Galen on Sleep, Health and Heartbreak

More of Galen’s comments on the aphorism attributed to Hippocrates:

“The kinds of habits that influence our health: diet, shelter, work, sleep, sex, thought.”

ἔθος δὲ, ἐξ οἵων ὑγιαίνομεν, διαίτῃσι, σκέπῃσι, πόνοισιν, ὕπνοισιν, ἀφροδισίοισι, γνώμῃ.

Epidemics 6.8.23

Other cases: Maiandros, the augur who predicted his own death; a Cappadocian man who thought the sky would fall.

“In Rome, I recently saw a grammarian named Kallistos whose books were destroyed in the Great Fire that had burned the Temple of Peace. He grieved about this and could no longer sleep. First, he was taken with fever, and then, in just a short time, he wasted away until he died. I have seen quite a number of people like this—whose bodies waste away, be it from grief or from a bad mental state. I will limit myself to a few cases, because their number is too large. First, I mention the story of the mother of the lawyer Nasutus. The story of this woman is as follows. She received news that a woman she loved very much, who was seventy years old, was going by invitation to another place. She arrived there and returned home after having made the long journey. When she returned, she lay down on the bed and asked for some water to drink. The servant replied, “I'll bring it to you right away,” but she fell asleep before the servant returned with the water. By then, some time had passed without the people around the woman noticing anything. When, however, they called to her, she gave no answer. The servants were then compelled to shake her, but she did not wake up. They examined her and touched her body to see what had happened. Her whole body was cold and it was clear that she was dead. They covered her with the clothes in which she had died. When the mother of Nasutus found out about this, it went to her heart so much that she could no longer sleep the way she usually used to do, and eventually she could no longer sleep at all. Her body wasted away from insomnia. She began to have a fever and four days after the news of her friend’s death, she too passed away.”

In Rom sah ich vor kurzem einen Grammatiker, namens Kallistos, dem seine Bücher bei dem großen Brand in Rom, bei dem der Tempel, der “Tempel des Friedens” heißt, verbrannte, vernichtet wurden. Darüber grämte er sich und fand keinen Schlaf mehr. Zuerst begannen bei ihm Fieber, und dann in nicht langer Zeit siechte er dahin, bis er starb. Ich habe noch eine ganze Anzahl derartiger Menschen gesehen, deren Körper dahinsiechte, sei es aus Gram oder einer schlechten Geistesverfassung. Ich beschränke mich auf ein paar Fälle, da ihre Zahl ja zu groß ist. Zuerst erwähne ich die Geschichte der Mutter des Rechtsgelehrten Nasutus. Die Geschichte dieser Frau ist folgende: Sie erhielt die Nachricht, daß eine Frau, die sie sehr liebte und die siebzig Jahre alt war, nach einem anderen Orte auf eine Einladung hin ging. Sie war dort eingetroffen und auch wieder zurückgekehrt, nachdem sie den weiten Weg gemacht hatte. Nach ihrer Rückkehr hatte sie sich auf das Bett gelegt und verlangte etwas Wasser zu trinken. Der Diener hatte geantwortet: “Ich bringe es dir sofort.” Sie schlief aber ein, bevor der Diener mit dem Wasser zurück war. Es verging nun einige Zeit, ohne daß die Leute um die Frau etwas gemerkt hatten. Dann aber riefen sie sie an, aber sie gab keine Antwort. Die Diener sahen sich deshalb gezwungen, sie zu rütteln. Sie wachte aber nicht auf. Sie machten sich nun daran, die Sache zu untersuchen, und befühlten sie, um zu sehen, was mit ihr vorgegangen war. Ihr ganzer Körper war kalt, und es war klar, daß sie tot war. Sie deckten sie mit dem Kleid zu, in dem sie gestorben war. Als die Mutter des Nasutus dies erfuhr, ging es ihr so zu Herzen, daß sie sich nicht mehr zum Schlafen niederlegen konnte, wie sie es sonst gewöhnt war, und überhaupt keinen Schlaf mehr finden konnte. Da siechte auch ihr Körper infolge der Schlaflosigkeit dahin. Sie begann zu fiebern, und schon nach vier Tagen seit der Todesnachricht verschied auch sie.*

Galen, Commentary on Hippocrates‘ Epidemics 6.8, 486,19-487,12 Wenkebach/Pfaff

*Pfaff’s German translation of Hunayn’s school’s Arabic translation (the Greek is lost).

Love Doctor: Aretaeus on Love-Sickness and Melancholy

“There’s a story that some incurably melancholic person fell in love with a girl and when the doctors could do nothing to help, love cured him. I think however that he was in love from the start and that he was feeling down and disheartened because of the bad luck he was having with the girl and so seemed to ordinary people to be melancholic. He had no idea at that point that it was love; but when he realized his love for the girl, he stopped feeling down and he got rid of his anger and sorrow and the joy sobered him up out of his sad state. For his mind was restored by doctor love.”

λόγος ὅτι τῶν τοιῶνδέ τις ἀνηκέστως ἔχων, κούρης ἤρα τε καὶ τῶν ἰητρῶν οὐδὲν ὠφελούντων ὁ ἔρως μιν ἰήσατο· δοκέω δὲ ἔγωγε ἐρᾶν μὲν αὐτὸν ἀρχῆθεν, κατηφέα δὲ καὶ δύσθυμον [ἢ] ὑπ' ἀτυχίης τῆς κούρης ἔμμεναι καὶ μελαγχολικὸν δοκέειν τοῖσι δημότῃσιν. οὗτος οὔτε μὴν ἦν ἔρωτα ἐγγιγνώσκων, ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν ἔρωτα ξυνῆψε τῇ κούρῃ, παύεται τῆς κατηφείης, καὶ διασκίδνησι ὀργήν τε καὶ λύπην, χάρμῃ δὲ ἐξένηψε τῆς δυσθυμίης· καθίσταται γὰρ τὴν γνώμην ἔρωτι ἰητρῷ.

