Lampas - Volume 54, Issue 4, 2021

Abstract Galen (129-216) has always been a controversial figure even today. This paper examines various features of his writings and seeks to show how they would have appeared to his contemporaries in a competition for patients. Some features were emphasised by Galen himself, others have to be discerned by reading between the lines of his voluminous output, and others by setting him in a context of sophistic performance and debate.

Summary Galen provides us with extensive though strongly biased information about his treatment of patients. He does so both in narrative case studies and in theoretical discussions of the principles and methods of therapeutics. He conceives of therapeutics as a comprehensive system connecting all domains of the medical art. His ideal doctor needs to have a firm command of all these domains, including a thorough gr Read More

Abstract Besides a philosophical physician, Galen was also a master narrator. The way in which he manages to build towards a big reveal is unprecedented. In order to illustrate his skill, and to demonstrate the suitability of Galen’s work – the Greek as well as its content – for secondary education, the editors of this Lampas special have decided to print an example of his narrative prowess. Chapter 7 of the treatise De Pr Read More

Abstract In what follows, Galen’s tract The Best Doctor is also a Philosopher is presented, together with a Dutch translation. The text and translation are preceded by an introduction, which briefly discusses the historical context and Galen’s aims and methods. Particular attention is paid to Galen’s relation to his role model Hippocrates, his ideas on the correct methods for medicine, and the moral requirements satisfied by the good physician.

Abstract Galen’s rich body of work took on many shapes and meanings for scholars working in hospitals, noble courts, schools and monasteries from the Far East to Western Europe, as they studied, translated, copied, compiled, commented on, summarized, quoted, cited, rearranged, argued about, expounded and expanded upon it for centuries. The predominant narratives around the reception of Galen portray the se Read More

Abstract In this article I provide an overview of the scholarly work done on the voluminous writings of the doctor-cum-philosopher Galen of Pergamon (129–216 CE) since the mid-19th century. In so doing I aim to show ways and means to read and study Galen for those coming to his work for the first time. First, I will discuss the slow process of replacing the Opera Omnia edition of Kühn (1821-1833) with state-of-the-a Read More

Abstract Education was a subject of major concern to Galen. This article offers a short overview. Galen holds that, in any form of education, it is a prerequisite to realise the ways we can attain knowledge. A good teacher teaches his pupils to trust the ‘natural criteria’, reason and experience, through which knowledge comes to us, and when these do not suffice, he shows them more specialized procedures. Both good teachers Read More

Abstract This article discusses a new course on Galen and ancient medicine (Galen: Physician, Philosopher, Rhetorician) developed by the Classics department of the Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum and the Galen research group of Utrecht University in the period of 2017-2021. First, the motivation behind this joint venture is explained in terms of the neglect so far suffered by Galen in Dutch secondary education, the suita Read More