Stephanus 91

91a birth. And at that time, because of these things, the gods contrived the passion of union: they shaped a living creature in us and another in women, giving each a soul, and made each in this way. Into the passage for drink—by which the liquid, passing through the lungs under the kidneys into the bladder and pressed by the breath, is sent out with it—they bored, opening it into the marrow that stands fixed from the head down through the neck along the spine, 91b which in the earlier account we called seed. And this, being ensouled and taking in breath—by the very channel through which it breathed—implanted in it a living desire for flowing forth, and brought the passion for begetting to completion. That is why in men the nature about the genitals has become disobedient and self-willed, like a creature that will not be ruled by reason, and under frenzied appetites strives to master all; while in 91c women again the so-called matrix and womb, for the same reasons, being a desiring creature lodged within for the making of children, when it remains unfruitful beyond the due season for a long while, bears its indignation angrily, and wandering everywhere through the body, blocking the out-paths of breath and suffering nothing to breathe, it casts one into the utmost straits and brings on all manner of other diseases, until the desire and the 91d passion of both, gathering them together—as one plucks fruit from trees—sow upon the womb as upon a plowed field living creatures invisible through their smallness and not yet formed, and then, separating them again and rearing them great within, bring them after that into the light and accomplish the birth of living creatures. Thus women came to be, and the whole female kind. But the tribe of birds was being reshaped, growing feathers instead of hair, from the harmless men, the light ones, who had their heads in the heavens yet believed, in their simplicity, 91e that the proofs about such things were most secure through sight. And the land-going and wild kind came to be from those who made no use of philosophy and gazed not at all on the nature of the heavens, because they no longer used the revolutions in the head, but followed the ruling parts of the soul about the chest.

Timaeus: From these ways of life, then, their forelimbs and heads, dragged toward the ground by kinship, were braced upon the earth, and they took on elongated and manifold

91a birth; and at that time, for these reasons, the gods crafted the desire for sex, forming a living creature with a soul—one in us and one in women—making each of them in this way. They bored a channel from the passage of drink—where what we drink passes through the lung, down past the kidneys into the bladder, and is squeezed out again by the breath—through to the marrow that is set together from the head down the neck and along the spine, 91b which we called seed in our earlier accounts. This marrow, being alive and having taken breath, put into the place where it breathed a living desire for outlet, and so brought to completion the desire to beget. That is why in men the part around the genitals has become disobedient and self-willed, like a creature that will not listen to reason, and it tries to rule everything through mad desires. And in 91c women, for these same reasons, the womb—the so-called matrix—being a creature with a desire for childbearing, when it stays fruitless past its season for a long time, grows angry and takes it hard; and wandering all over the body, blocking the channels of the breath and not letting them breathe, it drives them into the worst difficulties and causes all kinds of other diseases. This lasts until the desire and the 91d passion of the two bring them together and, like picking fruit from trees, they sow into the womb as into a field living things too small to see and unformed; then they separate them out and grow them large inside, and after that bring them to the light and complete the coming-to-be of living creatures. Women, then, and the whole female sex came to be in this way. The race of birds was reshaped, growing feathers instead of hair, from men who were harmless but light-minded, and given to studying the sky, who in their simple-mindedness believed that the surest proofs about these things come through sight 91e. The land-going and beastly kind came to be from those who made no use of philosophy and paid no attention at all to the nature of the heaven, because they no longer used the revolutions in the head, but followed the leading parts of the soul that are around the chest.

Timaeus: From these ways of life their front limbs and their heads were pulled down to the earth by kinship and pressed into it, and they got long and varied

91a at their second incarnation, into women. And it was for this reason that the gods at that time contrived the love of sexual intercourse by constructing an animate creature of one kind in us men, and of another kind in women; and they made these severally in the following fashion. From the passage of egress for the drink, where it receives and joins in discharging the fluid which has come through the lungs beneath the kidneys into the bladder and has been compressed by the air, they bored a hole into the condensed marrow which comes from the head down by the neck and along the spine 91b which marrow, in our previous account, we termed seed. And the marrow, inasmuch as it is animate and has been granted an outlet, has endowed the part where its outlet lies with a love for generating by implanting therein a lively desire for emission. Wherefore in men the nature of the genital organs is disobedient and self-willed, like a creature that is deaf to reason, and it attempts to dominate all because of its frenzied lusts. 91c And in women again, owing to the same causes, whenever the matrix or womb, as it is called,—which is an indwelling creature desirous of child-bearing,—remains without fruit long beyond the due season, it is vexed and takes it ill; and by straying all ways through the body and blocking up the passages of the breath and preventing respiration it casts the body into the uttermost distress, and causes, moreover, all kinds of maladies; until the desire and love of the two sexes unite them. Then, culling as it were the fruit from trees, 91d they sow upon the womb, as upon ploughed soil, animalcules that are invisible for smallness and unshapen; and these, again, they mold into shape and nourish to a great size within the body; after which they bring them forth into the light and thus complete the generation of the living creature.

In this fashion, then, women and the whole female sex have come into existence.

And the tribe of birds are derived by transformation, growing feathers in place of hair, from men who are harmless but light-minded—men, too, who, being students of the worlds above, suppose in their simplicity that the most solid proofs about such matters are obtained by the sense of sight. 91e And the wild species of animal that goes on foot is derived from those men who have paid no attention at all to philosophy nor studied at all the nature of the heavens, because they ceased to make use of the revolutions within the head and followed the lead of those parts of the soul which are in the breast.

Timaeus: Owing to these practices they have dragged their front limbs and their head down to the earth, and there planted them, because of their kinship therewith; and they have acquired elongated heads of every shape, according as their several revolutions have been distorted by disuse.