Aretaeus, Causes and Signs of Chronic Diseases 1.5.8, 41,4–11 Hude

Galen on fear, depression and the health of the body: the story of Maiandros

Taken from a part of Galen’s commentary on Epidemics 6 that is extant in Arabic but not in Greek. I’m following Pfaff’s German translation of the Arabic. Galen is commenting on an aphorism which states that our mental and physical habits—things like daily routine, our home, our sex life and our mental habits—have an effect on our body’s health:

“The kinds of habits that influence our health: diet, shelter, work, sleep, sex, thought.”

ἔθος δὲ, ἐξ οἵων ὑγιαίνομεν, διαίτῃσι, σκέπῃσι, πόνοισιν, ὕπνοισιν, ἀφροδισίοισι, γνώμῃ.

Epidemics 6.8.23

Galen defends and elaborates on the claim using an example from his own experience, where being overcome by emotion led to illness and death.

“I know a great number of people who were overcome by fear of death and whom this fear first made ill and then brought to death. Some were plunged into such fear by a dream; for others, such fear was caused by a premonition, or an omen, or a strange apparition they had, or the fall of a bolt of lightning. Some were brought to it by the sign they found in the entrails of the sacrificial animal, or by an augury of some kind of bird, as happened to the augur, Maiandros. This man was overcome by such a fear of death that he died of it, not to mention the illness he suffered. The story of Maiandros goes like this: he was a man from that part of Mysia which lies near the Hellespont and is a part of our province of Asia. His place of residence in this country was primarily Pergamon. The practice of augury was his occupation. It was his livelihood and his profession. Everyone who consulted him attested to his skill in his occupation. Now it was the custom of this Maiandros every year on his birthday to ask the gods to send him a sign by which he could see how he would fare in the following year. So one year he went out to observe the flight of birds and saw an eagle flying in a way that signified death. It then became certain in his soul that this was a sign from which there was no escape. He went back to the city from the place of the bird’s flight, slumped over, miserable and yellow in colour, so that those who met him asked him whether he was in any physical pain. To those he trusted, he told the truth. Then it came about that he lay sleepless for whole nights and was oppressed by sorrow all day long, so that he completely fell apart. Eventually mild, gentle fevers arose. When the fevers set in, his mind became so confused that he was outside himself and had to stay in bed. Two months after his birthday he died because his body gradually wasted away until it completely dissolved.”

So kenne ich eine große Zahl von Leuten, welche Furcht vor dem Tode überkam und welche diese Furcht zuerst krank machte und dann zu Tode brachte. Manche stürzte ein Traum in solche Furcht. Bei manchen erzeugte solche Furcht eine Ahnung oder ein Vorzeichen oder eine seltsame Erscheinung, die sie hatten, oder das Niedergehen eines Blitzstrahles. Manche brachte dazu das Anzeichen, welches sie in so den Eingeweiden des Opfertieres fanden, oder ein Augurium von irgendwelchen Vögeln, wie es dem Augur Maiandros erging. Diesen Mann überkam eine solche Angst vor dem Tode, daß er schon an ihr starb, ganz abgesehen von der Krankheit. Die Geschichte des Maiandros ist folgende: er war ein Mann aus dem Teile Mysiens, der dem Hellespont nahe liegt, und es ist ein Teil von unserem Lande Asien. Sein Aufenthalt in diesem Lande war meistens Pergamon. Die Ausführung des Auguriums war seine Tätigkeit. Sie war sein Broterwerb und sein Beruf. Jeder, der ihn zu Rate zog, bezeugte ihm seine Fertigkeit in seiner Tätigkeit. Nun war es die Gewohnheit dieses Maiandros, alljährlich an seinem Geburtstag Gott den Allmächtigen und Erhabenen zu bitten, ihm ein Zeichen zu schicken, an dem er erkennen könne, wie es ihm im folgenden Jahre ergehen werde. Und so ging er eines Jahres zur Beobachtung des Vogelfluges hinaus und sah einen Adler, der ih einer Form flog, die den Tod bedeutet. Da ward es ihm in seiner Seele gewiß, daß dies ein Zeichen sei, vor dem es kein Entrinnen gebe. Da ging er von dem Ort des Vogelfluges zusammengesunken, elend und gelb von Farbe nach der Stadt zurück, so daß diejenigen, welche ihm begegneten, ihn fragten, ob er irgend einen körperlichen Schmerz habe. Zu wem er Vertrauen hatte, sagte er die Wahrheit. Dann stellte es sich ein, daß er ganze Nächte schlaflos lag und ihn auch den ganzen Tag der Kummer bedrückte, so daß er ganz zerfiel. Schließlich traten leichte, sanfte Fieber auf. Als die Fieber sich einstellten, wurde sein Geist so verwirrt, daß er überhaupt nicht mehr bei sich war und das Bett hüten mußte. Zwei Monate nach seinem Geburtstage starb er dadurch, daß sein Körper allmählich dahin schwand, bis er sich ganz auflöste.

Galen, Commentary on Hippocrates‘ Epidemics 6.8, 485,25-486,12 Wenkebach/Pfaff

Body and Soul

“The fact that our thoughts depend on our bodies and that they are not in themselves unaffected since they derive from our body’s changes—this becomes altogether clear in the case of those who are drunk and those who are sick. For it is extremely obvious that their thoughts are distorted by the affections of their body. And in fact the opposite becomes clear too when the body is affected along with the affections of the soul in cases of love and fear, pain and pleasure.”

