"When the soul is inflamed", part I

(edit: the sequel can be found here)

While I've been collecting the fragments of Athenaeus of Attalia, I've also been tracking down texts about the Pneumatist school of medicine. They are pretty elusive, and this makes me wonder whether it was a medical 'school' in the normal sense (like the 'Rationalists' , Empiricists', or 'Methodists'). I'm also curious about the idea of 'belonging to a school' and how what it meant to doctors changed during the first and second centuries.

Galen's commentary on Epidemics 6 is a good place to go to with these questions. It contains lots of discussions of people Galen disagrees with, and some of them sound pretty close to people he calls "Pneumatikoi" in other places. He never names them in the commentary, which means I need to file them away as possible testimonies. Still, whether or not the "τινές" – the "some people" – Galen talks about here are Pneumatists, this passage is further evidence that Epidemics 6 and its interpretation was an important locus for the revival of Hippocratean medicine, and for bringing medicine, natural philosophy and ethics closer together.

I'll post this comment on Epidemics 6.5.2 in two parts. The first part deals with medical views on the soul and its relation to pneuma (or spirit), as well as Galen's thoughts on the soul's importance for medicine. The second records the views of Platonists, Aristotelians and Stoics on the soul.

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Lemma: A person's soul is ever born until death, but when the soul is inflamed with disease, it consumes the body.

Ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴ αἰεὶ φύεται μέχρι θανάτου· ἢν δὲ ἐκπυρωθῇ ἅμα τῇ νούσῳ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ, τὸ σῶμα φέρβεται.

'Hippocrates', Epidemics 6.5.2 (V 314,14-15 Littré)

Galen's Commentary: One needs the power of prophecy more than any method, if one is going to figure out what the person who wrote [the word] "born" intended it to mean. One can take it in the sense of "begotten", like Asclepiades later understood it; or one can take it in the sense of "increased"; or, one can take it, as some people did, in the sense of "preserved", since we engage in nutrition and respiration—for all those who consider the soul to be pneuma say it is preserved by an exhalation of the blood and the air drawn through the trachea into the body during inspiration. Obviously, it is impossible for us to maintain that any of these claims are true, without first having identified the substance of the soul precisely. If, therefore, as in the case of On Sevens, in which the book's author clearly stated his opinion about the substance of the soul, it was likewise mentioned in some of the other books which are agreed to be the genuine works of  Hippocrates, then I would have to say something about the word "born". Since, however, Hippocrates nowhere in the genuine books states his opinion clearly [...Wenkebach marks a lacuna...] whatever the word "produced" means.

In addition to my ignorance about this, I myself am not convinced that I can know the substance of the soul with any certainty. That the brain controls perception and voluntary movement for all the parts of an animal, I have demonstrated in The Opinions of Hippocrates and Plato. I am convinced, moreover, that the pneuma in the ventricles [of the brain] is a primary kind of psychic instrument, which it would be rather rash for me to claim is the substance of the soul. Whether the whole nature of the brain arose out of the mixture of the four elements to form some specific quality of the substance, because of which it becomes the primary source of perception and voluntary movement in animals (and obviously also of imagination, memory and thought), or whether some further incorporeal capacity is fastened to us at the brain by a craftsman and then separated again from us when we are dying, I have no sound demonstration. But I also think that those who have an opinion about this have a larger share than mine of rashness rather than wisdom.

And in fact, I think it is superfluous for doctors to know the substance of the soul. For those who practice the art of medicine in a rational way, it is enough to know that as long as the natural mixture of the brain itself and the pneuma in its ventricles is preserved, then the animal is able to live. When the pneuma in the ventricles is completely destroyed, or is diverted a good deal from its natural mixture along with the substance in the brain, then either psychic disease or death necessarily follow. When the doctor knows these things, he will provide for their good-mixture and for the subsistence <of the pneuma>, always according to the methods we mentioned in the notes on Matters of Health (De sanitate tuenda) and The Therapeutic Method (Methodus medendi), all of which I showed Hippocrates had discovered first.

For this reason, then, I think the present passage is not genuine, but was written by someone, as it were, not too far removed, perhaps even his son Thessalus. They say he strung together his father's writings, which he found written on papyrus, parchment and writing-tablets, and inserted passages like these ones along with them.

Μαντείας δεῖ μᾶλλον ἤ τινος μεθόδου, καθ' ἣν εὑρήσει τις, ὅ τί ποτε σημαίνειν βουληθεὶς ἔγραψε τὸ «φύεται». δύναται μὲν γὰρ ἀκούεσθαι καὶ <ἀντὶ> τοῦ "γεννᾶται", καθάπερ ὁ Ἀσκληπιάδης ὕστερον ὑπέλαβε, δύναται δὲ καὶ <ἀντὶ> τοῦ "αὐξάνεται", δύναται δ', ὥσπερ τινὲς ἤκουσαν, ἀντὶ τοῦ "διασῴζεται", τροφῇ καὶ ἀναπνοῇ χρωμένων ἡμῶν· ὅσοι γὰρ οἴονται τὴν <ψυχὴν> εἶναι πνεῦμα, διασῴζεσθαι λέγουσιν αὐτὴν ἔκ τε τῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως τοῦ αἵματος καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν εἰσπνοὴν <ἀέρος> ἑλκομένου διὰ τῆς τραχείας ἀρτηρίας εἴσω τοῦ σώματος. οὐκ ἄδηλον δ' ἐστὶ καὶ ὡς οὐδὲν ὧν εἶπον ἀποφήνασθαι δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἐστι διατεινομένοις, ὡς ἀληθὲς εἴη, μὴ πρότερον οὐσίαν ψυχῆς ἀκριβῶς ἐξευροῦσιν. εἰ μὲν οὖν, ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ Περὶ ἑβδομάδων ὁ γράψας τὸ βιβλίον ἐκεῖνο σαφῶς ἀπεφήνατο περὶ ψυχῆς οὐσίας, οὕτως καὶ κατ' ἄλλο τι τῶν ὁμολογουμένων γνησίων Ἱπποκράτους συγγραμμάτων ἦν εἰρημένον, εἶχον ἄν τι κἀγὼ λέγειν περὶ τοῦ «φύεται» ῥήματος. ἐπεὶ δ' οὐδαμόθι τῶν γνησίων βιβλίων Ἱπποκράτης ἀπεφήνατο σαφῶς ***, ὅ τί ποτε σημαίνει τὸ «φύεται» ῥῆμα.

πρὸς δὲ τῷ τοῦτ' ἀγνοεῖν οὐδ' αὐτὸς ἐμαυτὸν πέπεικα ψυχῆς οὐσίαν ἐπίστασθαι βεβαίως. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος αἰσθήσεώς τε καὶ κινήσεως τῆς καθ' ὁρμὴν ἡγεμών ἐστι τοῖς τοῦ ζῴου μορίοις ἅπασιν, ἐν τοῖς Περὶ τῶν Ἱπποκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος δογμάτων ἀποδέδειγμαι. πέπεισμαι <δὲ> καὶ πρός γε τούτῳ τὸ κατὰ τὰς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ πνεῦμα πρῶτόν τι τῶν ὀργάνων εἶναι τῶν ψυχικῶν, ὅπερ ἦν μοι προπετέστερον ἀποφηναμένῳ ψυχῆς οὐσίαν εἰπεῖν. εἴτε δὲ ἡ ὅλη τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου φύσις ἐκ τῆς τῶν τεττάρων στοιχείων κράσεως εἰς τοιαύτην <τῆς> οὐσίας ἦλθεν [ἢ] ἰδιότητα, καθ' ἣν αἰσθήσεώς τε καὶ κινήσεως τῆς καθ' ὁρμὴν ἀρχηγὸς ἔσται τῷ ζῴῳ καὶ δηλονότι <καὶ φαντασίας> καὶ μνήμης τε καὶ νοήσεως, εἴτε τις ἄλλη δύναμις ἀσώματος ὑπὸ τοῦ δημιουργήσαντος ἡμᾶς ἐνδεῖταί τε τῷ ἐγκεφάλῳ καὶ χωρίζεται πάλιν ἀποθνῃσκόντων, οὐδεμίαν ἔχω ἀπόδειξιν βεβαίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀποφηναμένους περὶ τούτων ἡγοῦμαι πλεονεκτεῖν ἐμοῦ προπετείᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ σοφίᾳ.

