Timaeus — Plato
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The creation of tJic mortal soul. 491 As I said at first, when all things were in disorder God Timaeus. created in each thing in relation to itself, and in all things in Timaeus. relation to each other, all the measures and harmonies which as we have they could possibly receive. For in those days nothincr had f ^"' ^°^*' •' \ . .
"^ .by reducing any proportion except by accident ; nor did any of the things chaos to order, which now have names deserve to be named at all — as, for '"'^'|«;'^^ world-animal, example, fire, water, and the rest of the elements.
All these which conthe creator first set in order, and out of them he constructed '''""^ f ' °'^*^'^ ' animals, the universe, which was a single animal comprehending in mortal and itself all other animals, mortal and immortal. Now of the ""'^°'"'^'- ' Ihe immortal divine, he himself was the creator, but the creation of the souiofm.an mortal he committed to his offspring.
And they, imitating ^^G^oTthe him, received from him the immortal principle of the soul ; mortal by his and around this they proceeded to fashion a mortal body, former was ^ and made it to be the vehicle of the soul, and constructed set in the within the body a soul of another nature which was mortal, la^t^erinthe subject to terrible and irresistible affections, — first of all, breast and pleasure, the greatest incitement to evil ; then, pain, which deters from good ; also rashness and fear, two foolish counsellors, anger hard to be appeased, and hope easily led astray; — these they mingled with irrational sense and with all-daring love * according to necessary laws, and so framed man.
Wherefore, fearing to pollute the divine any more than was absolutely unavoidable, they gave to the mortal nature a separate habitation in another part of the body, placing the neck between them to be the isthmus and boundary, which they constructed between the head and breast, to keep them apart.
And in the breast, and in what is termed Of the mortal the thorax, they encased the mortal soul ; and as the one part ^°" ' ^^^ ^"^^ ' •' ' ^ two parts : — of this was superior and the other inferior they divided the (1) Passion, 70 cavity of the thorax into two parts, as the women's and men's ^^^^^^^ ^^^ apartments are divided in houses, and placed the midriff to midriff and be a wall of partition between them.
That part of the in- int^ended'to" ferior soul which is endowed with courage and passion "and assist reason loves contention they settled nearer the head, midway be- ^^^'"^ tween the midriff and the neck, in order that it might be under the rule of reason and might join with it in controlling and restraining the desires when they are no longer willing ' Putting a colon after evTrapdyuyov and reading alaSriaei dt d?^y(f).
p. 492
Passion and desire.
Ttmaeus. TlMAEUS. The heart acts as herald and executive of reason, carrying its commands throughout the body.
It is sustained and refreshed by the softness and coolness of the lung.
(2) Desire, chained up between the midriff and the navel, far away from the councilchamber.
Knowing that this part would be guided of their own accord to obey the word of command issuing from the citadel.
The heart, the knot^ of the veins and the fountain of the blood which races through all the hmbs, was set in the place of guard, that when the might of passion was roused byreason making proclamation of any wrong assailing them from without or being perpetrated by the desires within, quickly the whole power of feeling in the body, perceiving these commands and threats, might obey and follow through every turn and alley, and thus allow the principle of the best to have the command in all of them.
But the gods, foreknowing that the palpitation of the heart in the expectation of danger and the sweUing and excitement of passion was caused by fire, formed and implanted as a supporter to the heart the lung, which was, in the first place, soft and bloodless, and also had within hollows like the pores of a sponge, in order that by receiving the breath and the drink, it might give coolness and the power of respiration and alleviate the heat.
Wherefore they cut the air-channels leading to the lung, and placed the lung about the heart as a soft spring, that, when passion was rife within, the heart, beating against a yielding body, might be cooled and suffer less, and might thus become more ready to join with passion in the service of reason.
The part of the soul which desires meats and drinks and the other things of which it has need by reason of the bodily nature, they placed between the midriff and the boundary of the navel, contriving in all this region a sort of manger for the food of the body ; and there they bound it down like a wild animal which was chained up with man, and must be nourished if man was to exist.
They appointed this lower creation his place here in order that he might be always feeding at the manger, and have his dwelling as far as might be from the council-chamber, making as Httle noise and disturbance as possible, and permitting the best part to , 7J, advise quietly for the good of the whole. And knowing that this lower principle in man would not comprehend reason, and even if attaining to some degree of perception would
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