Ὅτι αἱ διάνοιαι ἕπονται τοῖς σώμασι, καὶ οὐκ εἰσὶν αὐταὶ καθ' ἑαυτὰς ἀπαθεῖς οὖσαι τῶν τοῦ σώματος κινήσεων. τοῦτο δὲ δῆλον πάνυ γίνεται ἔν τε ταῖς μέθαις καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀρρωστίαις· πολὺ γὰρ ἐξαλλάττουσαι φαίνονται αἱ διάνοιαι ὑπὸ τῶν τοῦ σώματος παθημάτων. καὶ τοὐναντίον δὴ τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς παθήμασι τὸ σῶμα συμπάσχον φανερὸν γίνεται περί τε τοὺς ἔρωτας καὶ τοὺς φόβους τε καὶ τὰς λύπας καὶ τὰς ἡδονάς.

Pseudo-Aristotle, Physiognomics 1, 805a1-8

“Whoever wants to become a good person” – some advice from Galen

I get frustrated with people when I go outside these days (especially when I go looking for flour). I think anxiety has ways of making its presence felt even if (or maybe especially if) I’m not attending to it. Now, normally I find reading Galen pretty frustrating as well, but these bits are helpful reminders of the necessity of empathy.

“Whoever wants to become a good person, let them keep this in mind: that they are, necessarily, very much unaware of their own errors.”

ὅστις οὖν βούλεται καλὸς κἀγαθὸς γενέσθαι, τοῦτο ἐννοησάτω, ὡς ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν αὐτὸν ἀγνοεῖν πολλὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων.

Galen, On the Affections and Errors of the Soul, 1.2, 5.5 K.

“We have, as Aesop used to say, two bags hanging from our necks, one, in front, full of the wrongs of others, one, behind, full of our own, and for this reason we always see the wrongs of others, while we are incapable of seeing our own.”

δύο γάρ, ὡς Αἴσωπος ἔλεγε, πήρας ἐξήμμεθα τοῦ τραχήλου τῶν μὲν ἀλλοτρίων τὴν πρόσω, τῶν ἰδίων δὲ τὴν ὀπίσω, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὰ μὲν ἀλλότρια βλέπομεν ἀεί, τῶν δ' οἰκείων ἀθέατοι καθεστήκαμεν.

Galen, On the Affections and Errors of the Soul, 1.2, 5.6 K.

“It’s normal for pretty much everyone to hate those who speak the truth.”

ἅπασιν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἀνθρώποις ἔθος εἶναι μισεῖν τοὺς τἀληθῆ λέγοντας.

Galen, On the Affections and Errors of the Soul, 1.3, 5.10 K.

“And indeed, we should consider the one who reveals each of our offenses our deliverer and our greatest friend. Even if it appears to you that they criticize you falsely, still, the right thing to do is to show yourself to be free from anger. For, in the first place, it’s possible that they can see your mistakes better than you can, just as you, too, can see theirs; and in the second case, because, even if they should criticize you falsely, they will have awoken you to a more accurate examination of what you are doing.”

καὶ μέντοι καὶ [τὸν] σωτῆρα ἐκεῖνον | καὶ φίλον μέγιστον ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν μηνύσαντα τῶν πλημμελουμένων ἕκαστα· εἶθ' ὅτι, κἂν ψευδῶς σοι φαίνηταί ποτ' ἐγκαλέσας, ἀόργητον προσήκει φαίνεσθαι, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι δύνατόν ἐστιν ἐκεῖνον σοῦ βέλτιον ὁρᾶν ἕκαστον ὧν ἁμαρτάνων τυγχάνεις, ὥσπερ καί σε τῶν ἐκείνου τι, δεύτερον ὅτι κἂν ἐπηρεάσῃ ποτὲ ψευδῶς, ἀλλ' οὖν ἐπήγειρέ σε πρὸς ἀκριβεστέραν ἐπίσκεψιν, ὧν πράττεις.

Galen, On the Affections and Errors of the Soul, 1.5, 5.24–5 K.

Alternative Medicine (or: Three Conversions)

Plutarch (?) on Cleomenes I

Once, Cleomenes contracted a long illness and he started paying attention to practitioners of purification rites and to seers, having paid no attention to them before. When someone expressed surprise, he said, “Why are you surprised? For I’m not the same man I was then, and, since I’m not the same man, I don’t choose the same things.”

Ἑλκυσθεὶς δὲ νόσῳ μακρᾷ, ἐπεὶ καθαρταῖς καὶ μάντεσι προσεῖχε τὸ πρὶν οὐ προσέχων, θαυμάζοντός τινος, ‘τί θαυμάζεις;’ ἔφη ‘οὐ γάρ εἰμι ὁ αὐτὸς νῦν καὶ τότε· οὐκ ὢν δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς οὐδὲ τὰ αὐτὰ δοκιμάζω.’

Plutarch, Moralia 223E

Theophrastus on Pericles

In his Ethics, Theophrastus mentions an anecdote while going over the problem whether character is bent by fortune and gives up on virtue when moved by the body’s sufferings. He says that when Pericles was sick and one of his friends had come to check in on him, he showed to him an amulet that had been hung around his neck by certain women—that’s how bad a state he was in, that he would give in to that silliness.

ὁ γοῦν Θεόφραστος ἐν τοῖς Ἠθικοῖς διαπορήσας εἰ πρὸς τὰς τύχας τρέπεται τὰ ἤθη καὶ κινούμενα τοῖς τῶν σωμάτων πάθεσιν ἐξίσταται τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἱστόρηκεν ὅτι νοσῶν ὁ Περικλῆς ἐπισκοπουμένῳ τινὶ τῶν φίλων δείξειε περίαπτον ὑπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν τῷ τραχήλῳ περιηρτημένον, ὡς σφόδρα κακῶς ἔχων ὁπότε καὶ ταύτην ὑπομένοι τὴν ἀβελτερίαν.

Plutarch, Pericles 38.2

Diogenes Laertius on Bion

Bion often used to make rather atheist proclamations in conversation, since he enjoyed this Theodorean habit.* Some time later—so the people in Chalcis relate, since that’s where he died—he fell ill and was persuaded to wear an amulet and to repent his offences against the divine.

πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἀθεώτερον προεφέρετο τοῖς ὁμιλοῦσι, τοῦτο Θεοδώρειον ἀπολαύσας. καὶ ὕστερόν ποτε ἐμπεσὼν εἰς νόσον, ὡς ἔφασκον οἱ ἐν Χαλκίδι — αὐτόθι γὰρ καὶ κατέστρεψε — περίαπτα λαβεῖν ἐπείσθη καὶ μεταγινώσκειν ἐφ’ οἷς ἐπλημμέλησεν εἰς τὸ θεῖον.

Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, 4.54

*Theodorus the Atheist, a Cyrenaic philosopher of the 4th/3rd century.

Marcellus Sideta On Lycanthropy. A translation of the first account of werewolves.

Marcellus’ On Lycanthropy or Cynanthropy.

Those seized by the disease called cynanthropy or lycanthropy  go out for the whole night in the month of February imitating wolves or dogs in every way, wandering, especially around graveyards, until morning. You can recognize those affected by it through the following signs: they are pale, they look weak, they have dry eyes and they shed no tears. You should see their eyes are hollow, tongue dry and they produce no saliva at all. They are also thirsty and they have incurable wounds on their legs from continuous falls and the bites of dogs.

These are the signs of their condition. One should know that lycanthropy is a form of melancholia, which you will treat at the time of the onset of symptoms by cutting a vein, evacuating the blood to the point of fainting, and having the patient follow a diet of rich food. Let them bathe in sweet water baths, then after you have administered whey from milk for three days, purge using Rufus’, Archigenes’ or Justus’ wonder-drug prepared with colocynth, administering it at intervals two or three times. After purging, theriac from vipers is to be used and the other things mentioned before in the case of melancholia are to be given as well. In the evening, when the disease has already come on, use ointments for the head and those perfumes that cause sleep. Rub the nostrils with opium. Give an occasional hypnotic to drink, as well.

Περὶ λυκανθρωπίας ἤτοι κυνανθρωπίας Μαρκέλλου. οἱ τῇ λεγομένῃ κυνανθρωπίᾳ ἤτοι λυκανθρωπίᾳ νόσῳ κατεχόμενοι κατὰ τὸν Φευρουάριον μῆνα νυκτὸς ἐξίασι τὰ πάντα μιμούμενοι λύκους ἢ κύνας καὶ μέχρις ἡμέρας περὶ τὰ μνήματα μάλιστα διατρίβουσι. γνωρίσεις δὲ τοὺς οὕτω πάσχοντας διὰ τῶνδε· ὠχροὶ τυγχάνουσι καὶ ὁρῶσιν ἀδρανὲς καὶ ξηροὺς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσι καὶ οὐδὲν δακρύουσι. θεάσῃ δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ κοίλους τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ γλῶσσαν ξηρὰν καὶ οὐδὲ ὅλως σίελον προχέουσιν. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ διψώδεις καὶ τὰς κνήμας ἔχουσιν ἡλκωμένας ἀνιάτως διὰ τὰ συνεχῆ πτώματα καὶ τῶν κυνῶν τὰ δήγματα.

τοιαῦτα μὲν αὐτῶν τὰ γνωρίσματα· γινώσκειν δὲ χρὴ μελαγχολίας εἶδος εἶναι τὴν λυκανθρωπίαν, ἣν θεραπεύσεις κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τῆς ἐπισημασίας τέμνων φλέβα καὶ κενῶν τοῦ αἵματος ἄχρι λειποθυμίας καὶ διαιτῶν τὸν κάμνοντα ταῖς εὐχύμοις τροφαῖς. κεχρήσθω δὲ λουτροῖς γλυκέσιν, εἶτα ὀρρῷ γάλακτος χρησάμενος ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας κάθαιρε τῇ διὰ τῆς κολυκυνθίδος ἱερᾷ Ῥούφου ἢ Ἀρχιγένους ἢ Ἰούστου, δεύτερον καὶ τρίτον παρέχων ἐκ διαστημάτων. μετὰ δὲ τὰς καθάρσεις καὶ τῇ διὰ τῶν ἐχιδνῶν θηριακῇ χρηστέον. καὶ τὰ ἄλλα παραληπτέον ὅσα ἐπὶ τῆς μελαγχολίας προείρηται. εἰς ἑσπέραν δὲ ἐπερχομένης ἤδη τῆς νόσου τοῖς ὕπνον εἰωθόσιν ἐμποιεῖν ἐπιβρέγμασι τῆς κεφαλῆς χρῆσθαι καὶ ὀσφραντοῖς τοιούτοις καὶ ὀπίῳ διαχρίειν τοὺς μυκτῆρας, ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ ποτίζειν τινὰ τῶν ὑπνωτικῶν.

Marcellus Sideta apud Aetius of Amida, Libri medicinales 6.11, 151,21­–152,12 Olivieri

Not much is know about Marcellus of Side, except what is recorded in the Suda:

“Marcellus Sideta, doctor at the time of Marcus [Aurelius] Antoninus. He wrote forty-two medical books in epic verse, among which is also On Werewolves.”

Μάρκελλος Σιδήτης, ἰατρός, ἐπὶ Μάρκου Ἀντωνίνου. οὗτος ἔγραψε δι' ἐπῶν ἡρωϊκῶν βιβλία ἰατρικὰ δύο καὶ μ’, ἐν οἷς καὶ περὶ λυκανθρώπου.