καὶ μέντοι καὶ περιττὸν εἶναι νομίζω τοῖς ἰατροῖς ἐπίστασθαι ψυχῆς οὐσίαν. ἀρκεῖ γὰρ γινώσκεσθαι τοῖς τὴν ἰατρικὴν τέχνην λογικῶς μεταχειριζομένοις, ὡς, ἡ κατὰ φύσιν κρᾶσις αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὰς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ πνεύματος ἄχρι περ ἂν διασῴζηται, ζῆν δυνάμενον τὸ ζῷον. ἐὰν δὲ ἤτοι τὸ κατὰ τὰς κοιλίας πνεῦμα διαφθαρῇ παντάπασιν ἢ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν κράσεως ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐκτραπῇ, μετὰ τῆς κατὰ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον <οὐσίας ἀναγκαῖον αὐτῇ ἢ ψυχικὴν νόσον ἢ θάνατον> ἀκολουθῆσαι. ταῦτα γὰρ γινώσκων ὁ ἰατρὸς τῆς τ' εὐκρασίας αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς ὑπάρξεως προνοήσεται <τοῦ πνεύματος> ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰς εἰρημένας μεθόδους ὑφ' ἡμῶν ἔν τε τοῖς Ὑγιεινοῖς καὶ τοῖς Θεραπευτικοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν, ἃς ἔδειξα πάσας Ἱπποκράτην πρῶτον εὑρηκότα.

διὰ τοῦτ' οὖν οὐδὲ γνησίαν νομίζω τὴν προκειμένην ῥῆσιν εἶναι, παρεγγεγράφθαι δ' ὑπό τινος ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλας οὐκ ὀλίγας, ἴσως δὲ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Θεσσαλόν, <ὃν> ἀθροῖσαί φασι τὰς ὑπογραφὰς τοῦ πατρὸς εὑρόντα γεγραμμένας ἐν χάρταις τε καὶ διφθέραις καὶ δέλτοις, καὶ τοιαύτας τινὰς παρεντεθεικέναι ῥήσεις.

Galen, Commentary on Hippocrates' Epidemics 6, 5.5 (270,21-272,9 Wenkebach = XVIIB 246-249 Kühn)

Galen on jargon and bad style

 

Galen does not like Archigenes' jargon

"The next thing Archigenes says, i.e., 'when there is a narrowing, the nerves have "full pains",' he said using affectatious language. It explains nothing more than what comes after it, where he says the pains are 'least diffuse'."

Tὸ δ’ ἐφεξῆς εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀρχιγένους, ὅτι καὶ στενοχωρίας πλήρεις ἔχει τὰ νεῦρα τοὺς πόνους, κακοζήλως μὲν εἴρηται τῇ λέξει. δηλοῖ δ’ οὐδὲν πλέον τοῦ μετ’ αὐτό, καθ’ ὅ φησι καὶ ἥκιστα κεχυμένους. 

Galen, De locis affectis II 8,15 (CMG V 6,1,1 340,12-14 Gärtner = VIII 100 K)

'κακοζηλία' - comes from rhetoric. The adjective seems to have been floating around for a while, but at some point it was appropriated (perhaps by pseudo-Demetrius) to describe bad style in speech. It's usually translated, 'affectation', although I find that doesn't really capture it. In a strict sense, kakozêlia means "a zeal for all that is bad": it describes any expression which exceeds the boundaries of eloquence and passes into the absurd. There are a few nice examples in pseudo-Demetrius (below). Lucian seems to have extended it to describe over-acting. Hermogenes gives a summary explanation of what it is about affectation we find so wrong. And there's a discussion of it in Quintillian, Institutio Oratoria 8.3.56, which I'm leaving out. All these writers seem to agree that affectation causes an expression to fail. The tension it causes between the seriousness of the author's intent and the silliness or baseness of their execution ends up making the result seem too implausible to be taken seriously. 

Pseudo-Demetrius

"186. [...] Just as the frigid style is closely connected to the magnificent, so there is a certain defective style closely connected with the refined. Following the colloquial expression, I call it "affectation" (kakozelon). Like all the other styles, it occurs in three aspects of style.

187. In thought, like the guy who talked about "the Centaur riding itself", or, that time Alexander wanted to compete in a race at the Olympics, and someone said, "Alexander, run along the name of your mother!"

188. It occurs in words as, for example, "somewhere, a sweet-faced rose was laughing": the 'laughing' metaphor is out of place and does not fit at all, and the compound 'sweet-faced' – no one of sound judgment would put that in a poem. Another example is someone who once said, "the pine was whistling at the gentle breeze." But enough about diction.

189. The composition, e.g. the anapaestic and especially those resembling lamentable and undignified meters, like the Sotadean one, because of its softness: "after searching in the burning heat, cover up" and "waving the spear of Ash Pelian to the right over his shoulder", instead of "waving  the Pelian spear of Ash over his right shoulder." The line seems transformed somehow, like those who the fables tell us transform from men into women. So much concerning affectation."

186. [...] καθάπερ δὲ τῷ μεγαλοπρεπεῖ παρέκειτο ὁ ψυχρὸς χαρακτήρ, οὕτως τῷ γλαφυρῷ παράκειταί τις διημαρτημένος. ὀνομάζω δὲ αὐτὸν τῷ κοινῷ ὀνόματι κακόζηλον. γίνεται δ' αὖ καὶ οὗτος ἐν τρισίν, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες.

187. Ἐν διανοίᾳ μέν, ὡς ὁ εἰπὼν «Κένταυρος ἑαυτὸν ἱππεύων», καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ βουλευομένου Ἀλεξάνδρου δρόμον ἀγωνίσασθαι Ὀλυμπίασιν ἔφη τις οὕτως· «Ἀλέξανδρε, δράμε σου τῆς μητρὸς τὸ ὄνομα».

188. Ἐν δὲ ὀνόμασιν γίγνοιτ' ἂν οὕτως, οἷον «ἐγέλα που ῥόδον ἡδύχροον»· ἥ τε γὰρ μεταφορὰ ἡ ἐγέλα πάνυ μετάκειται ἀπρεπῶς, καὶ τὸ σύνθετον τὸ ἡδύχροον οὐδ' ἐν ποιήματι θείη ἄν τις ἀκριβῶς σωφρονῶν. ἢ ὥς τις εἶπεν, ὅτι· «λεπταῖς ὑπεσύριζε πίτυς αὔραις»· περὶ μὲν δὴ τὴν λέξιν οὕτως.

189.  Σύνθεσις δὲ †ἀναπαιστικὴ καὶ μάλιστα ἐοικυῖα τοῖς κεκλασμένοις καὶ ἀσέμνοις μέτροις, οἷα μάλιστα τὰ Σωτάδεια διὰ τὸ μαλακώτερον· «σκήλας καύματι κάλυψον», καὶ «σείων μελίην Πηλιάδα δεξιὸν κατ' ὦμον» ἀντὶ τοῦ «σείων Πηλιάδα μελίην κατὰ δεξιὸν ὦμον»· ὁποῖα γὰρ μεταμεμορφωμένῳ ἔοικεν ὁ στίχος, ὥσπερ οἱ μυθευόμενοι ἐξ ἀρρένων μεταβαλεῖν εἰς θηλείας. τοσάδε μὲν καὶ περὶ κακοζηλίας.

Demetrius [sp.?], De elocutione 3.186-189 (156,5-158,3 Rhys Roberts)
 

Lucian

"Just as in rhetoric, so in pantomime there can be, to use the popular phrase, "affectation", when an actor goes beyond the appropriate measure of the performance and exceeds the limit of what is required. For example, if one needs represent something great, what is performed is something monstrously big; if soft, by exaggeration it becomes effeminate; and manliness is raised up to wildness and beastliness."

