Wherefore we ought always to manage them by regimen, as far as a
man can spare the time, and not provoke a disagreeable enemy by
medicines.
Enough of the composite animal, and of the body which is a
part of him, and of the manner in which a man may train and be
trained by himself so as to live most according to reason: and we
must above and before all provide that the element which is to
train him shall be the fairest and best adapted to that purpose.
A minute discussion of this subject would be a serious task; but
if, as before, I am to give only an outline, the subject may not
unfitly be summed up as follows.
I have often remarked that there are three kinds of soul
located within us, having each of them motions, and I must now
repeat in the fewest words possible, that one part, if remaining
inactive and ceasing from its natural motion, must necessarily
become very weak, but that which is trained and exercised, very
strong. Wherefore we should take care that the movements of the
different parts of the soul should be in due proportion.
And we should consider that God gave the sovereign part of the
human soul to be the divinity of each one, being that part which,
as we say, dwells at the top of the body, inasmuch as we are a
plant not of an earthly but of a heavenly growth, raises us from
earth to our kindred who are in heaven. And in this we say truly;
for the divine power suspended the head and root of us from that
place where the generation of the soul first began, and thus made
the whole body upright. When a man is always occupied with the
cravings of desire and ambition, and is eagerly striving to
satisfy them, all his thoughts must be mortal, and, as far as it
is possible altogether to become such, he must be mortal every
whit, because he has cherished his mortal part. But he who has
been earnest in the love of knowledge and of true wisdom, and has
exercised his intellect more than any other part of him, must
have thoughts immortal and divine, if he attain truth, and in so
far as human nature is capable of sharing in immortality, he must
altogether be immortal; and since he is ever cherishing the
divine power, and has the divinity within him in perfect order,
he will be perfectly happy. Now there is only one way of taking
care of things, and this is to give to each the food and motion
which are natural to it. And the motions which are naturally akin
to the divine principle within us are the thoughts and
revolutions of the universe. These each man should follow, and
correct the courses of the head which were corrupted at our
birth, and by learning the harmonies and revolutions of the
universe, should assimilate the thinking being to the thought,
renewing his original nature, and having assimilated them should
attain to that perfect life which the gods have set before
mankind, both for the present and the future.
Thus our original design of discoursing about the universe
down to the creation of man is nearly completed. A brief mention
may be made of the generation of other animals, so far as the
subject admits of brevity; in this manner our argument will best
attain a due proportion. On the subject of animals, then, the
following remarks may be offered. Of the men who came into the
world, those who were cowards or led unrighteous lives may with
reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in
the second generation. And this was the reason why at that time
the gods created in us the desire of sexual intercourse,
contriving in man one animated substance, and in woman another,
which they formed respectively in the following manner. The
outlet for drink by which liquids pass through the lung under the
kidneys and into the bladder, which receives then by the pressure
of the air emits them, was so fashioned by them as to penetrate
also into the body of the marrow, which passes from the head
along the neck and through the back, and which in the preceding
discourse we have named the seed. And the seed having life, and
becoming endowed with respiration, produces in that part in which
it respires a lively desire of emission, and thus creates in us
the love of procreation. Wherefore also in men the organ of
generation becoming rebellious and masterful, like an animal
disobedient to reason, and maddened with the sting of lust, seeks
to gain absolute sway; and the same is the case with the so-called
womb or matrix of women; the animal within them is desirous of
procreating children, and when remaining unfruitful long beyond
its proper time, gets discontented and angry, and wandering in
every direction through the body, closes up the passages of the
breath, and, by obstructing respiration, drives them to
extremity, causing all varieties of disease, until at length the
desire and love of the man and the woman, bringing them together
and as it were plucking the fruit from the tree, sow in the womb,
as in a field, animals unseen by reason of their smallness and
without form; these again are separated and matured within; they
are then finally brought out into the light, and thus the
generation of animals is completed.