Suda μ, entry 205

*The text refers to a drug called “hiera,” which means “sacred.” I am not sure where the name comes from. It might come from the fact that it was used to treat epilepsy, i.e., the sacred disease (ἡ ἱερὰ νόσος), or maybe it contained ingredients considered sacred, or maybe it is a marketing gimmick. From what I’ve read, lots of different drugs are called “hiera,” from plasters to purgatives. See, e.g., Galen, HVA 2.11:

‘Whenever, then, the fever isn't strong, and you have experience with the nature of the patient, you'll arrive at the dose of the purging drug when you use the ones mentioned by Hippocrates or even some other ones that work in similar ways, of which one is [prepared] with colocynth. It is usually called “hiera.”‘

ὅταν οὖν ὁ πυρετὸς ᾖ μὴ σφοδρός, ἔμπειρός τε ᾖς τῆς τοῦ κάμνοντος φύσεως, εἰς τὴν τοῦ καθαίροντος φαρμάκου δόσιν ἀφίξῃ χρώμενος ἤτοι τοῖς ὑφ' Ἱπποκράτους εἰρημένοις ἢ καί τισιν ἄλλοις τῶν ὁμοιοτρόπων, ὧν ἐστι καὶ τὸ διὰ τῆς κολοκυνθίδος, ἱερὰν δ' αὐτὴν συνήθως ὀνομάζουσι.

Galen, In Hippocratis De victu acutorum commentaria, HVA 2.11, 172 Helmreich (15.539 Kühn)

I am translating it as “wonder drug” for fun, but to be honest, I can’t figure out where the name comes from. Justus’ version, a purgative, is preserved by Oribasius. Here it is:

“Justus’ Wonder Drug

• Of colocynth insides, 22 drams

• Of french Lavender, germander, white pepper, black pepper, agaric, black hellebore, scammony, 13 drams each

• Of gum ammoniac, thyme, saffron, spurge, 8 drams each

• Of Myrrh, 4 drams

• Of roasted squill, 16 drams

• (some: of cassia, 4 drams; and of spikenard, 8 drams )

• A sufficient amount of honey”

Ἱερὰ Ἰούστου.

Κολοκυνθίδος ἔντερα 𐅻 κβ’, στοιχάδος, χαμαίδρυος, πεπέρεως λευκοῦ, πεπέρεως μέλανος, ἀγαρικοῦ, ἐλλεβόρου μέλανος, σκαμμωνίας ἀνὰ 𐅻 ιγ’, ἀμμωνιακοῦ, θύμου, κρόκου, εὐφορβίου ἀνὰ 𐅻 η’, σμύρνης 𐅻 δ’, σκίλλης ὀπτῆς 𐅻 ιϛ’ (ἔνιοι κασίας 𐅻 δ’ καὶ ναρδοστάχυος 𐅻 η’), μέλιτος τὸ ἀρκοῦν.

Oribasius, Medical Collections, 8.47.21 (300,8-13 Raeder)

Spells for Walpurgisnacht: Apuleius and Plato on why we should learn magic

“Haven’t you heard—you who are hastily accusing it—that magic is an art approved of by the immortal gods, a profound knowledge of their care and worship, manifestly pious and wise in divine things, noble since the time of its authors, Zoroaster and Ahura Mazda, a celestial high-priestess, which is, in fact, among the first of the royal arts to be taught—and not just anyone among the Persians is allowed to be a magician, any more than anyone is allowed to reign. Plato, too, in a discussion about Zalmoxis, a Thracian and of the same skill as this man (sc. Zoroaster), once wrote: ‘magic spells are beautiful words.’ If this is true, why am I not allowed the beautiful words of Zalmoxis, or the ceremonies of Zoroaster?”

auditisne magiam, qui eam temere accusatis, artem esse dis immortalibus acceptam, colendi eos ac uenerandi pergnaram, piam scilicet et diuini scientem, iam inde a Zoroastre et Oromaze auctoribus suis nobilem, caelitum antistitam, quippe qui inter prima regalia docetur nec ulli temere inter Persas concessum est magum esse, haud magis quam regnare. idem Plato in alia sermocinatione de Zalmoxi quodam Thraci generis, sed eiusdem artis uiro ita scriptum reliquit: τὰς δὲ ἐπῳδὰς εἶναι τοὺς λόγους τοὺς καλούς. quod si ita est, cur mihi nosse non liceat uel Zalmoxi bona uerba uel Zoroastri sacerdotia?

Apuleius, Apologia 26.1

“This, Charmides, is what the nature of the magical spell is like. I learned it back when I was in the army from one of the Thracian doctors of Zalmoxis, who are even said to grant immortality. This Thracian fellow said that Greek doctors may know what they’re talking about when it comes to these things—the things I was discussing just now—, ‘but,’ he said, ‘our king Zalmoxis, who is also a god, says that, just as you shouldn’t try to cure the eye without curing the head, nor the head without the whole body, so you shouldn’t try to heal the body without the soul. And this is the reason the doctors in Greece miss so many diseases: because they neglect the whole that they ought to be concerned about, since if it is not in good shape, it is impossible for the part to be. For everything,’ he said, ‘that is good and bad for the body and for a human being as a whole starts from the soul and flows out from there, as from the head to the eyes, and so if head and the rest of the body are to be in good shape, first and foremost, you need to heal the soul. The soul is cured, my dear friend,’ he said, ‘by a kind of magic spell, and these magic spells are beautiful words. From such words temperance is engendered in the soul, and when it’s engendered and present, then health is easy to bring about, both in the head and in the rest of the body.’”

