Stephanus 67

67a follows. Hence these variations of theirs have come to be nameless—not arising from many kinds, nor from simple ones—and here only the pleasant and the painful show themselves plainly, spoken of in two ways: the one roughening and doing violence to the whole cavity within us, as much of us as lies between the crown of the head and the navel; the other soothing this same region and giving it back, gratefully, to its natural state.

Examining the third sensitive region in us, about 67b hearing, we must say by what causes its affections occur. Let us define voice, in general, as the blow passed through the ears by air, brain and blood, clear to the soul; and hearing as the motion this blow sets up, beginning at the head and ending at the seat of the liver: so much of it as is swift makes the sound high, so much as slower makes it deep; the uniform is smooth and level, its opposite rough; 67c what is much is loud, its opposite small. Of their consonance with one another we must speak in what comes later.

A fourth sensitive kind still remains for us, which we must divide—it holds many varieties within itself. All of them we called colors: a flame streaming off each of the bodies, its particles matched in scale to sight for perception; and of sight's coming to be, the causes were told earlier. 67d Here then, about colors, above all, a fair account ought to make its way through in order: the particles traveling from other bodies and falling upon sight are some smaller, some larger, some equal to the parts of sight itself. The equal are imperceptible—these are what we call transparent; the larger and the smaller, the one combining sight, the other dividing it, are brothers to 67e the hot and the cold about our flesh, the astringent about the tongue, and the kinds we named pungent for their heating: white and black are these same affections come to be in another kind, yet appearing different through these causes.

Timaeus: So they should be named: what divides sight is white; its opposite, black; and the swifter current of another kind of fire, which falls upon and divides sight clear to the eyes, and the very outflows of the eyes

67a follows. That is why the many varieties of these two have come to be nameless. They are not made of many simple kinds. In that place only two show plainly: the pleasant and the painful. The painful kind is rough and forces the whole cavity, the part of us that lies between the crown of the head and the navel. The pleasant kind is the same thing in reverse: it soothes, and gives back again graciously, as its nature is.

A third perceptive part in us to examine is 67b hearing, and we must say what causes its conditions. Let us say in general that sound is a blow carried through the ears by air, brain, and blood, all the way to the soul. Hearing is the movement that blow sets up: it begins at the head and ends at the seat of the liver. The faster it moves, the higher the sound; the slower it is, the lower. The movement that is even is smooth and level; the opposite is rough. 67c A great movement is loud; the opposite is soft. The harmony of these sounds must be treated in what will be said later.

One sense kind is still left, the fourth. It has many varieties within it, and we must divide them. We called all of them together colors: a flame that streams off each body, made of particles matched in size to sight for perception. The causes of the birth of sight were told 67d earlier. About colors, then, a fair and fitting account should go through them. Particles travel from other bodies and fall on sight. Some are smaller than the parts of sight, some larger, some the same size. The ones of the same size are not felt at all; we call these transparent. The larger and the smaller ones act on sight: the larger combine it, the smaller divide it. White and black are brother and sister to the hot and cold in the flesh, to the harsh 67e things of the tongue, and to the heating things we called pungent. They are those same conditions born again in a different kind, but they appear as something else for these reasons.

Timaeus: So we should name them this way. White is what divides sight. Black is its opposite. The swifter motion of another kind of fire strikes and splits sight all the way out to the eyes, and it forces the passages of the eyes themselves

67a not being derived either from many or from simple forms, but are indicated by two distinctive terms only, pleasant and painful of which the one kind roughens and violently affects the whole of our bodily cavity which lies between the head and the navel, whereas the other mollifies this same region and restores it agreeably to its natural condition.

The third organ of perception within us which we have to describe in our survey is that of hearing, 67b and the causes whereby its affections are produced. In general, then, let us lay it down that sound is a stroke transmitted through the ears, by the action of the air upon the brain and the blood, and reaching to the soul; and that the motion caused thereby, which begins in the head and ends about the seat of the liver, is hearing; and that every rapid motion produces a shrill sound, and every slower motion a more deep sound; and that uniform motion produces an even and smooth sound and the opposite kind of motion a harsh sound; 67c and that large motion produces loud sound, and motion of the opposite kind soft sound. The subject of concords of sounds must necessarily be treated in a later part of our exposition.

We have still remaining a fourth kind of sensation, which we must divide up seeing that it embraces numerous varieties, which, as a whole, we call colors. This consists of a flame which issues from the several bodies, and possesses particles so proportioned to the visual stream as to produce sensation; and as regards the visual stream, we have already stated merely the causes which produced it. 67d Concerning colors, then, the following explanation will be the most probable and worthy of a judicious account. Of the particles which fly off from the rest and strike into the visual stream some are smaller, some larger, and some equal to the particles of the stream itself; those, then, that are equal are imperceptible, and we term them transparent; while the larger and smaller particles—of which the one kind contracts, the other dilates the visual stream—are akin to the particles of heat and cold which affect the flesh, 67e and to the astringent particles which affect the tongue, and to all the heating particles which we call bitter with these white and black are really identical affections, occurring in a separate class of sensation, although they appear different for the causes stated.

Timaeus: These, therefore, are the names we must assign to them: that which dilates the visual stream is white and the opposite thereof black; and the more rapid motion, being that of a different species of fire, which strikes upon the visual stream and dilates it as far as to the eyes, and penetrating