GALEN
σῶμα, τὸ μὲν γυμνάσιον ὑγιεινόν, ἡ δὲ ἡσυχία νοσερόν· ἡνίκα δὲ ἀναπαύσεως, ὑγιεινὸν μὲν ἡ ἡσυχία, νοσερὸν δὲ τὸ γυμνάσιον· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ περὶ σιτίων καὶ πομάτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων· ἕκαστον γάρ, ἐπειδὰν δεομένῳ τῷ σώματι προσάγηται μετὰ τῆς οἰκείας ποσότητος ὑγιεινὸν γίνεται· τὸ δὲ ἤτοι μηδ’ ὅλως δεομένῳ προσφερόμενον, ἢ οὐκ ἐν τῷ προσήκοντι μέτρῳ, νοσῶδες καθίσταται· καὶ δύο εἰσὶν οὗτοι σκοποὶ περί τε τὸ ὑγιεινὸν καὶ τὸ νοσερόν, ἡ ποιότης τε καὶ ἡ ποσότης τοῦ προσφερομένου· τὸ γὰρ καὶ τὸν καιρόν, ὡς ἕτερόν τι τούτων, τρίτον ἐπεισάγειν ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις περιεχόμενον, οὐκ εὔλογον· εἰ γὰρ δεῖται τὸ σῶμα τοιοῦδε καὶ τοσοῦδε τοῦ προσφερομένου, δηλονότι καὶ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τὸν δέοντα προσφέρεται· καὶ ἡ γένεσις τῷ καιρῷ ἐκ τοῦ ῥευστὸν καὶ εὐμετάβλητον εἶναι τὸ θνητὸν σῶμα, καὶ δεῖσθαι κατὰ τὰς μεταβολὰς ἄλλοτε ἀλλοίων τῶν ὠφελούντων | 370Kὥστε οὐκ ἔστι μὲν ἐν τῷ γένει τρίτον ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις ὁ καιρός· εἰς δὲ τὴν διδασκαλίαν αὐτῷ πολλάκις ὡς τρίτῳ χρώμεθα διὰ τὴν εἰρημένην αἰτίαν.
24. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐν τούτοις τοῖς σκοποῖς τά τε ἄλλα τῶν αἰτίων τῶν ὑγιεινῶν καὶ τὸ νῦν ἡμῖν προκείμενόν ἐστι γένος, αὖθις ἀναλάβωμεν αὐτά· τῇ τοίνυν ἀρίστῃ κατασκευῇ τοῦ σώματος, ἐπειδὰν μὲν εὔκρατον ᾖ τὸ περιέχον, ἁρμόσει συμμετρία τῶν τε ἄλλων ἀκριβής, ὧν ἀρτίως εἶπον, ἡσυχίας τε καὶ κινήσεως, καὶ ὕπνου καὶ ἐγρηγόρσεως, καὶ τῶν προσφερομένων τε καὶ ἐκκρινομένων· ἐπειδὰν δὲ δύσκρατον, εἰς τοσοῦτον καὶ τὰς συμμετρίας ὑπαλλάττειν προσήκει, εἰς ὅσον καὶ
THE ART OF MEDICINE
exercise is healthy but rest is morbid. When the body needs relaxation, rest is healthy but exercise is morbid. The same applies with regard to foods, drinks and all the other things, for in each case, whenever these are applied in the proper amount to the body requiring them, they are healthy, whereas when they are applied to the body that doesn’t need them at all, or are not applied in the proper measure, they become disease-producing causes. And these are the two objectives regarding health and disease—the quality and quantity of what is applied. To bring in the time as another and third of these factors, including it in those mentioned, is not reasonable, for if the body needs the provision of such and such a thing, clearly what is needed is introduced at the appropriate time. And the genesis of the need in terms of time derives from the fact that the body is subject to flux and changeability, and in relation to the changes, will require different beneficial factors at different times. 370KAs a consequence, the time is not a third in terms of class among those things spoken of. Often, however, for the purpose of teaching, we use it as a third for the reason mentioned.
24. Since in these objectives there are the other healthy causes, and this is the class now lying before us, let us take these up again. Accordingly, in the best constitution of the body, when the ambient air is eukratic, and there is balance of the other things I spoke of just now—rest and movement, sleeping and waking, and those things taken in and excreted—this will be suitable. However, when the ambient air is dyskratic, it is appropriate to change the balance to the degree that there is loss of eukrasia. Objectives