Stephanus 86

86a the body in its flight, it brings on diarrhea, dysentery, and all such diseases. Now the body that is sickest from excess of fire produces continual burnings and fevers; the one from air, fevers every other day; the one from water, third-day fevers—water being slower than either air or fire; while the one from earth, slowest of the four, cleansed only over periods four times as long, hardly rids itself even after bringing on quartan fevers. 86b

So the diseases of the body come about in this way; those about the soul arise from a bodily condition, as follows. We must grant that a disease of the soul is folly, and that folly has two kinds, madness and ignorance. Whatever affliction a person suffers that partakes of either of these must be called a disease; and pleasures and pains beyond all measure must be set down as the soul's greatest diseases. For a man transported with joy, or the reverse, suffering under 86c grief, who hurries to grasp the one untimely and to flee the other, can neither see nor hear anything aright, but raves, and at that moment is least capable of sharing in reasoning. Whoever has seed about the marrow in great abundance and flux, and has grown, like a tree, more fruitful than is fitting, wins many birth-pangs in each season and many pleasures in his appetites and the offspring that come of them; frantic for the better part of his life with the greatest pleasures 86d and pains, and holding a soul made sick and witless by the body, he is thought bad not as one diseased but as one willing it. Yet in truth the intemperance in matters of sex is for the most part a disease of the soul, born in a fluid and moistening body from the condition of one single kind: the sponginess of the bones. And nearly all the reproaches for incontinence of pleasures, and the disgrace laid on faults as if they were willing, are not justly made; for no one is 86e bad willingly; the bad man becomes bad through some corrupt condition of the body and an uneducated nurture—things hateful to every man and arriving against his will. And once more, in the matter of pains, the soul likewise owes much of its wickedness to the body.

Timaeus: For whenever any of the sharp and salty phlegms, and any of the bitter and bilious humors, wanders through the body, wins no vent for breath outside, and coils about within,

86a the body it falls out, and causes diarrhea, dysentery, and all such diseases. So a body that has fallen sick mainly from an excess of fire produces continual burnings and fevers; one from air, fevers every other day; one from water, tertian fevers, because water is slower than air and fire; and one from earth, which is four times as slow as these and is cleansed in periods four times as long, produces quartan fevers and is barely rid of them. 86b

That is how the diseases of the body come about; those of the soul come about through the state of the body in this way. Folly must be agreed to be a disease of the soul, and there are two kinds of folly: madness and ignorance. So whatever experience gives someone either of these must be called a disease, and excessive pleasures and pains we must count as the greatest diseases of the soul. For a person who is overcome with joy, or in the opposite case tormented by 86c grief, rushing to grab the one at the wrong time or to run away from the other, can see or hear nothing straight, and rages, and at that time is least able to take part in reasoning. A person whose seed is abundant and runny around the marrow, and who is by nature like a tree that bears more fruit than is right—having many birth pangs at each act and many pleasures in his desires and in the births that come of them—becomes mad for most of his life because of the greatest pleasures 86d and pains; and since his soul is sick and foolish because of the body, he is thought to be not sick but willingly bad. But in truth, sexual excess for the most part, through the condition of one kind of thing in the body—the looseness of the bones that makes things runny and wet—has become a disease of the soul. And almost everything said in blame of lack of self-control with pleasures—and the reproach that such bad acts are done on purpose—is not rightly blamed; for no one is bad 86e willingly. The bad person becomes bad through some bad condition of the body and an upbringing without teaching, and these things come to everyone unwanted and against their will. And again, in the same way, the soul gets much of its badness in relation to pains through the body.

Timaeus: Whenever any of the sharp and salty phlegms, or any bitter and bilious humors, wander through the body, get no breath outside, and are coiled up inside,

86a and it produces diarrhoea and dysentery and all suchlike maladies.

When a body has become diseased mainly from an excess of fire, it produces constant inflammations and fevers; when from air, quotidian fevers; when from water, tertian fevers, because that element is more sluggish than air or fire; and when from earth, which is the fourth and most sluggish of the elements and is purged in four-fold periods of time, it causes quartan fevers and is cured with difficulty. 86b

Such is the manner in which diseases of the body come about; and those of the soul which are due to the condition of the body arise in the following way. We must agree that folly is a disease of the soul; and of folly there are two kinds, the one of which is madness, the other ignorance. Whatever affection a man suffers from, if it involves either of these conditions it must be termed disease; and we must maintain that pleasures and pains in excess are the greatest of the soul’s diseases. For when a man is overjoyed or contrariwise suffering excessively 86c from pain, being in haste to seize on the one and avoid the other beyond measure, he is unable either to see or to hear anything correctly, and he is at such a time distraught and wholly incapable of exercising reason. And whenever a man’s seed grows to abundant volume in his marrow, as it were a tree that is overladen beyond measure with fruit, he brings on himself time after time many pangs and many pleasures owing to his desires and the issue thereof, and comes to be in a state of madness 86d for the most part of his life because of those greatest of pleasures and pains, and keeps his soul diseased and senseless by reason of the action of his body. Yet such a man is reputed to be voluntarily wicked and not diseased; although, in truth, this sexual incontinence, which is due for the most part to the abundance and fluidity of one substance because of the porosity of the bones, constitutes a disease of the soul. And indeed almost all those affections which are called by way of reproach incontinence in pleasure, as though the wicked acted voluntarily, are wrongly so reproached; for no one is voluntarily wicked, 86e but the wicked man becomes wicked by reason of some evil condition of body and unskilled nurture, and these are experiences which are hateful to everyone and involuntary. And again, in respect of pains likewise the soul acquires much evil because of the body.

Timaeus: For whenever the humors which arise from acid and saline phlegms, and all humors that are bitter and bilious wander through the body and find no external vent