Γίνεται δέ, ὥσπερ ἐν λόγοις, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἐν ὀρχήσει ἡ πρὸς τῶν πολλῶν λεγομένη κακοζηλία ὑπερβαινόντων τὸ μέτρον τῆς μιμήσεως καὶ πέρα τοῦ δέοντος ἐπιτεινόντων, καὶ εἰ μέγα τι δεῖξαι δέοι, ὑπερμέγεθες ἐπιδεικνυμένων, καὶ εἰ ἁπαλόν, καθ' ὑπερβολὴν θηλυνομένων, καὶ τὰ ἀνδρώδη ἄχρι τοῦ ἀγρίου καὶ θηριώδους προαγόντων. 

Lucian, De saltatione, §82 (ed. Harmon, Cambridge, Mass., 1936)

Hermogenes

"An expression becomes 'affected' either by what is impossible, inconsistent (i.e., incompatible), base, sacrilegious, unjust, or contrary to nature – those styles that cause us to dismiss a story and toss it out because it is incredible. In fact, this is why we say a piece is successful as long as it is likely, since when something is found to go beyond what is likely, it always ends up being in bad taste and dismissed. In these cases, we say 'this is not likely to have happened', either because it is impossible, or because it is shameful, etc."

Τὸ δὲ κακόζηλον γίνεται ἢ κατὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον ἢ κατὰ τὸ ἀνακόλουθον, ὃ καὶ ἐναντίωμά ἐστιν, ἢ κατὰ τὸ αἰσχρὸν ἢ κατὰ τὸ ἀσεβὲς ἢ κατὰ τὸ ἄδικον ἢ κατὰ τὸ τῇ φύσει πολέμιον, καθ' οὓς τρόπους καὶ ἀνασκευάζομεν μάλιστα τὰ διηγήματα ἐκβάλλοντες ὡς ἄπιστα. Διά τοι τοῦτό φαμεν καὶ τὰς διασκευὰς μέχρι τοῦ εἰκότος προχωρεῖν, ὡς, εἰ παρὰ τὸ εἰκὸς εὑρεθείη τι, πάντως καὶ κακόζηλον ἐσόμενον καὶ ἐμπεσούμενον τῇ ἀνασκευῇ· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ λέγομεν ‘οὐκ εἰκὸς τόδε πραχθῆναι’, ἢ ὅτι ἀδύνατον ἢ ὅτι αἰσχρὸν καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.

Hermogenes, Περὶ εὑρέσεως, 4.12

Galen on how to avoid kakozelia and sound like Hippocrates

Galen, In Hippocratis Epidemiarum librum 3, commenting on Hippocrates, De morbis popularibus, 3.2.11 (102,26-103,16 Wenkebach = XVIIA 638-9 K)

In my commentary on the Prorrhetikon I already pointed out the reason why what's written there as evidence for these conditions are bad signs. I will mention them now in order to jog our memories, although I'll refrain from writing the same thing again. It says in the Prorrhetikon, "squinting of the eyes that comes from a throbbing of the loins is a bad sign", and so in this passage they [i.e., some other interpreters] recall "the woman" mentioned in the passage in the Prorrhetikon. Surely, as it has been shown, the [signs written down in the Prorrhetikon] are all bad signs, since we know that, generally speaking, a squinting of the eyes is not a good sign, whether it comes from a sudden throbbing of the loins or anywhere else, in addition to the fact that the passage is written with bad style and is far from Hippocrates' diction. For [Hippocrates] would not say, "from a throbbing of the loins", but as he does in the text of the Prognostics, "the pains with fever arise about the lower back and the lower places."

τὰ δ' ὡς μαρτυροῦντα τούτοις ἐν τῷ Προρρητικῷ γεγραμμένα φθάνω δείξας ἐν τοῖς εἰς ἐκεῖνο τὸ βιβλίον ὑπομνήμασιν ὅπως ἐστὶ μοχθηρά. μνημονεύσω μέντοι νῦν κἀκ τούτων τινῶν ἀναμνήσεως ἕνεκα, καίτοι παρῃτημένος τὰ τοιαῦτα γράφειν. εἰρημένου τοίνυν ἐν τῷ Προρρητικῷ «ἐξ ὀσφύος ἀναδρομῆς ὀφθαλμῶν ἴλλωσις κακόν», διὰ τοῦτο «τῆς γυναικὸς» ταύτης ἀναμιμνῄσκουσιν ἐν τοῖς περὶ ταύτης τῆς ἐν τῷ Προρρητικῷ ῥήσεως. ἔστι μὲν οὖν, ὡς ἐδείχθη, τὰ τοιαῦτα πάντα μοχθηρά, γινωσκόντων ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ καθόλου τὴν διαστροφὴν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν οὐκ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι σημεῖον, ἐάν τ' ἐξ ὀσφύος ἀναδρομῆς ἐάν θ' ὁπωσοῦν γένηται, μετὰ τοῦ κακόζηλον εἶναι τὴν ἑρμηνείαν καὶ πόρρω τῆς Ἱπποκράτους λέξεως. οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἶπεν “ἐξ ὀσφύος ἀναδρομῆς”, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐν τῷ Προγνωστικῷ κατὰ τήνδε τὴν λέξιν· “αἱ δὲ σὺν πυρετῷ ὀδύναι γινόμεναι περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν καὶ τὰ κάτω χωρία, ἢν τῶν φρενῶν ἅπτωνται τὰ κάτω ἐκλείπουσαι, ὀλέθριον κάρτα.”

Hippocrates, De morbis popularibus 3.2.11

Another woman after a miscarriage around the fifth month, the wife of Hicetas, was seized with fever. At the beginning she had alternations of coma and sleeplessness; pain in the loins; heaviness in the head. Second day. Bowels disordered with scanty, thin stools, which were uncompounded. Third day. Stools more copious and worse; no sleep at night. Fourth day. Delirium; fears; depression. Squinting of the right eye; slight cold sweat about the head; extremities cold. Fifth day. General exacerbation; much wandering, with rapid recovery of reason; no thirst; no sleep; stools copious and unfavourable throughout; urine scanty, thin and brackish; extremities cold and rather livid. Sixth day. Same symptoms. Seventh day. Death.

«Ἑνδέκατος ἄρρωστος. Ἑτέρην ἐξ ἀποφθορῆς περὶ πεντάμηνον Ἱκέτεω γυναῖκα πῦρ ἔλαβεν. ἀρχομένη δὲ κωματώδης ἦν καὶ πάλιν ἄγρυπνος, ὀσφύος ὀδύνη, κεφαλῆς βάρος. δευτέρῃ κοιλίη ἐπεταράχθη ὀλίγοισι, λεπτοῖσιν, ἀκρήτοισι τὸ πρῶτον. τρίτῃ πλείω καὶ χείρω, νυκτὸς οὐδὲν ἐκοιμήθη. τετάρτῃ παρέκρουσε, φόβοι, δυσθυμίαι. δεξιῷ ἴλλαινεν, ἵδρου [τὰ] περὶ κεφαλὴν ὀλίγῳ ψυχρῷ, ἄκρεα ψυχρά. πέμπτῃ πάντα παρ|ωξύνθη, πολλὰ παρέλεγε καὶ πάλιν ταχὺ κατενόει· ἄδιψος, ἄγρυπνος, κοιλίη πολλοῖσιν ἀκαίροισι διὰ τέλεος· οὖρα ὀλίγα, λεπτά, ὑπομέλανα· ἄκρεα ψυχρά, ὑποπέλιδνα. ἕκτῃ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν. ἑβδόμῃ ἀπέθανε.»

'Hippocrates', Prorrheticon 1.69 V 526,13 Littré (Galen doubts this was written by Hippocrates)

Squinting of the eyes from a throbbing in the loins is a bad sign.

Ἐξ ὀσφύος ἀναδρομὴ, ὀφθαλμῶν ἴλλωσις, κακόν.

Advice for having children

From the works of Athenaeus. Preparation for Producing Children.

