# Enquiry into Plants 9.7-3

Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, Ε, Chapter 9. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/theophrastus/enquiry-into-plants/9.7-3

δεῖ δὲ τὴν ἐσχάραν ἐκ τούτων ποιεῖν τὸ δὲ τρύπανον ἐκ δάφνης· οὐ γὰρ ἐκ ταὐτοῦ τὸ ποιοῦν καὶ πάσχον, ἀλλ᾿ ἕτερον εὐθὺ δεῖ κατὰ φύσιν, καὶ τὸ μὲν δεῖ παθητικὸν εἶναι τὸ δὲ ποιητικόν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ γίνεται καί, ὥς γέ τινες ὑπολαμβάνουσιν. οὐδὲν διαφέρει. γίνεται γὰρ ἐκ ῥάμνου καὶ πρίνου καὶ φιλύρας καὶ σχεδὸν ἐκ τῶν πλείστων πλὴν ἐλάας· ὃ καὶ δοκεῖ ἄτοπον εἶναι· καὶ γὰρ σκληρότερον καὶ λιπαρὸν ἡ ἐλάα· τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἀσύμμετρον ἔχει δῆλον ὅτι τὴν ὑγρότητα πρὸς τὴν πύρωσιν. ἀγαθὰ δὲ τὰ ἐκ ῥάμνου· ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν ἐσχάραν χρηστήν· πρὸς γὰρ τῷ ξηρὰν καὶ ἄχυμον εἶναι δεῖ καὶ μανοτέραν, ἵν᾿ ἡ τρίψις ἰσχύῃ, τὸ δὲ τρύπανον ἀπαθέστερον· ὄἰ ὃ τὸ τῆς δάφνης ἄριστον· ἀπαθὲς γὰρ ὂν ἐργάζεται τῇ δριμύτητι. πάντα δὲ τὰ πυρεῖα βορείοις μὲν θᾶττον καὶ μᾶλλον ἐξάπτεται, νοτίοις δὲ ἧττον· καὶ ἐν μὲν τοῖς μετεώροις μᾶλλον, ἐν δὲ τοῖς κοίλοις ἦττον.

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Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, ed. Arthur Hort. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0093.tlg001.local001/.