τοιοῦτον τοίνυν ἐστίν, ὦ Χαρμίδη, καὶ τὸ ταύτης τῆς ἐπῳδῆς. ἔμαθον δ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐγὼ ἐκεῖ ἐπὶ στρατιᾶς παρά τινος τῶν Θρᾳκῶν τῶν Ζαλμόξιδος ἰατρῶν, οἳ λέγονται καὶ ἀπαθανατίζειν. ἔλεγεν δὲ ὁ Θρᾲξ οὗτος ὅτι ταῦτα μὲν ἰατροὶ οἱ Ἕλληνες, ἃ νυνδὴ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον, καλῶς λέγοιεν: ἀλλὰ Ζάλμοξις, ἔφη, λέγει ὁ ἡμέτερος βασιλεύς, θεὸς ὤν, ὅτι ὥσπερ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἄνευ κεφαλῆς οὐ δεῖ ἐπιχειρεῖν ἰᾶσθαι οὐδὲ κεφαλὴν ἄνευ σώματος, οὕτως οὐδὲ σῶμα ἄνευ ψυχῆς, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο καὶ αἴτιον εἴη τοῦ διαφεύγειν τοὺς παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἰατροὺς τὰ πολλὰ νοσήματα, ὅτι τοῦ ὅλου ἀμελοῖεν οὗ δέοι τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ποιεῖσθαι, οὗ μὴ καλῶς ἔχοντος ἀδύνατον εἴη τὸ μέρος εὖ ἔχειν. πάντα γὰρ ἔφη ἐκ τῆς ψυχῆς ὡρμῆσθαι καὶ τὰ κακὰ καὶ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῷ σώματι καὶ παντὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἐπιρρεῖν ὥσπερ ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ὄμματα: δεῖν οὖν ἐκεῖνο καὶ πρῶτον καὶ μάλιστα θεραπεύειν, εἰ μέλλει καὶ τὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τὰ τοῦ ἄλλου σώματος καλῶς ἔχειν. θεραπεύεσθαι δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἔφη, ὦ μακάριε, ἐπῳδαῖς τισιν, τὰς δ᾽ ἐπῳδὰς ταύτας τοὺς λόγους εἶναι τοὺς καλούς: ἐκ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων λόγων ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς σωφροσύνην ἐγγίγνεσθαι, ἧς ἐγγενομένης καὶ παρούσης ῥᾴδιον ἤδη εἶναι τὴν ὑγίειαν καὶ τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ τῷ ἄλλῳ σώματι πορίζειν.

Plato, Charmides, 156D-157B

Pseudo-Alexander on why oil doesn't mix with water, how the soul is joined to the body, and why the head is like a little heaven

Why doesn't oil combine together with other liquids?

Because, since it is viscous and dense and unified and not cut up into fine parts like other liquids, it does not have space for another liquid to move into it and combine with it.

Some things that are joined, however, are joined with one another by mixture, like the qualities of the elements. They have primary qualities that are completely concealed and that produce other [qualities], but are able to be separated and liberated by nature once again. Honey-wine and sour-wine imitate nature, since to our perception they seem to exist as a mixture. In truth, however, and with respect to their substantial nature, they are not like the elements.

Other things are joined by juxtaposition, like water and oil; still others are joined by combination, like barley with wheat; others by cementing, like stone with stone; others by adhesion and similar processes, like blood with flesh or marrow or bone; others by nailing, like wood to wood because some nails were fitted between them; others, by attachment and weaving together, like links in a chain.

But in the case of ensouled things, as in the case of wrestlers*, the soul is not joined with the body in any these ways. That would be too absurd. Instead, the soul joins the body through a kind of suitable medium, which is to some extent receptive of the nature of both. And it [sc. the medium] embraces both a created and contrived thing and combines the incorporeal with the corporeal, the immortal with the corruptible, the pure with the impure, the divine with the earthly, as the discussion will show.

For when the blood is concocted in the liver and changed by the localized balanced proportion of heat and moisture, it generates a vapory pneuma. When this rises with the blood through the hollow-vein towards the heart, as it is heated and refined more, it [sc. the pneuma] becomes air-like. And again, when it is sent up through the carotid artery towards the base of the brain, being guided there by nature’s providence, casting off the immoderate boiling in accordance with a certain peculiar natural quality accompanying the coldness of the brain, the pneuma becomes aitherial, which is the soul’s instrument for activity.

So, just as wild horses are chastened by a bridle, so this [pneuma] is bridled by a certain irrational natural capacity. Furthermore, it is indeed through respiration that the air that has come into the heart is refined and goes up through the arteries towards the head, and it is made nourishment of the aetherial and psychic pneuma. If [the air] meets a body, let it strengthen the body; but if it meets finest, purest, most radiant [pneuma], then [let it strengthen] the rational soul, being somehow a corporeal incorporeal, an intermediate bound between extremes of contrary substance.

When this pneuma is properly stable, in everything it does, it manages, with the soul, to act rationally [κατὰ λόγον]. But when it is cooled immoderately and compressed and thickened, it becomes unsuitable for the intense activity of the soul [and] makes the activities idle and sluggish. When it has been cooled and thickened extremely immoderately, the generated body also causes the soul to depart due to the unsuitability of the substance, as in the case of lethargy, torpor and a draught of cold poison. On the other hand, when it is heated immoderately and is moved more than is needed, it causes the soul to act immoderately in accordance with the soul’s displacement [κατὰ τὰς ἐκστάσεις τῆς ψυχῆς] in [cases of] phrenitis. When this affection becomes even stronger, after it is exhausted, it will make the soul depart again by not preserving their being bound together.

Consider with me a different work of god. For since it was fated that it [sc. the soul] be confined from the heavenly and divine body to an earthly body, [the god] contrived the descent in shape, structure and colour. For the head itself it formed into a sphere, just like a little heaven. It arranged the brain—bright and without excess, having given seven passages to it representing the number of the movers of the stars—to rise above the whole body. For heaven, too, rises above everything in the world of coming to be and passing away.

*the image is of two people embracing and holding on to one another.