"Those entering into the production of children should be in a very strong state with respect to soul and body. That is, the soul [must be] tranquil and neither in pain, distress, nor seized with some other passion, while the body [must be] healthy and in no way generally diminished. It is not from those who are tranquil and healthy, but those who are sick that sicknesses arise [in offspring], both in the whole body and in each part of it. For this reason, in fact, it is useful to prepare by regimen, making use of exercises that are sufficient and separate from any bad passions, and of foods that are easy to digest, productive of good humors, nutritious, and moderately wet and warm, [while] refraining from those that are too hot: acidic juice, rue, cardamom, rocket, savory, onion, garlic, generally, foods that are pungent, sour, bitter and salty. And in addition, let them behave well with respect to these things even on the days beforehand, so that the semen that is collected is sufficient and has been concocted, and so that an impulse and suggestion for sex should truly be inflamed, because the body is excited. For those who constantly have sexual intercourse gather seeds that are raw and unripe, as Andreas says. In general, one should give an interval [between periods] of pregnancy to those women planning on producing children. For, in general women who are constantly pregnant become very malnourished and grow very ill in their bodies, and the offspring they give birth to are in about the same state. The equivalent appears to happen also in the case of plants. For plants that frequently bear and produce much fruit also grow old faster, while plants that are sterile and produce little fruit [grow old] after a longer period of time. Thus, trees which often produce a great amount of fruit decayed due to the abundance, because their nature was exhausted on the fruit."

ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηναίου. παρασκευὴ πρὸς παιδοποιΐαν.

«τοὺς δ' ἐπὶ παιδοποιΐαν ἰόντας καὶ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι χρὴ διακεῖσθαι κράτιστα· τοῦτο δ' ἐστὶ τῆς μὲν ψυχῆς εὐσταθούσης καὶ μήτε λύπαις μήτε μερίμναις σὺν πόνοις μήτε ἄλλῳ πάθει κατεχομένης, τοῦ δὲ σώματος ὑγιαίνοντος καὶ κατὰ μηδὲν ἁπλῶς ἐλασσουμένου· ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν εὐσταθῶν καὶ τῶν ὑγιεινῶν οὐχί, ἀλλὰ τῶν νοσερῶν, [ὑγιεῖ καὶ] νοσερὰ καθ' ὅλον τε τὸν ὄγκον καὶ καθ' ἕκαστον αὐτοῦ μέρος· διὸ καὶ προδιαιτᾶσθαι χρήσιμον, γυμνασίοις μὲν αὐτάρκως καὶ χωρὶς πάσης κακοπαθείας κεχρημένους, τροφαῖς δ' εὐκατεργάστοις καὶ εὐχύμοις καὶ εὐτρόφοις καὶ μετρίως ὑγροτέραις καὶ θερμοτέραις, ἀπεχομένους τῶν θερμαντικωτέρων, ὀποῦ, πηγάνου, καρδάμου, εὐζώμου, θύμβρας, κρομμύων, σκορόδων, κοινῶς τῶν δριμέων καὶ ὀξέων καὶ πικρῶν καὶ ἁλυκῶν. καὶ πρὸς τούτοις εὐτακτείτωσαν δὴ καὶ ταύτας τὰς ἔμπροσθεν ἡμέρας, ὅπως ἱκανόν τε καὶ πεπεμμένον ὑπάρχῃ τὸ συνηγμένον σπέρμα, καὶ ὁρμὴ καὶ ὑπόμνησις καῇ γε περὶ τῆς μίξεως, ὀργῶντος τοῦ σώματος· οἱ γὰρ συνεχῶς πλησιάζοντες ὠμὰ καὶ ἄωρα τρυγῶσι τὰ σπέρματα, καθά φησιν Ἀνδρέας. καθόλου δὲ ταῖς παιδογονίας προνοουμέναις διάλειμμα δοτέον τῆς συλλήψεως· αἱ γὰρ συνεχῶς καθόλου συλλαμβάνουσαι αὐταί τε ἀτροφώταται καὶ κακοφυέστεραι γίνονται τοῖς σώμασι καὶ τὰ βρέφη τίκτουσι καὶ αὐτὰ παραπλήσια. τὸ δ' ἀνάλογον ἔοικε συμβαίνειν καὶ περὶ τὰ φυτά· τὰ γὰρ πολύφορα καὶ πολύκαρπα καὶ αὐτὰ θᾶττον καταγηρῶσιν, τὰ δὲ στεριφὰ καὶ ὀλιγόκαρπα χρονιώτερα. πολλάκις οὖν ὑπερκαρπήσαντες δένδροι δι' εὐθένειαν εὐρωτίασαν διὰ τὸ ἐξαναλῶσαι τὴν φύσιν εἰς τοὺς καρπούς.»

Oribasius, Collectiones medicae (libri incerti) 23 (115,33-116,20 Raeder)

Athenaeus of Attalia's Advice on Old Age

In this fragment, Athenaeus give his reflections on the kind of person we should strive to be in old age if we want to remain healthy. Works on "dietetics" (Περὶ ὑγιεινῆς διαίτης) or lifestyle were common in the ancient world; but, Athenaeus pushes the field quite far into all areas of human life. Here, he speaks to the physical, psychological, and social aspects of old-age and he advocates for changes in lifestyle that will best preserve the health of both mind and body. In this respect, his advice sounds remarkably modern.

Athenaeus of Attalia On Healthy Regimen in Old Age

"Old age requires a more exact regimen and additional aids. For the psychic and physical capacities [ψυχικαί τε καὶ φυσικαὶ δυνάμεις] which hold us together and preserve us lose their strength, their functions are brought to an end, and the body wrinkles and becomes malnourished, loose and dry. Whenever, therefore, the capacity which keeps the body straight, which offers resistance against the things that cause us injury from outside , and which fights against certain spermatic principles and natural necessities [κατά τινας σπερματικοὺς λόγους καὶ φυσικὰς ἀνάγκας], should give way under foot [i.e., decline], the body is easily affected and easily injured, requiring [only] a small cause and chance influence for harm.

"At the start, then, from an early age, one should also take precautions for the time of old age. For as those who wear out their cloak in the summer spend the winter in tatters, so those who, in their youth, neglect their bodily strength suffer the clothes of old age with great difficulty. And at this age especially, one should strive after gentleness and magnanimity, since such a person is not burdensome to everyone, but is longed for by all and cared for with goodwill and sympathy. Endeavour to have people living with you who are pleasing and not irksome, with whom it is the sweetest custom to engage in desirable conversation. And spend time in delightful places, and, in general, always live in good cheer. But, if this is not possible, for the most part, [give yourself time] to be at leisure. And be engaged in the care of oneself rather than [caring] for others, so that, of the urgent symptoms in each season that have to do with the care of the body, none should be deemed worthy of postponing. For, as having grown weary in the course of time, old age requires more rest.

"Best is the old age of those who carry-on in culture and rational studies, because of their diligence and the self-control of this way of life, because of the tranquility of their soul, and because they are always at leisure and find relief in their own works and the works of their predecessors. For what better companion might a man of reason discover for himself, or with what might he occupy himself that is even more pleasant, if he has given up the study of such great people? How great is the joy and how much the elation a soul receives, inquiring together with the predecessors of philosophy and medicine, and with the other champions of universal learning, and frequently trying one’s hand in [these inquiries] alongside them?"

τοῖς δὲ παρακμάζουσιν ἁρμόζει δίαιτα ὑφειμένη καὶ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος, τά τε γυμνάσια, ὁποῖά ποτε ἂν ᾖ, κατὰ λόγον ἀεὶ τούτων ὑφαιρετέον, τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτῶν μειουμένης. καὶ τὰς τροφὰς ἐκ προσαγωγῆς συσταλτέον, τῆς ἕξεως αὐτῶν ἀρχὴν ψύξεως λαμβανούσης. τὸ δὲ γῆρας ἀκριβεστέρας μὲν διαίτης, περισσοτέρας δ’ ἐπικουρίας δεόμενον τυγχάνει· αἱ γὰρ συνέχουσαι καὶ διασῴζουσαι ἡμᾶς ψυχικαί τε καὶ φυσικαὶ δυνάμεις μαραίνονται, καὶ τὰ τούτων ἔργα καταλύονται, καὶ τὸ σῶμα ῥακοῦται καὶ ἄτροφον καὶ χαῦνον καὶ ξηρὸν γίνεται. ὅταν οὖν ἡ μὲν διευθύνουσα τὸ σῶμα δύναμις καὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν λυμαινομένοις ἡμῖν ἀντερείδουσα καὶ μαχομένη κατά τινας σπερματικοὺς λόγους καὶ φυσικὰς ἀνάγκας ὑπὸ πόδας χωρῇ, τὸ δὲ σῶμα εὐπαθὲς ὑπάρχον καὶ εὐαδίκητον, μικρᾶς αἰτίας χρεία καὶ ῥοπῆς τῆς τυχούσης πρὸς βλάβην.

