# Περὶ φυτῶν αἰτιῶν 4.4.1

Theophrastus, Περὶ φυτῶν αἰτιῶν, Book 4, Chapter 4. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/theophrastus/text-2/4.4.1

Ἄτοπον δ᾽ ἂν δόξειε καὶ ἅμα θαυμαστὸν εἰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀτελῶν ἔνια γεννᾷ καὶ ταῦτα δένδρων φύσεις μεγάλας οὕτως οἷον ἰτέας καὶ πτελέας· ἀτελὲς γὰρ τὸ ὠμόν. ἆρ᾽ οὖν εἴπερ τοῦτ᾽ ἀληθὲς διαιρετέον τὴν τελειότητα τήν τε πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ τὴν πρὸς γένεσιν. ἡ μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τροφὴν ἡ δὲ πρὸς δύναμιν τοῦ γεννᾷν· ἔνια δὲ ἄτροφα γεννητικὰ δὲ, τὰ δ᾽ ἴσως ἀνάπαλιν. τάχα δ᾽ ἐκείνη πρός γε τὰ νῦν ἡ διαίρεσις ὅτι τὴν πέψιν τιθέμεθα χρώμασι καὶ χυλοῖς καὶ πυκνότητι καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις· ἐπεὶ τό γ᾽ ἐδώδιμον ὑπάρχει καὶ τοῖς τῆς πτελέας καὶ ἄλλοις· ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τοῦτο κύριον ἀλλὰ τὸ γεννᾷν· ἕκαστον γὰρ τῷ ἔργῳ κρίνεται. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὡς πρὸς ὑπόθεσιν.

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Theophrastus, Περὶ φυτῶν αἰτιῶν, ed. Friedrich Wimmer. 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.tlg002.local001/.