Διὰ τί τὸ ἔλαιον οὐδενὶ τῶν ὑγρῶν ἀναμίγνυται;

ὅτι γλίσχρον ὂν καὶ παχυμερὲς καὶ ἡνωμένον καὶ μὴ τεμνόμενον εἰς λεπτὰ μόρια καθάπερ τὰ ἄλλα ὑγρά, οὐ δίδωσιν χώραν ἑτέρῳ ὑγρῷ ἐγκαταβληθῆναι εἰς αὐτὸ καὶ ἀναμιχθῆναι αὐτῷ·

τὰ δὲ ὁμιλοῦντα ἑαυτοῖς ὁμιλεῖ τῶν κατὰ τὴν κρᾶσιν, ὡς αἱ ποιότητες τῶν στοιχείων παντελῶς ἔχουσαι τὰς πρώτας ποιότητας ἀφανιζομένας καὶ ἑτέρας γεννωμένας, δυναμένας δὲ πάλιν ὑπὸ φύσεως χωρισθῆναι καὶ σωθῆναι. τὸ δὲ μελίκρατον καὶ τὸ ὀξύκρατον μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν, τῇ αἰσθήσει μὲν νομιζόμενα κατὰ κρᾶσιν, εἶναι μὴ ὄντα δὲ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν· καὶ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν οὐσιωδῶς, ὥσπερ τὰ στοιχεῖα.

τὰ δὲ κατὰ παράθεσιν, ὡς ὑδρέλαιον· τὰ δὲ κατὰ μῖξιν, ὡς κριθὴ πυροῖς· τὰ δὲ κατὰ κόλλησιν, ὡς λίθος λίθῳ· τὰ δὲ κατὰ πρόσφυσιν καὶ ὁμοίως, ὡς αἷμα σαρκὶ ἢ μυελῷ ἢ ὀστῷ. τὰ δὲ κατὰ γόμφωσιν, ὡς ξύλον ξύλῳ διὰ γόμφων τινῶν ἐν μέσῳ βαλλομένων. τὰ δὲ κατὰ ἀντοχὴν ἑαυτῶν καὶ περιπλοκήν, ὡς κρίκος κρίκῳ.

ἐπὶ δὲ ἐμψύχων, ὡς ἐπὶ παλαιόντων, κατ' οὐδένα τούτων τῶν τρόπων μίγνυται ἡ ψυχὴ σώματι. διὰ τὸ πολλὴν ἐπάγεσθαι ἀτοπίαν [mss. ἀντοπίαν], ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον κατ' ἐπιτηδειότητα ὁμιλεῖ σώματι ψυχὴ διὰ μέσου τινός, ὅπερ ἀμφοτέρων ἀναδεχόμενον φύσιν ποσῶς· καὶ προσφιλεῖ γινόμενον καὶ σοφιζόμενον, ἀμφότερον μίγνυσι τὸ ἀσώματον τῷ σώματι, τὸ ἀθάνατον τῷ φθαρτῷ, τὸ καθαρὸν τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ, τὸ θεῖον τῷ γηΐνῳ, ὡς ὁ λόγος δείξει·

ἐν γὰρ τῷ ἥπατι τοῦ αἵματος πεττομένου καὶ μεταβαλλομένου ὑπὸ τῆς αὐτόθι συμμέτρου θερμότητος καὶ ὑγρότητος, γεννᾶται πνεῦμαἀτμοειδές· τοῦτο δὲ διὰ τῆς κοίλης φλεβὸς ἀνιὸν μετὰ τοῦ αἵματος πρὸς καρδίαν, καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον θερμαινόμενον καὶ λεπτυνόμενον, γίνεται ἀεροειδές· καὶ πάλιν ἀναπεμπόμενον διὰ τῶν καρωτίδων ἀρτηριῶν πρὸς τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου κατὰ πρόνοιαν φύσεως ἐκεῖσε παιδαγωγούμενον κατ' ἰδιότητά τινα φυσικὴν ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου ψυχρότητος ἀποβαλὸν τὴν ἄμετρον ζέσιν, γίνεται πνεῦμα αἰθεροειδές, ὅπερ ὄργανόν ἐστι ψυχῆς πρὸς ἐνέργειαν·

ὥσπερ ἄγριος ἵππος ὑπὸ χαλινοῦ σωφρονιζόμενος, οὕτω δὲ τοῦτο χαλιναγωγούμενον ὑπό τινος ἀρρήτου φυσικῆς δυνάμεως· ἔτι γε μὴν διὰ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς ὁ εἰσιὼν ἀὴρ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ λεπτυνόμενος καὶ ἀνιὼν διὰ τῶν ἀρτηριῶν πρὸς ἐγκέφαλον, καὶ αὐτὸ τροφὴ καθίσταται τοῦ αἰθεροειδοῦς καὶ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος· ὅπερ εἰ μὲν σῶμα τυγχάνει, προσωκείτω τῷ σώματι, εἰ δὲ λεπτότατον καὶ καθαρότατον καὶ διαυγέστατον φιλιοῦται, ψυχῇ λογικῇ σῶμα ἀσώματόν πως ὑπάρχον καὶ δεσμὸς ἔμμεσος τυγχάνει τῶν ἄκρων ἐναντίαν οὐσίαν ἐχόντων·

τοῦτο τὸ πνεῦμα καλῶς μὲν εὐσταθοῦν διάγει ψυχῇ πάντα κατὰ λόγον ἐνεργεῖν· ἀμέτρως δὲ ψυχόμενον καὶ πιλούμενον καὶ παχυνόμενον καὶ ἀνεπιτήδειον γινόμενον πρὸς ἐνέργειαν σύντονον ψυχῆς ποιεῖ τὰς πράξεις ἀργοτέρας καὶ νωθροτέρας· ἀμετρότατα δὲ ψυχθὲν καὶ παχυνθὲν καὶ σῶμα γενόμενον παρασκευάζει ταύτην ἀφίστασθαι διὰ τὸ ἀνεπιτήδειον τῆς οὐσίας, ὡς ἐπὶ ληθάργων καὶ κάρων καὶ πόσεως ψυχρῶν δηλητηρίων· πάλιν δὲ θερμανθὲν ἀμέτρως καὶ πλέον τοῦ δέοντος κινούμενον, παρασκευάζει ψυχὴν ἀμετρότερον ἐνεργεῖν κατὰ τὰς ἐκστάσεις τῆς ψυχῆς ταῖς φρενίτισιν· ἔτι δὲ πλέον τοῦτο παθὸν καὶ ἐκδαπανηθὲν ποιήσει πάλιν ψυχὴν ἀφίστασθαι τῷ μὴ εὐπορεῖν τοῦ δεσμοῦντος ἀμφότερα.