ἄνωθεν μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἡλικίας καὶ προνοητέον τοῦ γήρως χρόνῳ· ὡς γὰρ οἱ τὴν χλαῖναν ἐν τῷ θέρει κατατρίψαντες ἐν τῷ τρίβωνι τὸν χειμῶνα διάγουσιν, οὕτως οἱ ἐν τῇ νεότητι τὴν ῥώμην καταλύσαντες τὸν τοῦ γήρως χιτῶνα σφόδρα δυσκόλως φέρουσιν. ζηλωτέον δ’ ἐν τῇδε τῇ ἡλικίᾳ μάλιστα πραότητι καὶ μεγαλοψυχίᾳ· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ἀβαρὴς καὶ ποθεινὸς παρὰ πᾶσι καὶ ἐπιμελείας τυγχάνων μετ’ εὐνοίας τινὸς καὶ συμπαθείας. σπουδάζειν δὲ καὶ τοὺς συζῶντας ἔχειν εὐαρεστουμένους καὶ μὴ ὀχληρούς, μεθ’ ὧν ὡς ἥδιστα εἰώθει καὶ ὁμιλιῶν ἐνάρχεσθαι ποθεινῶν καὶ ἐν τόποις ἐπιτερπεστέροις διατρίβειν καὶ καθόλου ζῆν μετ’ εὐθυμίας τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον· εἰ δὲ μή γε, τὸν πλεῖστον ἑαυτὸν σχολάζειν καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς τὴν ἑτέρων ἀσχολεῖσθαι θεραπείαν, ἵνα μηδὲν ὑπερθέσεως ἠξιῶται τῶν καθ’ ἕκαστον καιρὸν κατεπειγόντων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἐπιμέλειαν· τὸ γὰρ γῆρας ὥσπερ κεκοπιακὸς ἐν τῷ προεληλυθότι χρόνῳ ἀναπαύσεως δεῖται περισσοτέρας.

ἄριστον δὲ γῆρας τῶν ἐν παιδείᾳ καὶ μαθήσει λογικῇ διαφερόντων, διά τε τὴν προσοχὴν καὶ τὴν νῆψιν τῆς διαίτης καὶ διὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς εὐστάθειαν καὶ διὰ τὸ σχολάζειν ἀεὶ καὶ προσαναπαύεσθαι τοῖς τε ἑαυτῶν καὶ τοῖς τῶν προγενεστέρων πόνοις· τίνα γὰρ εὕροι νοῦν ἔχων ἀνὴρ συνομιλητὴν ἑαυτοῦ βελτίονα, ἢ τίσιν ἂν ἥδιστα συνδιατρίβοι παρεὶς τὰς τοιαύτας καὶ τηλικούτων ἀνδρῶν πραγματείας; πηλίκον δὲ χάρμα καὶ πόσον ἔπαρμα ψυχὴ λαμβάνει, συζητοῦσα τοῖς προγενεστέροις τῶν φιλοσόφων τε καὶ ἰατρῶν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς προϊσταμένοις τῶν ἐγκυκλίων μαθημάτων καὶ παρεγχειροῦσα τούτοις πολλάκις;

Athenaeus of Attalia, ap. Oribasius, libri incerti 39 (CMG VI 2,2 140,9-141,9 Raeder)

Habituation and the health of mind and body

Athenaeus of Attalia was one of the first doctors we know to work out a unified medical theory that covered both mental and physical health and habits. Before Athenaeus it was more often the business of philosophers to talk about good and bad mental habits, and of doctors to talk about physical habits like eating and exercise. Athenaeus, however, consciously brings philosophy and medicine together into one discipline, speaking interchangeably about habits of either mind or body. He calls the effects of these behaviours, "habituation", and our habituation in turn determines what things are good for us and what things are bad.

Athenaeus thinks of habituation as a kind of "state" or "innate disposition", but he also calls it (perhaps following Aristotle) "second nature", probably to emphasize that its effects on both body and mind can be quite permanent. There's a long tradition in Greco-Roman thought that treats art as something subordinate to nature; however, physicians (and farmers) were well aware that art can get the upper hand. Here, Athenaeus explains how. His thoughts were preserved by Oribasius.

"From the works of Athenaeus. On Habituation.

"Habituation is a state of the soul or body established over time with respect to benefit or harm when we are healthy or sick. For habit over time establishes something through itself in the soul and in the body, and this sometimes makes something beneficial, sometimes [something] harmful. Not only is it strong in times of health, but it often extends even into times of illness. And a habit that lasts for a long time is like an acquired nature. For this reason, if any self-mover undergoes a change [?], it is dangerous and introduces disease. Of these [changes], changes of place make a big difference: for change from healthy [places] to more diseased ones produces a greater and more serious alteration, while the [change] from diseased [places] to healthy ones [produces] a smaller [alteration] in both magnitude and duration. Indeed, every change, especially a sudden one, and most especially one which is not customary and unusual, alters bodies for the worse for the reason we gave. Habituation is so powerful that those who have been seized by it cannot exist separately [from it], being held in its bonds. An athlete, for example, has difficulty recovering: if he wishes to return to his original way of life by suddenly abolishing his acquired disposition, just like a second nature, then he will quickly be destroyed, because a way of life continued for a long time is (so to speak) a powerful form of being accustomed. Thus, a sudden departure from habit makes a great difference. For this reason it drives out of their proper place of rest those who do not abolish the earlier habituation gradually and by means of another, different habituation."

Ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηναίου. Περὶ συνηθείας.[1]

Συνήθειά ἐστιν ἕξις ψυχῆς ἢ σώματος ἐν χρόνῳ κατεσκευασμένη πρὸς ὠφέλειάν τε καὶ βλάβην ὑγιαινόντων τε καὶ νοσούντων· τὸ γὰρ ἔθος ἐν χρόνῳ κατασκευάζει τι δι’ ἑαυτοῦ περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τοῦτό ποτε μὲν ἐπ’ ὠφέλειαν[2] ποιεῖ τινα, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ βλάβην. καὶ οὐ μόνον ἐφ’ ὑγιαινόντων ἰσχύει, διατείνει δὲ πολλάκις καὶ πρὸς τοὺς νοσοῦντας. τὸ δὲ πολυχρόνιον ἔθος οἷον φύσις ἐστὶν ἐπίκτητος· διὸ πᾶν τὸ κινοῦν ἑαυτὸ μεταβάλλει, ἐπισφαλὲς καὶ προσαγωγὸν εἰς νόσον. τούτων δὲ διαφέρουσιν αἱ μεταβολαὶ τῶν τόπων· ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ὑγιεινῶν εἰς νοσερώτερα μεταβολὴ μείζονα ποιεῖ τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν καὶ χαλεπωτέραν, ἡ δ’ ἐκ νοσερῶν εἰς ὑγιεινὰ ἐλάσσονα καὶ τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ. πᾶσα μέντοι μεταβολή, καὶ μάλιστα αἰφνίδιος, καὶ ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἀσυνήθης καὶ ξένη, ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον μετακινεῖ τὰ σώματα δι’ ἣν ἀπεδώκαμεν αἰτίαν. οὕτως δ’ ἰσχυρὸν ἡ συνήθεια, ὥστε τοὺς ληφθέντας ὑπ’ αὐτῆς μηδὲ χωρισθῆναι δύνασθαι δεσμῷ κατεχομένους· δυσανάληπτος γὰρ ἀθλητής, εἰ θέλει πρὸς τὸν πρῶτον ἐπανελθεῖν βίον αἰφνιδίως τὴν ἐπίκτητον διάθεσιν ὥσπερ δευτέραν τινὰ φύσιν καταλύων, συντόμως ἀναλυθήσεται· οἷον γὰρ τρόπος ὁ πολυχρόνιος ἐθισμὸς ἰσχυρός. οὕτως ὁ αἰφνίδιος ἐξεθισμὸς μεγάλας ἔχει τὰς διαφοράς· διόπερ ἐξίστησι τῆς ἰδίας καταπαύσεως τοὺς μὴ ἐκ προσαγωγῆς καὶ δι’ ἑτέρας πάλιν συνηθείας τὴν προτέραν καταλύοντας συνήθειαν.

