Stephanus 73

73a they took this counsel: foreseeing it, they set the so-called lower belly lower down as a receiving vessel for the surplus drink, and for the food that would come along with it; and they coiled the growth of the intestines round about it, so that the food should not hurry through and compel the body, all too soon, to need more food again, breeding insatiability, and make the whole kind through gluttony unphilosophical and unmusical, disobedient to what is most divine in us. 73b

About bone and flesh, and all such nature, this is how it fell out. The beginning of them all was the generation of marrow; for the bonds of life, the soul being yoked to the body, are fastened out in this, and rooted the mortal kind; and marrow itself came to be out of others. Whatever of the first triangles were from the start without warp and smooth, such as could offer fire, water, air and earth with the most exactness—each kind by itself 73c the god drew off from its own kind, and mingled them with one another in due measure, making, as it were, a store of seed for every mortal kind; out of these he wrought the marrow. And after this, planting within it, he lodged there the kinds of souls, dividing the marrow itself, straight away in the first apportionment, into as many shapes, and such, as each kind was in turn to take shape in. And the part that was to hold within itself the divine seed, molding it round about on every side like a tilled field, he named that portion of marrow 73d the brain, meaning that when each creature was finished, the vessel about this would become its head; and the part that was to receive what remained of soul, the mortal part, he divided into shapes both round and oblong—all of it he called marrow—and then, as when a man casts anchors, he worked out of these the bonds of all soul round about this whole body of ours, first riveting to it a covering over 73e the whole: bone. Bone comes to be on this wise: he sifted earth clean and smooth, kneaded it and steeped it in marrow, and after this set it into fire, then dipped it into water, and again into fire, and again into water; and so passing it back and forth many times between the two, he made it insoluble by both.

Timaeus: Working with this, then, he wound about the brain a sphere of bone, and left for it a narrow passage out

73a come to its end while still unfinished, they saw all this ahead of time. They set up the so-called lower belly as a place to receive the leftover of the drink and the food. They coiled the guts around it. They did this so that food rushing through too fast would not force the body to want more food again at once, and so that its endless hunger would not, through gluttony, make the whole race without love of wisdom and without the Muses, and disobedient to the most divine thing in us. 73b

Now about the bones and the flesh and all that kind of nature, this is how it went. For all of them together, the beginning was the birth of the marrow. The bonds of life were anchored in it, for the soul was made to serve with the body there, and so they rooted the mortal kind. But the marrow itself was made from other things. Of the triangles, the god took all those that were by nature at the first the least crooked and the smoothest, and could most exactly furnish fire, water, air, and earth. Each sort he sifted out from its own 73c kind, and he mixed them with one another in due measure. In this way he made a seed-mixture for every mortal kind, and out of them he worked the marrow. After that he planted it, and in it he sowed the kinds of souls. And as he made the first division, he split the marrow itself into as many shapes, and such shapes, as each kind of soul would later have. The part that was to hold the divine seed, like a field, he shaped round on every side. He named that share of the marrow 73d the brain, because when each living thing was finished, the vessel around this part would become the head. The part that was to hold the rest of the soul, the mortal part, he split at the same time into shapes both round and long. He named all of it marrow. Then, as if dropping anchor from it, he worked out of these the bonds of the whole soul, and bound them around this whole body of ours. He first fastened a covering of bone over 73e all of it. And bone comes together like this. He sifted out earth that was clean and smooth. He kneaded it and wet it with marrow. Then he dipped it into fire, and after that into water, then again into fire, and again into water. He carried it back and forth this way many times between the two, and he made it so that neither of the two could dissolve it.

Timaeus: Using this bone, then, he first turned a round shell of bone about the brain, and for it he left

73a and the mortal kind, while still incomplete, come straightway to a complete end,—foreseeing this, the Gods set the abdomen, as it is called, to serve as a receptacle for the holding of the superfluous meat and drink; and round about therein they coiled the structure of the entrails, to prevent the food from passing through quickly and thereby compelling the body to require more food quickly, and causing insatiate appetite, whereby the whole kind by reason of its gluttony would be rendered devoid of philosophy and of culture, and disobedient to the most divine part we possess.

As regards the bones and the flesh and all such substances 73b the position was this. All these had their origin in the generation of the marrow. For it was in this that the bonds of life by which the Soul is bound to the body were fastened, and implanted the roots of the mortal kind; but the marrow itself was generated out of other elements. Taking all these primary triangles which, being unwarped and smooth, were best able to produce with exactness fire and water and air and earth, God separated them, each apart from his own kind, 73c and mixing them one with another in due proportion, He fashioned therefrom the marrow, devising it as a universal seed-stuff for every mortal kind. Next, He engendered therein the various kinds of Soul and bound them down; and He straightway divided the marrow itself, in His original division, into shapes corresponding in their number and their nature to the number and the nature of the shapes which should belong to the several kinds of Soul. And that portion of the marrow which was intended to receive within itself, as it were into a field, the divine seed He molded 73d in the shape of a perfect globe and bestowed on it the name of brain, purposing that, when each living creature should be completed, the vessel surrounding this should be called the head. But that portion which was to contain the other and mortal part of the Soul He divided into shapes that were at once rounded and elongated, and all these He designated marrow; and from these, as from anchors, He cast out bands of the Whole Soul, and around this He finally wrought the whole of this body of ours, when He had first built round about it for a shelter a framework 73e all of bone.

And bone He compounded in this wise. Having sifted earth till it was pure and smooth, He kneaded it and moistened it with marrow; then He placed it in fire, and after that dipped it in water, and from this back to fire, and once again in water; and by thus transferring it many times from the one element to the other He made it so that it was soluble by neither.

Timaeus: This, then, He used, and fashioned thereof, by turning, a bony sphere round about the brain; and therein he left a narrow opening; and around the marrow