ARISTOTLE 



parents, or to the heat or " movement " contributed by 

 the male or otherwise provided (e.g., by the Sun). 

 TiV/xnerpos KivTjais is also mentioned in connexion with 

 the amount of fluid in the pupil of the eye (779 b 25 ; 

 cf. 780 b 24). The meaning throughout is that the 

 amount of substance, or of heat, must be adjusted in the 

 correct proportion ; and this, as the context at 786 b 5 

 indicates, means suitably adjusted between the two 

 extremes of too much and too little. This at once recalls 

 to mind the famous doctrine of the " meaH " in the 

 (h) in ethics Ethics, where goodness (or "virtue," dper^) is held to 



and politics; bg a mean between the two extremes of excess and 



deficiency ; indeed, at E.N. 1104 a 12 flF. Aristotle says 

 that whereas the moral dperai are destroyed by excess 

 and deficiency, they are produced and preserved by the 

 mean, just as excessive food and drink destroy health, 

 (c) in bodily whereas to. avmierpa produce and preserve it." Simi- 



health. larly, at Phys. 246 b 4 he says " we posit that the dperai of 



Blend. the body, viz., health and fitness, lie in the Kpdms (blend) 



and avfinerpla of hot things and cold,'' either as regards 

 each other internally, or as regards the surrounding 

 environment ; and the same applies to the other dperai 

 and K-a/<t'at." This reference to Kpdais and to the en- 

 vironment is closely parallel to the most important 

 passage on avp-pierpia in G.A., 767 a 14 fF., where Aris- 

 totle says that the male and female need avp,fierpia as 

 towards each other, because all things formed by Nature 

 or by Art Adya» rtvi earw — depend upon a certain pro- 

 portional relationship, or ratio. Just as in cooking, the 

 heat must strike the due proportion, the mean, or your 

 meat will be either overdone or underdone.'' So too in 

 the mixture of male and female, ovftpLerpia is required. 

 He then goes on to speak of the dependence of our 

 bodily condition upon the Kpdais of the environing air 

 (cf. 777 b 7) and of the foods we take, and especially 

 the water. 

 (40) This is not the place to discuss the origin of the doctrine 



" The importance of a-vfi/j-frpia in the growth of a State is also 

 empliasized by comparing it with the growth of the body (Pol. 

 1302 b 35 ti.). 



>> Cf. the phrase i^vxporepa tjjs o-u/x/xeVpou icpao-ews used of the parts 

 around the brain (P. A. 652 b 36). 



■; C/. § 16 above. 



Ivi 