Athenaeus ap. Oribasius, libri incerti 17 (CMG VI 2,2 106,8-29 Raeder)

[1] cf. Sextus Empiricus, PH 1.146.3-4: ἔθος δὲ ἢ συνήθεια (οὐ διαφέρει γάρ) πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων κοινὴ πράγματός τινος παραδοχή. Sextus treats "habituation" and "habit" as synonyms, whereas Athenaeus considers habituation to be the result of habits over a long period of time.

[2] Must be ἐπ ὠφελειᾳ / ἐπὶ βλάβῃ

Strabo and Galen on the Dead Sea

Strabo on the Dead Sea

"[42] Lake Sirbonis* is very large. Some have said it is 1000 stadia in circumference. It extends along the sea-coast, having a length a little bit more than 200 stadia. It is deep, and has extremely heavy water, so that one doesn't need to swim [to stay afloat]—rather, when someone wades into it, even just up to the waist, he is immediately buoyed up. [The lake] is full of asphalt. At random times, it rises up with bubbles like boiling water from the middle of its depths. The surface [of the lake] bulges and has the appearance of a ridge. A great amount of soot is also carried up [with the asphalt], which is smoky but invisible to the eye. Copper, silver, and anything shiny--even gold--is tarnished by it. From the tarnishing of their utensils, the inhabitants know that the asphalt is beginning to rise up, and they prepare for collecting it by making rafts of reeds. Asphalt is lumps of earth which are liquefied by heat, blown upwards [to the surface] and dispersed, then changed again into a hard mass by cold water (such as the water in this lake), so that it needs to be cut and chopped. It then floats on the surface because of the nature of the water, in which, as we said, one does not need to swim [to stay afloat], nor does anyone who wades into it sink, but is buoyed up to the surface. Those who sail out to the asphalt on rafts cut up and carry back as much as each of them is able [to carry].

"[43] That’s what actually happens. Posidonius, however, says the locals, who are sorcerers, pretend to harden the asphalt with incantations, urine and other foul-smelling liquids, which they pour over and then squeeze out of it; next, they cut it up. Perhaps, however, there is in fact some such property in urine, since chrysocolla is formed in the bladders of those with kidney stones and from children’s urine. It’s reasonable that this affection occurs in the middle of the lake, because the source of fire is in the middle, as is the majority of the asphalt. The rising up is random because the movement of fire, as with the other pneumata, has no obvious order. Such things also [happen] in Apollonia in Epirus.

"[44] They offer many other proofs that the country is fiery. For instance, they point out that some ragged rocks around Masada have been scorched; that there are caves everywhere; that the soil is ashy; that drops of pitch fall from the cliffs and that rivers boil with a far-reaching stench; and that there are scattered dwellings in ruins. Thus, we believe the rumours spread by the local inhabitants, that there were once thirteen cities situated here, one of which was the metropolis, Sodom: an area around [Sodom] of about 60 stadia was saved; but, earthquakes and eruptions of fire and hot water filled with asphalt and sulphur caused the lake to burst its banks and the rocks to be seized by fire; and of the cities, some were swallowed by the earthquake, others were abandoned by those who were able to flee. Eratosthenes, however, claims the opposite—that the country was a lake, but most of it was uncovered by a flood, as in Thessaly."

*From Falconer's notes: "Strabo here commits the singular error of confounding the Lake Asphaltites, or the Dead Sea, with the Lake Sirbonis. Letronne attempts to explain the origin of the error. According to Josephus, the Peræa, or that part of Judæa which is on the eastern side of the Jordan, between the lake of Tiberias and the Dead Sea, contained a district (the exact position of which is not well known, but which, according to Josephus, could not be far from the Lake Asphaltites) called Silbonitis. The resemblance of this name to Sirbonis probably misled our author."

Ἡ δὲ Σιρβωνὶς λίμνη πολλὴ μέν ἐστι· καὶ γὰρ χιλίων σταδίων εἰρήκασί τινες τὸν κύκλον· τῇ μέντοι παραλίᾳ παρεκτέταται μικρῷ τι πλέον τῶν διακοσίων σταδίων μῆκος ἐπιλαμβάνουσα, ἀγχιβαθής, βαρύτατον ἔχουσα ὕδωρ, ὥστε μὴ δεῖν κολύμβου, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐμβάντα καὶ μέχρι ὀμφαλοῦ εὐθὺς ἐξαίρεσθαι· μεστὴ δ' ἐστὶν ἀσφάλτου· αὕτη δὲ ἀναφυσᾶται κατὰ καιροὺς ἀτάκτους ἐκ μέσου τοῦ βάθους μετὰ πομφολύγων ὡς ἂν ζέοντος ὕδατος· κυρτουμένη δ' ἡ ἐπιφάνεια λόφου φαντασίαν παρέχει· συναναφέρεται δὲ καὶ ἄσβολος πολλή, καπνώδης μὲν πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὄψιν ἄδηλος, ὑφ' ἧς κατιοῦται καὶ χαλκὸς καὶ ἄργυρος καὶ πᾶν τὸ στιλπνὸν μέχρι καὶ χρυσοῦ· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ κατιοῦσθαι τὰ σκεύη γνωρίζουσιν οἱ περιοικοῦντες ἀρχομένην τὴν ἀναβολὴν τοῦ ἀσφάλτου, καὶ παρασκευάζονται πρὸς τὴν μεταλλείαν αὐτοῦ, ποιησάμενοι σχεδίας καλαμίνας. ἔστι δ' ἡ ἄσφαλτος γῆς βῶλος, ὑγραινομένη μὲν ὑπὸ θερμοῦ καὶ ἀναφυσωμένη καὶ διαχεομένη, πάλιν δὲ μεταβάλλουσα εἰς πάγον ἰσχυρὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ ὕδατος, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ τῆς λίμνης ὕδωρ, ὥστε τομῆς καὶ κοπῆς δεῖσθαι· εἶτ' ἐπιπολάζουσα διὰ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ὕδατος, καθ' ἣν ἔφαμεν μηδὲ κολύμβου δεῖσθαι, μηδὲ βαπτίζεσθαι τὸν ἐμβάντα ἀλλ' ἐξαίρεσθαι· προσπλεύσαντες δὲ ταῖς σχεδίαις κόπτουσι καὶ φέρονται τῆς ἀσφάλτου ὅσον ἕκαστος δύναται.

Τὸ μὲν οὖν συμβαῖνον τοιοῦτον· γόητας δὲ ὄντας σκήπτεσθαί φησιν ἐπῳδὰς ὁ Ποσειδώνιος τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ οὖρα καὶ ἄλλα δυσώδη ὑγρά, ἃ περικαταχέαντας καὶ ἐκπιάσαντας πήττειν τὴν ἄσφαλτον, εἶτα τέμνειν· εἰ μή τίς ἐστιν ἐπιτηδειότης τῶν οὔρων τοιαύτη, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς κύστεσι τῶν λιθιώντων, καὶ ἐκ τῶν παιδικῶν οὔρων ἡ χρυσόκολλα συνίσταται· ἐν μέσῃ δὲ τῇ λίμνῃ τὸ πάθος συμβαίνειν εὔλογον, ὅτι καὶ ἡ πηγὴ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τῆς ἀσφάλτου κατὰ μέσον ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ πλῆθος· ἄτακτος δὲ ἡ ἀναφύσησις, ὅτι καὶ ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς κίνησις οὐκ ἔχει τάξιν ἡμῖν φανεράν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλων πνευμάτων πολλῶν. τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐν Ἀπολλωνίᾳ τῇ Ἠπειρώτιδι.

