Miscellanies 8.4.11 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: If the questioner says what he means by “animal,” the question becomes clear; if he refuses, he shows himself contentious and must listen to a full exposition before objecting.

Greek text · Stählin 2

εἰ τοίνυν ἔμψυχον τὸ ζῷον, ἡ ψυχὴ δὲ φύσις αἰσθητική. δῆλον ὡς αἰσθητικὸν ἤδη τὸ ἔμψυχον. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀντερωτηθεὶς ὁ ζητήσας, εἰ ζῷον τὸ κατὰ γαστρός, εἴποι καλεῖν ζῷον [ἐπὶ] τὸ τρεφόμενον καὶ αὖξον, ἔχει τὴν ἀπόκρισιν· εἰ δὲ φάσκοι τοῦτʼ εἶναι ὃ ζητεῖ, πότερον αἰσθητικὸν ἤδη τὸ κυούμενον ἢ καὶ καθʼ ὁρμήν τινά ἐστι κινητικὸν ἑαυτοῦ, ἤδη σαφὴς γίνεται ἡ διερεύνησις τοῦ πράγματος. οὐ μενούσης ἔτι τῆς περὶ τοὔνομα ἀπάτης· μὴ ἀποκρινόμενος δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἀντερωτηθὲν μηδὲ βουλόμενος τί ποτέ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν ὃ νοῶν ἢ κατὰ τίνος ἐπιφέρων πράγματος τὸ ζῷον ὄνομα τὴν πρότασιν ἐποιήσατο, κελεύων δʼ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς διελέσθαι, ἐριστικὸς ὑπάρχων ἂν γνωρισθείη. εἰ δὲ δυοῖν τρόποιν ὑπαρχόντοιν, ἑτέρου μὲν τοῦ κατʼ ἐρώτησίν τε καὶ ἀπόκρισιν, ἑτέρου δὲ τοῦ κατὰ διέξοδον, ἤρνηται τὸ ἕτερον, ἐπακουσάτω πάντα τὰ εἰς τὸ πρόβλημα διεξιόντων ἡμῶν· εἶτʼ ἐπειδὰν τελεώσωμεν, ἐξέσται αὐτῷ τότε περὶ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἐν μέρει διαλαμβάνειν.

English · Claude translation

If, then, the animal is ensouled, and soul is a perceptive nature, it is clear that what is ensouled is already perceptive. If, then, the questioner, asked in return whether what is in the womb is an animal, should say that he calls an animal what is nourished and grows, he has his answer; but if he should say that what he is asking is whether what is conceived is already perceptive, or also capable of moving itself by some impulse, then the investigation of the matter becomes clear, since the deception about the name no longer remains. But if he does not answer what he was asked in return, and is unwilling to say what he has in mind, or of what thing he predicates the name “animal” when he made his proposition, but bids us make the distinctions ourselves, he would be recognized as contentious. And if, there being two methods, one by question and answer and the other by continuous exposition, he has refused the one, let him listen while we go through everything bearing on the problem; then, when we have finished, he will be free to take up each point in turn.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 8.4.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/8/4/11/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 8.4.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/8/4/11/).