Stephanus 74

74a remaining below; and about the marrow of neck and spine together he shaped the vertebrae out of it and strung them like spools, beginning from the head, through the whole cavity. And so, to keep all this seed safe, he walled it round with a stony enclosure, making joints, and using in them the one part against the other as a power standing in between, for the sake of movement and bending. But judging the condition of the bony nature 74b harder and less bending than was due—and that when it grew hot and then cooled again it would putrefy quickly and spoil the seed shut up within it—for these reasons he contrived the kind of sinew and of flesh: with the sinew, binding all the limbs as it tightened and slackened about the spools, to let the body bend and stretch; and flesh he made to be a screen against summer's heats, a wrap against winter's, and besides, like padded wares, a possession against falls, 74c yielding softly and gently to hard bodies, holding within itself a warm moisture that in summer would keep free of sour sweat and, moistened, furnish a natural coolness through the whole body from outside; and in winter, again, with this same inner fire, would beat off in good measure the frost that assails from without and closes round. Our fashioner, planning all this, mingling water and fire and earth and fitting them together, kneading in a leaven of sharp and salt, 74d made flesh moist and soft; and the nature of sinew he blended from bone and unmixed flesh, tempering the two into one mean power, and giving it a yellow color. So sinew got its force—tenser and more glutinous than flesh, softer and wetter than bone; and wrapping bones and marrow about with these, binding them to one another with sinews, the god then overshadowed them all from above with flesh. 74e The bones that had most soul in them he walled in with the least flesh; those that had least, within, with the most and the densest flesh; and at the meeting-places of the bones, wherever reason showed no necessity for flesh to be there, he grew it thin, so that, standing in the way of the bends, they might not make the body hard to live in, being slow to move—nor yet, when many and dense and rammed hard against one another, breed numbness by their solidity, making the thoughts harder to remember and duller of hearing.

Timaeus: And so the flesh upon the thighs and shins and

74a a narrow opening. And he molded vertebrae from it for the marrow of the neck and of the back at once, and spread them under it like fastenings, starting from the head and running through the whole body-trunk. In this way he kept the whole seed safe and walled it in with a stone-like fence. He set joints in it, using each one against the next, with a middle power placed between them, for the sake of movement and bending. But he judged that the bony nature 74b was too hard and too unbending, and that when it took fire and then cooled it would fester and quickly ruin the seed shut up inside it. So he contrived the race of sinews and the race of flesh in this way. With the sinews he tied all the limbs together, and as they tighten and slacken around the fastenings, the body can bend and stretch. The flesh he made to be a screen against summer heats, a shelter against winter cold, and a quilted pad against falls, like padded goods; it gives way gently and softly to bodies, and it holds warm moisture inside itself. In summer that moisture makes it sweat, and watered from outside, it spreads its own coolness over the whole body. In winter, this same warmth 74c fights back in due measure against the frost that comes at it from outside and closes around it. Our wax-modeler thought all this out. He mixed water and fire and earth together and fitted them as one. Out of sharp and salty stuff he made a 74d leavened lump and kneaded it in with them, and so he built flesh that was juicy and soft. And the nature of sinew he blended out of bone and flesh without leaven, mixing the two into one middle power, and he gave it a yellow color. So sinews won a power tighter and more gluey than flesh, but softer and wetter than bone. With these the god wrapped bones and marrow together, tied them to one another with sinews, and after that he shaded them all with flesh 74e on top. The bones that held the most soul he fenced in with the least flesh. The ones that held the least soul within he covered with the most flesh and the thickest. And at the joints of the bones, wherever reason showed there had to be a joint, he grew only a little flesh. He did this so that the flesh would not stand in the way of the bendings and make the bodies hard to live with, as they grew stiff and slow to move. Nor did he want many thick layers pressed very hard into one another, which by their hardness bring numbness, to make the mind slower to remember and duller in its thinking.

Timaeus: That is why the bone of the thighs and of the shins, and

74a of both neck and back He molded vertebrae of bone, and set them, like pivots, in a vertical row, throughout all the trunk, beginning from the head. And thus for preserving the whole seed He closed it in with a ring-fence of stony substance; and therein He made joints, using as an aid the power of the Other as an intermediary between them, for the sake of movement and bending. 74b And inasmuch as He deemed that the texture of the bony substance was too hard and inflexible, and that if it were fired and cooled again it would decay and speedily destroy the seed within it, for these reasons He contrived the species known as sinew and flesh. He designed to bind all the limbs together by means of the former, which tightens and relaxes itself around the pivots, and thus cause the body to bend and stretch itself. And the flesh He designed to be a shield against the heat and a shelter against the cold; and, moreover, that in case of falls it should yield to the body softly and gently, like padded garments; 74c and, inasmuch as it contains within it warm moisture, that it should supply in summer, by its perspiration and dampness, a congenial coolness over the exterior of the whole body, and contrariwise in winter defend the body sufficiently, by means of its fire, from the frost which attacks and surrounds it from without. Wherefore, with this intent, our Modeller mixed and blended together water and fire and earth, and compounding a ferment of acid and salt 74d mixed it in therewith, and thus molded flesh full of sap and soft. And the substance of the sinews He compounded of a mixture of bone and unfermented flesh, forming a single substance blended of both and intermediate in quality, and he used yellow also for its coloring. Hence it is that the sinews have acquired a quality that is firmer and more rigid than flesh, but softer and more elastic than bone. With these, then, God enclosed the bones and marrow, first binding them one to another with the sinews, and then shrouding them all over with flesh. 74e

All the bones, then, that possessed most soul He enclosed in least flesh, but the bones which contained least soul with most and most dense flesh; moreover, at the junctions of the bones, except where reason revealed some necessity for its existence, He made but little flesh to grow, lest by hindering the flexions it should make the bodies unwieldy, because stiff in movement, or else through its size and density, when thickly massed together, it should produce insensitiveness, owing to its rigidity, and thereby cause the intellectual parts to be more forgetful and more obtuse.

Timaeus: Wherefore