θεώρει δέ μοι ἕτερον ἔργον θεοῦ· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ταύτην ἔμελλεν ἀπὸ σώματος οὐρανίου καὶ θείου κατακλείειν σώματι γηΐνῳ, σοφίζεται τὴν κάθοδον σχήματι, κατασκευῇ, χρώματι. αὐτὴν μὲν γὰρ τὴν κεφαλὴν σφαιροειδῆ διετύπωσε, καθάπερ μικρὸν οὐρανόν· τὸν δὲ ἐγκέφαλον λαμπρὸν καὶ ἀπέριττον ἔταξε δεδωκὼς αὐτῷ πόρους ἑπτὰ τῶν κινουμένων ἀστέρων τὸν ἀριθμὸν διατυπώσας. ὑπερέχειν δὲ τοῦ παντὸς σώματος· καὶ γὰρ ὁ οὐρανὸς ὑπερέχει πάντα τὰ ἐν γενέσει καὶ φθορᾷ.

Pseudo-Alexander, Problems, 2.67

An ancient debate on music therapy

Musical therapy has been shown to be effective at reducing pain. That might not be surprising, but it's nice that people are researching ways of dealing with pain that are not just pharmacological. What's curious to me about the passages and the debate below isn't so much that they talk about music (particularly flute music) as a way of curing the pain, or that others would deny it. I'm curious (a) why Theophrastus would have talked about musical therapy in a text on enthusiasm (a kind of frenzy of divine possession normally associated with ritual cults); and (b) whether it suggests there was a discussion going on among people like Theophrastus and Democritus (or a pseudo-Democritus - here is a great article by Matteo Martelli) about whether music causes enthusiasm, how enthusiasm is related to pain, and what it suggests about the affinity of mind and body. It'd also be nice to know why you have to play the flute right over the part of the body that's in pain.

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"It is worth mentioning the treatment <which> Theophrastus talks about in his book On Enthusiasm. He says that music cures many of the illnesses that occur in the soul and the body, like swooning, fear and long-term mental derangement. He says flute playing in particular cures sciatica and epilepsy, just like it did for the person who went to see Aristoxenus the musician..."

Ἄξια δ' ἐστὶν ἐπιστάσεως [τὰ εἰρημένα.] <ἃ> Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐνθουσιασμοῦ ἐξεῖπεν. φησὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τὴν μουσικὴν πολλὰ τῶν ἐπὶ ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ σῶμα γιγνομένων παθῶν ἰατρεύειν, καθάπερ λιποθυμίαν, φόβους καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ μακρὸν γιγνομένας τῆς διανοίας ἐκστάσεις. ἰᾶται γάρ, φησίν, ἡ καταύλησις καὶ ἰσχιάδα καὶ ἐπιληψίαν· καθάπερ πρὸς Ἀριστόξενον τὸν μουσικὸν ἐλθόντα [text is corrupt after this point]...

Apollonius Paradoxographus, Historiae Mirabiles c. 49.

"That music cures diseases, Theophrastus discusses in his book On Enthusiasm, where he says that those suffering from sciatica become free of the disease when someone plays a Phrygian arrangement on the flute over the affected place."

ὅτι δὲ καὶ νόσους ἰᾶται μουσικὴ Θεόφραστος ἱστόρησεν ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἐνθουσιασμοῦ ἰσχιακοὺς φάσκων ἀνόσους διατελεῖν, εἰ καταυλήσοι τις τοῦ τόπου τῇ Φρυγιστὶ ἁρμονίᾳ.

Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 14.18

"I recently found a passage in a book of Theophrastus, which says that many people believe and have written down that when sciatica is especially painful, their pains are diminished if a flute-player plays a gentle melody. That flute playing, when done with skill and measure, also cures snake bites is mentioned in a book by Democritus, which is called [there's a lacuna], in which he shows that music from flutes is a cure for many human diseases. There is so great an affinity between people's bodies and minds, and for this reason as well between the illnesses and also remedies of the soul and the body."

Creditum hoc a plerisque esse et memoriae mandatum, ischia cum maxime doleant, tum, si modulis lenibus tibicen incinat, minui dolores, ego nuperrime in libro Theophrasti scriptum inveni. Viperarum morsibus tibicinium scite modulateque adhibitum mederi refert etiam Democriti liber, qui inscribitur . . ., in quo docet plurimis hominum morbidis medicinae fuisse incentiones tibiarum. Tanta prosus adfinitas est corporibus hominum mentibusque et propterea vitiis quoque aut medellis animorum et corporum.

Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, 4.13

"Some doctors prescribe the use of music [for sciatica], as the brother of Philistion also mentions in Book 22 of On Remedies. He writes that there was a piper who would play songs over the part that was in pain, which would begin to pulse and palpitate, relieving and freeing him from the pain. Some say Pythagoras discovered this kind of remedy. But in Soranus' opinion, whoever believes that a powerful disease is removed by music and song suffers from a vain delusion."

"item alii cantelenas adhibendas probaverunt, ut etiam Philistionis frater idem memorat libro XXII De adiutoriis, scribens quendam fistulatorem loca dolentia decantasse, quae cum saltum sumerent palpitando discusso dolore mitescerent. alii denique hoc adiutorii genus Pithagoram memorant invenisse. sed Sorani iudicio videntur hi mentis vanitate iactari qui modulis et cantilena passionis robur excludi crediderunt."

Caelius Aurelianus, On Chronic Diseases, 5.23 (pp.918-20 Drabkin)