέτων συναγωγεῖς καὶ τὰ ἄπειρα περινοοῦντες, πόθεν ἡ κυκλοφορικὴ τῶν οὐρανίων συνοδία περιοδία, οὐχ ἑνὸς παραλόγως ἀτόμων πήγματος οὕτω σφενδονηθέντος, ἀλλὰ τοσούτου κυκλίου χοροῦ κατὰ ῥυθμὸν ἴσα βαίνοντος καὶ συμπεριδινουμένου, πόθεν ἀδιάτακτοι καὶ ἀπροαίρετοι καὶ ἀγνῶτες ἀλλήλων συνέμποροι παμπληθεῖς συνανεστράφησαν. καλῶς τε ὁ προφήτης ἐν τοῖς ἀδυνάτοις καὶ ἀνενδείκτοις ἔταξε τὸ ξένους κἂν δύο συνδραμεῖν· «Εἰ πορεύσονται φησί δύο ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καθόλου, ἐὰν μὴ γνωρίσωσιν ἑαυτούς;»« 14.25.17 Ταῦτ' εἰπὼν μυρία τε ἄλλα τούτοις ἐπαγαγὼν ἑξῆς κατασκευάζει διὰ πλειόνων τὸ πρόβλημα ἀπό τε τῶν κατὰ μέρος στοιχείων τοῦ παντὸς ἀπό τε τῶν ἐν τούτοις παντοδαπῶν ζῴων καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τἀνθρώπου φύσεως. ἐξ ὧν ἔτι βραχέα τοῖς εἰρημένοις προσθεὶς καταπαύσω τὸν παρόντα λόγον·

14.26.1 κʹ. ΑΠΟ ΤΗΣ ΤΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΥ ΦΥΣΕΩΣ

«Καὶ οὔτε ἑαυτοὺς οὔτε τὰ περὶ ἑαυτοὺς ὁρῶσιν. εἰ γάρ τις τῶν ἀρχηγετῶν τοῦ τῆς ἀσεβείας ταύτης δόγματος ἑαυτὸν ὅστις ἐστὶ καὶ ὅθεν ἀνελογίζετο, ἐφρόνησεν ἂν ἅπερ ὁ συνῃσθημένος ἑαυτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν ἂν οὐ πρὸς τὰς ἀτόμους, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ποιητὴν ἑαυτοῦ· «Αἱ χεῖρές σου ἔπλασάν με καὶ ἐποίησάν με» καὶ προσεπεξειργάσατο ἂν ὡς ἐκεῖνος τὸν θαυμάσιον τῆς ποιήσεως ἑαυτοῦ τρόπον· «Ἢ οὐχ ὥσπερ γάλα με ἤμελξας, ἐτύρωσας δέ με ἴσα τυρῷ, δέρμα καὶ κρέας με ἐνέδυσας, ὀστέοις δὲ καὶ νεύροις με ἐνεῖρας; ζωὴν δὲ καὶ ἔλεος ἔθου παρ' ἐμοί, ἡ δὲ ἐπισκοπή σου ἐφύλαξέ μου τὸ πνεῦμα.» 14.26.2 πόσας γὰρ ἀτόμους ὁ Ἐπικούρου πατὴρ καὶ ποταπὰς ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ προέχεεν, ὅτ' ἀπεσπέρμαινεν Ἐπίκουρον; καὶ πῶς εἰς τὴν μητρῴαν αὐτοῦ κατακλῃσθεῖσαι γαστέρα συνεπάγησαν, ἐσχηματίσθησαν, ἐμορφώθησαν, ἐκινήθησαν, ηὐξήνθησαν, καὶ πολλὰς ἡ βραχεῖα ῥανὶς τὰς Ἐπικούρου ἀτόμους προσκαλεσαμένη τὰς μὲν ἐπημφίεσεν αὐτὸν δέρμα καὶ σάρκα γενομένας, ταῖς δὲ ὀστω14.26.3 θείσαις ἀνώρθωται, ταῖς δὲ συνεδέθη νευρορραφούμενος, τά τε ἄλλα πολλὰ μέλη καὶ σπλάγχνα καὶ ἔγκατα καὶ αἰσθητήρια τὰ μὲν ἔνδοθεν, τὰ δὲ θύραθεν ἐφήρμοσε, δι' ὧν ἐζῳογονήθη τὸ σῶμα; ὧν οὐδὲν ἀργὸν οὐδὲ ἀχρεῖον προσετέθη, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τὰ φαυλότατα, μήτε τρίχες μήτε ὄνυχες, πάντα δέ, τὰ μὲν πρὸς τὸ τῆς συστάσεως ὄφελος, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὸ κάλλος τῆς ὄψεως συντε14.26.4 λεῖ. οὐ γὰρ τῆς χρείας μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ὥρας ἐπιμελὴς ἡ Πρόνοια. ἔρυμα μὲν γὰρ καὶ σκέπασμα πᾶσι τῆς κεφαλῆς ἡ κόμη, εὐπρέπεια δὲ ὁ πώγων τῷ φιλοσόφῳ. τήν τε τοῦ ὅλου σώματος τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου φύσιν ἐκ τῶν μερῶν ἀναγκαίων πάντων ἥρμοσε καὶ τοῖς μέλεσι πᾶσι τήν τε πρὸς ἄλληλα 14.26.5 κοινωνίαν περιέβαλε καὶ τὴν παρὰ τοῦ ὅλου χορηγίαν ἐπεμέτρησεν. ὧν τὰ μὲν ὁλοσχερῆ καὶ τοῖς ἰδιώταις ἐκ τῆς πείρας ἣν ἔχει δύναμιν πρόδηλα· κεφαλῆς ἡγεμονία καὶ περὶ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον, ὥσπερ ἄρχοντα ἐν ἀκροπόλει, τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἡ δορυφορία· προσιοῦσαι μὲν ὄψεις, ἀναγγέλλουσαι δὲ ἀκοαί, ἐδωδὴ ὥσπερ φορολογοῦσα, ὄσφρησις καθάπερ ἀνιχνεύουσα καὶ διερευνω14.26.6 μένη καὶ ἁφὴ πᾶν διατάττουσα τὸ ὑπήκοον κεφαλαιωδῶς γὰρ νῦν ὀλίγα τῶν τῆς πανσόφου Προνοίας ἔργων ἐπιδραμούμεθα, μετ' ὀλίγον ἀκριβέστερον τοῦ θεοῦ διδόντος ἐπεξεργασόμενοι, ὅταν πρὸς τὸν δοκοῦντα λογιώτερον 14.26.7 ἀποτεινώμεθα· χειρῶν διακονία, δι' ὧν ἐργασίαι τε παντοῖαι καὶ πολυμήχανοι τελοῦνται τέχναι ταῖς κατὰ μέρος δυνάμεσιν εἰς μίαν συνεργίαν διηρθρωμένων, ὤμων τε ἀχθοφορίαι καὶ κατοχαὶ δακτύλων ἀγκώνων τε καμπαί, πρός τε τὸ σῶμα εἴσω στρεφόμεναι καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐκτὸς ἀπονεύουσαι, ἵνα ἐφέλκεσθαί τε καὶ