From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe Greek says that plants contain the logos of male and female; the edition translates logos as “principle.”
- In this workAëtius makes the inclusion of male and female depend on proportionate mixture.
- In this editionLogos is rendered “principle” here and “ratio” elsewhere.
- A place to readConnects the inclusion of male and female with the proportion of plant mixture.
Meaning
The Greek says that plants contain the logos of male and female; the edition translates logos as “principle.” Nicolaus' Latin says that sex is mingled in them. These expressions mark a dual reproductive constitution without defining modern botanical sexual organs.
Use in the book
Aëtius makes the inclusion of male and female depend on proportionate mixture. Plant reproduction thus belongs with the broader attribution of bodily properties to balanced constituents. The use of logos is important but not automatically identical with Aristotle's account of bone as a numerical ratio at A782: here it may mean principle, determining account, or constitutive relation. Nicolaus also attributes mingled sex to Empedocles and asks whether plants exhibit female sex, male sex, or a mixed kind. This mediated discussion reinforces the topic but does not establish that every plant was held to be individually hermaphroditic in a precise modern sense. Nor does the doctrine of mixed plant sex prove plant sensation; the reports differ on that separate question. Keeping reproduction and perception apart avoids the edition's tendency to make agreement about one validate agreement about all.
Places to read
- A 70 (testimony)2Aëtius. Connects the inclusion of male and female with the proportion of plant mixture.
- A 70 (testimony)2Nicolaus of Damascus, On Plants. Reports mingled sex and discusses male, female, and mixed kinds in plants.
Translation in this edition
Logos is rendered “principle” here and “ratio” elsewhere. A lexical article should preserve that contextual difference rather than standardize every occurrence to a single technical meaning.