BOOK II 



I HAVE already said that the male and the female are I 

 "principles" of generation, and I have also said ^J^'g'^^j 

 what is their dynamis ° and the logos ^ of their essence. 

 '^ As for the reason why one comes to be formed, and 

 is, male, and another female, (o). in so far as this 

 results from necessity,^ i.e., from the proximate 

 motive cause and from what sort of matter, our 

 argument as it proceeds must endeavour to explain ; 

 (6) in so far as this occurs on account of what is 

 better, i.e., on account of the final cause (the Cause 

 " for the sake of which "), the principle is derived 

 from the upper cosmos.* What I mean is this. Of 

 the things which are, some are eternal and divine, 

 others admit alike of being and not-being, and the 

 beautiful and the divine acts always, in virtue of its 

 own nature, as a cause which produces that which 

 is better in the things which admit of it -^ ; while 



* And this principle Aristotle proceeds to explain at once, 

 since it is really beyond the normal scope of the present 

 treatise which is concerned chiefly with the " motive " and 

 " material " causes of g^eneration. avojOev (cf. to avco autfia, 

 App. B § 26) = r/a the " heavens " from the Unmoved Mover, 

 " (tod." The best commentary on the passage which follows 

 is afforded by Aristotle's own statements in other treatises, 

 of which the pertinent passages will be found in App. A 

 (esp. §§ 1:2-18), and I have therefore thought it unnecessary 

 to provide full annotations here. 



^ Cf. Met. 1013 a 23 -noXXiLv yap Kal tov yvwvai KaX rijs 

 <(tvijff€a>s o-px^l rayadov koI to koXov. 



F 129 