Τοῦ δ' ἔμπυρον τὴν χώραν εἶναι καὶ ἄλλα τεκμήρια φέρουσι πολλά· καὶ γὰρ πέτρας τινὰς ἐπικεκαυμένας δεικνύουσι τραχείας περὶ Μοασάδα καὶ σήραγγας πολλαχοῦ καὶ γῆν τεφρώδη, σταγόνας τε πίττης ἐκ λισσάδων λειβομένας καὶ δυσώδεις πόρρωθεν ποταμοὺς ζέοντας, κατοικίας τε ἀνατετραμμένας σποράδην· ὥστε πιστεύειν τοῖς θρυλουμένοις ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων, ὡς ἄρα ᾠκοῦντό ποτε τρισκαίδεκα πόλεις ἐνταῦθα, ὧν τῆς μητροπόλεως Σοδόμων σώζοιτο κύκλος ἑξήκοντά που σταδίων· ὑπὸ δὲ σεισμῶν καὶ ἀναφυσημάτων πυρὸς καὶ θερμῶν ὑδάτων ἀσφαλτωδῶν τε καὶ θειωδῶν ἡ λίμνη προπέσοι καὶ [αἱ] πέτραι πυρίληπτοι γένοιντο, αἵ τε πόλεις αἳ μὲν καταποθεῖεν, ἃς δ' ἐκλίποιεν οἱ δυνάμενοι φυγεῖν. Ἐρατοσθένης δέ φησι τἀναντία, λιμναζούσης τῆς χώρας ἐκρήγμασιν ἀνακαλυφθῆναι τὴν πλείστην, καθάπερ τὴν Θετταλίαν.

Strabo, Geography 16.2.42-4

Galen on the Dead Sea

"[When you taste] the water of the lake in Syrian Palestine—which some call the Dead Sea, others the Asphalt Lake—it is possible to taste not only saltiness, but even bitterness."

τὸ δὲ τῆς ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ Συρίᾳ λίμνης ὕδωρ, ἣν ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ μὲν θάλασσαν νεκρὰν, οἱ δὲ λίμνην ἀσφαλτῖτιν, ἔστι μὲν καὶ γευομένοις οὐχ ἁλυκὸν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πικρόν.

Galen, On Simple Drugs 4.20, 11.690K

"If you thoroughly heat something salty, you will have something bitter. Thus, the water of the Asphalt Lake becomes bitter, since it is surrounded by a place that is hollow and hot [i.e., a valley] and is roasted by the sun. For this reason, too, it is more bitter in the summer than the winter. And when you draw some water from it, if you were to put it in a hollow vessel in sunny place, like we also did during the summer time, it is immediately obvious to you that it becomes much more bitter than it [was]. All these things are sufficient evidence for what was said a little earlier about the generation of the bitter. But I have not yet said everything about why my discussion has turned to the Asphalt Lake. For it is clear that there isn’t any animal or plant that grows in that water; but also, while both of the rivers which empty into it have many large fish, especially the one near Jericho which they call Jordan, not one of the fish goes beyond the mouths of the rivers. And if anyone who caught them were to throw them into the lake, he would see they quickly die. Thus, the strictly bitter is hostile to all plants and animals, and it is arid and dry and its nature is like thick smoke produced during roasting. In fact, the water from that lake is not strictly bitter, since the salts are not the same, but they call them Sodomite [salts] after the hills called Sodom which surround the lake; and many of the inhabitants use them for just as many things as we use other kinds of salt. Not only is their capacity to dry greater than the other salts, but also [their capacity] to attenuate, for which reason they violently heat [things] more thoroughly than the other salts. For all the other salts also have a kind of faint astringency, through which they firm up and compress preserved meats, most especially when [the salts] are granules and hard to break."

ὅ τι γὰρ ἂν ἁλυκὸν ἐπὶ πλέον ἐκθερμήνῃς, ἔσται σοι πικρόν. οὕτω γοῦν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς ἀσφαλτίτιδος λίμνης ὕδωρ ἐν κοίλῳ καὶ θερμῷ χωρίῳ περιεχόμενον ἐξοπτώμενόν θ' ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου γίγνεται πικρόν. διὰ τοῦτό γέ τοι καὶ τοῦ θέρους μᾶλλον ἢ χειμῶνός ἐστι πικρόν. καὶ εἰ ἀρυοάμενος αὐτοῦ τι καταθείης ἐν ἀγγείῳ κοίλῳ καὶ προσηλίῳ χωρίῳ, καθάπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐποιήσαμεν ὥρᾳ θέρους, αὐτίκα μάλα πικρότερον αὐτοῦ φαίνεταί σοι γεγονός. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἅπαντα τοῖς ὀλίγον ἔμπροσθεν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ πικροῦ γενέσεως εἰρημένοις ἱκανῶς μαρτυρεῖ. οὗ δ' ἕνεκεν ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τὴν ἀσφαλτῖτιν ἐξετράπετο λίμνην, οὔπω μοι πᾶν λέλεκται. φαίνεται γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ ὕδατι μήτε ζῶον ἐγγιγνόμενόν τι μήτε φυτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν εἰς αὐτὴν ἐμβαλόντων ποταμῶν ἀμφοτέρων, μεγίστους καὶ πλείστους ἐχόντων ἰχθύας, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ πλησίον Ἰεριχοῦντος, ὃν Ἰορδάνην ὀνομάζουσιν, οὐδ' εἷς τῶν ἰχθύων ὑπερβαίνει τὰ στόματα τῶν ποταμῶν. κἂν εἰ συλλαβὼν δέ τις αὐτοὺς ἐμβάλοι τῇ λίμνῃ, διαφθειρομένους ὄψεται ταχέως· οὕτως τ' ἀκριβῶς πικρὸν ἅπασίν ἐστι καὶ ζώοις καὶ φυτοῖς πολέμιον, αὐχμῶδές τε καὶ ξηρὸν καὶ τὴν φύσιν οἷόν περ αἴθαλος ὑπὸ τῆς κατοπτήσεως γεγενημένον. καίτοι γε οὐδὲ τὸ τῆς λίμνης ἐκείνης ὕδωρ ἀκριβῶς ἐστι πικρὸν, ὅτι μηδ' οἱ ἅλες αὐτοὶ, προσαγορεύουσι δ' αὐτοὺς Σοδομηνοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν περιεχόντων τὴν λίμνην ὀρῶν ἃ καλεῖται Σόδομα, καὶ χρῶνται πολλοὶ τῶν περιοίκων εἰς ὅσα περ ἡμεῖς τοῖς ἄλλοις ἁλσί. δύναμις δ' αὐτῶν οὐ ξηραντικὴ μόνον ἐπὶ μᾶλλόν ἐστι τῶν ἄλλων ἁλῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ λεπτυντικὴ, διότι μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων ἐξώπτηνται. πᾶσι μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἁλσὶν ὑπάρχει τι καὶ στυπτικὸν ἀμυδρὸν, ᾧ δὴ καὶ σφίγγουσι καὶ πιλοῦσι τὰ ταριχευόμενα τῶν κρεῶν καὶ μάλισθ' ὅταν ὦσι χόνδροι τε καὶ δύσθραυστοι.

Galen, On Simple Drugs 4.20 , 11.693-4 K

More from Michael of Ephesus on dreams

Michael is again talking about his dreams.  Here, he comments on a passage from On prophesying by dreams. Aristotle says in this passage that dreams are more vivid when they involve things we are anxious or thinking about. Michael disagrees--dreams about our anxieties (or even our recent conscious thoughts) are not the only ones that can be extremely vivid. We can have dreams about things that are not on our minds, as well, that feel just as bright and real. As an example, he mentions a dream he had about a colleague who died when he was young, and whom he (curiously) distinguishes from his current, more famous, colleague and collaborator on ‘the discourses’. The names of both have been lost to time.

"And in fact [we have vivid dreams] even if something else should appear to us, [something] which we are not [currently] thinking about. Like the time I saw my colleague in a dream—not my famous [colleague], who is alive and working with me on the discourses (τοὺς λόγους), but another one who, because of the quick approach of death, wrote down only a few works in philosophy—anyway, I saw the one who died long ago in a dream; he was discussing things with me which I had not thought about during that whole month, or even the month before, [but which I] had thought about a lot in earlier times. For both my questions to him and his answers to me were about the soul."

