Aristotle on melancholy 157
between melancholy and extraordinary achievement ( 36 ff.).^64 The possible
grounds for this arrangement will be discussed below.
The basis for achieving both aims lies in the fact that the author distin-
guishes between disease (nosos, nosema, arr ̄ osth ̄ ema ̄ ) and natural disposition
(phusis); in this respect it is striking that the ‘natural melancholics’ are also
affected by ‘melancholic diseases’ and that they apparently are more prone
to this than other people ( 953 a 12 – 15 and 29 – 31 ).^65 In 953 a 20 thisphusis
is referred to as a ‘bodily mixture’ (krasis toi s ̄ omati ̄ ), more closely defined
in 954 a 13 as a ‘mixture of hot and cold’. To explain its effects, the au-
thor employs the analogy between the melancholic nature and wine (this
analogy returns in statements made by Aristotle).^66 The objective of using
this analogy is twofold: firstly, it is evidence for the fact that the physical
condition of people not only influences their state of mind, but it can also
(^64) It seems that scholars have hardly recognised the problem in the last sentence ( 955 a 36 – 40 ; see
translation below). M ̈uri ( 1953 , 25 ) only implicitly alludes to it when he states ‘indem die Disposition
da, wo es not tut (z.B. in der Furcht), w ̈armer ist, und da, wo es not tut, k ̈alter... ’. The text says:
’
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0
,
%
: 0 B (
1 3 H < %
0
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0 (
1 !0 " 1
1 -
>As the author presents this sentence as
a summary of something previously discussed, the question arises what refers to, for
in this sentence theeukrasiathat underlies the melancholic’sperittondoes not seem to be referring
to a balance of heat and cold (as in 954 b 1 ), but to a certain ability toadaptthis balance to the
conditions required by each individual situation (hopou dei). There is, however, no parallel for such a
flexibility in the prior treatise. Significant in this context are the differences between the translations
of Klibansky et al. ( 1964 ) (‘since it is possible for this variable mixture to be well tempered and well
adjusted in a certain respect – that is to say, to be now in a warmer and then again a colder condition,
or vice versa, just as required, owing to its tendency to extremes – therefore...’)andFlashar ( 1962 )
(‘Da es aber auch moglich ist, dass die Ungleichm ̈ ̈assigkeit gut gemischt sein und sich in gewisser
Weise richtig verhalten kann, und, wo es notig ist, unser Zustand w ̈ ̈armer und wieder kalt ist oder
umgekehrt, weil er [bestimmte Eigenschaften] inUbermass besitzt, deshalb... ’). Klibansky et al. ̈
interpret the text as an explication (‘that is to say’) whereas Flashar apparently sees this as an analogy
(‘unserZustand’). Another difficulty here is the interpretation of
1 % H < %
Qwhat
would this ‘surfeit’ precisely be? And what exactly does it explain? – Finally, a difference between the
opening question and the final sentence should be noted: at the beginning allperittoiwere said to be
melancholics, but at the end the author writes that all melancholics areperittoi. This contradiction
could only be solved by understandingperittoshere in the final sentence as a neutral notion and
therefore synonymous withektopos(‘eccentric’). This is to a certain extent justified by the fact that
no specification as to the precise fieldKB
>Lis presented in this passage. However, as
the causal subclause refers to a healthy balance (eukraton),perittosmust be understood in a positive
sense. I do not see a solution to these problems (cf. the explanations by Pigeaud ( 1988 a) 127 ).
(^65) See Tellenbach ( 1961 ) 9 ; Pigeaud ( 1988 a) 42 – 3. At first sight it seems that 953 a 29 – 31 speaks about a
difference between ‘disease’ (nosema ̄ ) and ‘nature’ (phusis), but in fact it says that many melancholics
actually get melancholy-related diseases, while others are only very prone to getting these disorders.
Nevertheless, as the next sentence shows, both groups belong to the ‘natural melancholics’ (phusei
melancholikoi).
(^66) Insomn. 461 a 22 ;Eth. Nic. 1154 b 10 ; cf. also the role of drunkenness as an analogy in the treatise
about lack of self-control ( 1147 a 13 – 14 ; 1147 b 7 , 12 ; 1152 a 15 ).