Download - CLAS/HIST3051
Organizing Books
You receive a new book, perhaps as a gift Where is it stored? What is the organizing principle?
C. S. Lewis thought the card catalogue would be seen by Middle Ages as greatest invention
Ancient Libraries
Only 'Villa of the Papyri' here remains
Busts of authors decorated the room
catalogues listed authors under subject headings
Public libraries began at Alexandria in late 4th c. 500,000 scrolls
Libraries Create Distortion
Works accrue to popular authors More popular the author, more he acquires Dialectical differences? Anonymous texts, in particular Hippocrates is worst case
Hippocratic Corpus
'Hippocratic' > 'of or pertaining to Hippocrates' corpus > body of work term that sets aside question of authorship
Internal Evidence?
Ionian dialect Lack of divine causation diverse in purpose
healing defining disease
diverse in origins of disease Work like 'On the Heart' probably 3rd c. BC,
much later than Hippocrates No work can be ascribed to him internally
Hippocratic Question
Who was Hippocrates? When did he live? Where did he live? How did he gain such a reputation for healing?
External Evidence
Outside the corpus The earlier the better What do we learn in Plato's Protagoras? (LIV.1)
and Aristotle Politics (LIV.2)
Period of Life
Floruit = that of Socrates Socrates d. 399 BC Not alive at time of Politics' writing
After his return to Athens in 335 BC? Squares nicely with our story of the progress of
philosophy and medicine
Ancient Biography
Ps.-Soranus Soranus 2nd c. AD
What were his accomplishments according to biographical tradition?
What is interestingly lacking?
Hippocrates and the Asclepiadai
L1V.6 What was his method here? How does this fit with, e.g., Sacred Disease?
Statements about Hippocrates' Method
LIV.8-9 What does Anonymous think Aristotle thinks
about Hippocrates? What does Anonymous think about
Hippocrates? How does LIV.10 fit? How about LIV.11 or 12?