καὶ γὰρ κἂν ἄλλο τι ἡμῖν φαίνηται, οὗπερ οὐ φροντίζομεν· ὥσπερ ἐμοὶ ἰδόντι τὸν ἐμὸν ἑταῖρον, οὐχὶ τὸν κλεινόν μοι τουτονί, ὅστις ἔτι μοι ζῶν συμπονεῖ περὶ τοὺς λόγους, ἀλλ' ἄλλον ὀλίγους ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ πόνους καταβεβληκότα διὰ τὴν τοῦ θανάτου σύντομον προσέλευσιν, ἐγὼ γοῦν ἐκεῖνον πάλαι θανόντα εἶδον καθ' ὕπνον διαλεγόμενόν μοι, περὶ ὧν ἐγὼ κατ' ἐκεῖνον ὅλον τὸν μῆνα καὶ ἔτι τὸν πρὸ ἐκείνου οὐκ ἐφρόντισα, πρότερον πολλὰ φροντίσας· ἦσαν γὰρ περὶ ψυχῆς αἱ ἐμαί τε πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐρωτήσεις κἀκείνου πρός με αἱ ἀποκρίσεις.

Michael of Ephesus, In parva naturalia commentaria, CAG 22.1, 85,3-11 Wendland

Athenaeus of Attalia on meats by season

I once read somewhere that there are antecedents to Aristotle's system of animal classification in Greek classifications of kinds of foods. And it isn't hard to find references in the Historia Animalium to kinds of animals that are edible, kinds which are more or less nutritious, and the times of year when they are particularly good to eat. For example, HA v. 30 notes male cicadas are better to eat before mating, while female cicadas are better to eat after mating. And HA viii. 13 notes that fish that live close to the shore are more nutritious than those that live in the deep sea. I find it difficult to understand how these categories would have been useful for the biologist; and Aristotle himself doesn't mention them much at all when he gets into the causal treatises on animals.

But even if Aristotle is not ultimately interested in them, it is possible the culinary categories in the Historia Animalum are coming from Aristotle's sources. And in Greek medicine we find such categories playing an important role in works on nutrition. In these contexts, they help to answer a fundamental question: what foods are healthy, when are the healthiest, and how can I know?

Today, it seems we tend to associate the "when" question with fruits and vegetables. But, animals, too, are seasonal foods. There's even a Huffington Post article on this from a few years ago. Animals are better or worse for eating at different times, just like apples and cucumbers. And even though food production does not rely as much on natural cycles as it did, there are still traces of this knowledge in foods we associate with seasonal holidays: e.g., goose at Christmas, or lamb at Pesach or Easter.

Here is an example of a medical text concerning seasonal meats. It is from Oribasius' Medical Collections, but it seems to come originally from Athenaeus of Attalia, which would put it sometime around the end of the first century BCE and the beginning of the first century CE.

"Pigs <after> spring-time are very bad until the setting of the Pleiades in autumn, but from then until spring are excellent. Goats are very bad throughout the winter, but during the spring they start to get better until the setting of Arcturus. And sheep, these are worst throughout the winter, but after the [spring] equinox fatten-up until the summer solstice; cattle, on the other hand, [fatten-up] when the grass goes to seed, while the spring is ending, and all summer long. Of birds, some are excellent throughout the winter, namely whichever appear during the winter: the blackbird, thrush and ringdove. Throughout the autumn, francolins, also blackcaps, fig-pecker and greenfinch, and quails are then fattest. Chickens throughout the winter are not in quite their best shape, especially at the time of the south winds. The turtle dove is best at autumn."

Σύες μὲν <μετὰ > τὴν ἐαρινὴν ὥραν εἰσὶ κάκιστοι μέχρι Πλειάδος δύσεως φθινοπωρινῆς, τὸ δ’ ἐντεῦθεν μέχρι ἦρος κάλλιστοι. αἶγες δὲ τὸν μὲν χειμῶνα κάκισται, τοῦ δ’ ἦρος ἄρχονται κρείσσους γίνεσθαι μέχρι Ἀρκτούρου δύσεως. πρόβατα δὲ καὶ ταῦτα τὸν μὲν χειμῶνα κάκιστα, μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἰσημερίαν πιαίνεται μέχρι τροπῶν θερινῶν· αἱ δὲ βόες, ὅταν ἡ πόα ἐκκαρπῇ ἦρός τε παυομένου καὶ τῷ θέρει παντί. τῶν δ’ ὀρνίθων οἱ μὲν κατὰ χειμῶνα κάλλιστα ἔχουσιν, ὅσοι γε ἐπιφαίνονται χειμῶνος, ὁ κόσσυφός τε καὶ ἡ κίχλα καὶ φάσσα· οἱ δ’ ἀτταγῆνες κατὰ τὸ φθινόπωρον καὶ μελαγκόρυφοι συκαλίς τε καὶ χλωρὶς καὶ ὄρτυγες τηνικαῦτα πιότατοι. ἀλεκτορίδες τὸν μὲν χειμῶνα οὐ πάνυ εὐσωματοῦσι καὶ μάλιστα ἐν νοτίοις· ἡ δὲ τρυγὼν ἐν φθινοπώρῳ καλλίστη. τῶν δ’ ἰχθύων οἱ μὲν ἐν τῇ κυήσει κάλλιστοι, κάρις, κάραβος καὶ τὰ μαλάκια, τευθίς, σηπία, τὰ δ’ ὅταν ἄρχηται ἐπωάζεσθαι, ὥσπερ οἱ κέφαλοι, ὑπερπλησθέντες δ’ οὗτοι τῶν κυημάτων λεπτοὶ καὶ ἄτροφοι καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον τεκόντες. ὁ δὲ θύννος πιότατος μετ’ Ἀρκτοῦρον, θέρους δὲ χείρων.

Oribasius, Collectiones Medicae I 3, CMG VI 1,1 8,27-9,7 Raeder

A Neoplatonist’s Hymn

“I once heard someone singing

Two souls were passing on, and one said to the other, where must we go?* 

Some time later, I heard another person singing the tune and the rhythm to which Two souls were passing on was sung, but the words and the meaning were not the ones from before. Instead they were

The First Reason leads me and again downward brings me.**

Like I said, both this song and the earlier song were sung to the same rhythm. When [my soul] had been moved here and there by [this] rhythm, I remembered the place I had first heard it, then [I remembered] the man who sang it, and then the [lyrics] ‘Two souls were passing on’ and the rest. There are, then, certain traces in the soul which follow one another by necessity, in which it is impossible that [the memories] that come next will not follow once [the soul] is set in motion.”

πάλιν ἤκουσά του ᾄδοντος “δύο ψυχαὶ ἐξήρχοντο, καὶ μία πρὸς ἄλλην ἔλεγε, ποῖ πορευτέον”.* μετὰ δέ τινας χρόνους ἤκουσα ἄλλου ᾄδοντος τὸ μὲν μέλος καὶ τὸν ῥυθμὸν ἐκεῖνον, καθ' ὃν ᾔδετο τὸ “δύο ψυχαὶ ἐξήρχοντο”, ἡ δὲ λέξις καὶ ἡ ἔννοια οὐκ ἐκείνη, ἀλλ' ἦν ὅτι “ὁ νοῦς ὁ πρῶτος ἄγει με καὶ πάλιν κάτω φέρει”. ᾔδετο οὖν, ὥσπερ εἶπον, τῷ αὐτῷ ῥυθμῷ καὶ ταῦτα καὶ ἐκεῖνα· ἀφ' οὗ ῥυθμοῦ πρῶτον ἀνεμνήσθην κινηθεὶς ὧδε κἀκεῖσε τὸν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ ἤκουσα τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ, εἶτα τὸν ᾄδοντα ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τότε τὸ “δύο ψυχαὶ ἐξήρχοντο” καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. εἰσὶ μὲν οὖν τύποι τινὲς ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκολουθοῦντες ἀλλήλοις, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατόν ἐστι τούτου κινηθέντος μὴ ἕπεσθαι καὶ τὸν ἑξῆς.

Michael of Ephesus, In parva naturalia commentaria, CAG 22.1, 24,23-25,3 Wendland

*This song does not come up with a TLG search, except for the paraphrase in “Themistius” (Sophonias?), in Parva Naturalia, CAG 5.6 8,25.

**I haven’t found this song in a TLG search either, except for the “Themistius” paraphrase: in PN CAG 5.6 8,27-8.