Know your sorcerer: the Suda on different kinds of magic

More on ancient opinions about 'good' and 'bad' forms of magic. I'm not sure where the Suda is getting this way of making the distinction, but something like it is attributed to Aristotle in the proemium to Diogenes of Laertius' Lives of the Philosophers. At some point, I'll look at Apuleius' defence against the accusation that he was a magician, especially Apologia 25-7, and the discussion in cc. 29-31 about why he bought a rare fish for a crazy amount of money - not, as his accusers say, for bewitching his wife to marry him (Lindsay Watson wrote a nice article in CQ on the use of the remora in erotic binding spells), but because he was reading and translating Aristotle's works on animals and wanted to do some more hands-on inquiry. Still, witchcraft was a crime punishable by death in Roman law, and Apuleius' defence turns in part on the claim that true magic is an art of how to attend to the gods, not a kind of sorcery or art of poisoning (which is closer to a literal translation of pharmakeia, a word often translated as 'witchcraft').

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goēteia (sorcery): magic. Sorcery, magic and poisoning (pharmakeia) differ from each other, which the Medes and Persians discovered. Magic is an invocation of beneficent demons it seems for some good outcome, like the oracles of Apollonius of Tyana. Sorcery (goēteia) is for raising the dead through an invocation — its name derives from the wailing (gooi) and lamentations that happen at funerals. Poisoning is when some death-bringing preparation is given to someone orally as a philtre.

Γοητεία: μαγεία. γοητεία καὶ μαγεία καὶ φαρμακεία διαφέρουσιν· ἅπερ ἐφεῦρον Μῆδοι καὶ Πέρσαι. μαγεία μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἐπίκλησις δαιμόνων ἀγαθοποιῶν δῆθεν πρὸς ἀγαθοῦ τινος σύστασιν, ὥσπερ τὰ τοῦ Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Τυανέως θεσπίσματα. γοητεία δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνάγειν νεκρὸν δι' ἐπικλήσεως, ὅθεν εἴρηται ἀπὸ τῶν γόων καὶ τῶν θρήνων τῶν περὶ τοὺς τάφους γινομένων. φαρμακεία δὲ, ὅταν διά τινος σκευασίας θανατηφόρου πρὸς φίλτρον δοθῇ τινι διὰ στόματος.

Suda, s.v. γοητεία gamma entry 365
 

Galen on what to do with a patient who thinks the sky will fall

"I know a man from Cappadocia who had put a nonsensical thing in his head and because of it fell into melancholy. The idea he had put in his head was frankly ridiculous. His friends saw him cry and asked him about his sorrow. Sighing deeply, he answered by saying he was afraid the whole world would collapse. His worry was that the Titan, who the poets say holds up the world and is called Atlas, had become weak because of the length of time he has been holding it up, and therefore, there is a danger that the heavens will fall down to earth and smash to pieces. You have also heard from me the story of the woman who I mentioned had imagined she swallowed a snake, and the story of the man who believed that a ghost had called out to him as he passed the churchyard, and the story of the man who had farted in the presence of other people, and who wasted away and died out of shame. The physician must therefore consider it his job, besides the other dispositions of the patient, to discover the things that oppress his soul. For healing a person for whom the cause of illness lies in his spirit can only be achieved by eliminating the idea that has become fixed, but not by food and drink, or their home, bathing routine, walking and the like."

Ich kenne einen Mann aus Kappadokien, der sich eine unsinnige Sache in den Kopf gesetzt hatte und dadurch der Melancholie verfiel. Die Idee, die er sich in den Kopf gesetzt hatte, war geradezu lächerlich. Seine Bekannten sahen ihn nämlich weinen und fragten ihn nach seinem Kummer. Indem er tief seufzte, antwortete er und sagte, er sei in Angst, daß die ganze Welt einstürze. Sein Kummer sei, daß der König, von dem die Dichter erzählen, daß er die Welt trage und Atlas heiße, infolge der langen Zeit, in der er sie trage, schwach to geworden sei. Deshalb sei Gefahr, daß der Himmel auf die Erde herabstürze und sie zertrümmere. Ihr habt von mir auch schon die Geschichte der Frau gehört, von der ich erzählte, daß sie sich einbildete, eine Schlange verschluckt zu haben, und die Geschichte des Mannes, der glaubte, daß ein Toter ihn gerufen habe, als er am Kirchhof vorbeiging, und die Geschichte von dem Mann, dem in Anwesenheit von Leuten ein Wind entfahren war und der aus Scham darüber hin siechte und starb. Der Arzt muß also es als seine Aufgabe betrachten, außer den übrigen Neigungen des Kranken auch die Dinge ausfindig zu machen, die seinen Geist bedrücken. Denn die Heilung eines Menschen, dessen Krankheitsursache in seinem Geiste liegt, kann nur durch Beseitigung der fixen Idee, nicht aber durch Speisen und Getränke, durch Wohnung, Baden, Marschieren und dergleichen erreicht werden.*

Galen, Commentary on Hippocrates' Epidemics VI, 8  (487,3-23 Wenkebach/Pfaff)

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

Heraclides of Pontus on the joy of madness

“In his book On Pleasure, Heraclides of Pontus relates not unpleasantly that a most pleasant luxury occured during a fit of madness. He writes:

‘Thrasyllus from Aexone, the son of Pythodorus, once went so mad that he thought all the ships arriving at Piraeus were his own. He would register them, dispatch them, and manage their affairs. When they returned to port, he would welcome them with the kind of joy you might expect from someone who was really in charge of such great wealth. When ships were lost, he did not inquire after them, but he rejoiced at every one that was saved and recounted it with greatest delight. When his brother Crito came to visit from Sicily, he took him into custody, handed him over to a doctor, and put an end to his madness. Afterwards, Thrasyllus would tell the story, saying that he had never in his life been happier, for he felt not pain whatsoever, while the amount of pleasure he felt was overwhelming.’”

ἐν μανίᾳ δὲ τρυφὴν ἡδίστην γενομένην οὐκ ἀηδῶς ὁ Ποντικὸς Ἡρακλείδης διηγεῖται ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἡδονῆς οὕτως γράφων· ‘ὁ Αἰξωνεὺς Θράσυλλος ὁ Πυθοδώρου διετέθη ποτὲ ὑπὸ μανίας τοιαύτης ὡς πάντα τὰ πλοῖα τὰ εἰς τὸν Πειραιᾶ καταγόμενα ὑπολαμβάνειν ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι, καὶ ἀπεγράφετο αὐτὰ καὶ ἀπέστελλε καὶ διῴκει καὶ καταπλέοντα ἀπεδέχετο μετὰ χαρᾶς τοσαύτης ὅσησπερ ἄν τις ἡσθείη τοσούτων χρημάτων κύριος ὤν. καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀπολομένων οὔτε ἐπεζήτησεν, τοῖς δὲ σῳζομένοις ἔχαιρεν καὶ διῆγεν μετὰ πλείστης ἡδονῆς. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ Κρίτων ἐκ Σικελίας ἐπιδημήσας συλλαβὼν αὐτὸν παρέδωκεν ἰατρῷ καὶ τῆς μανίας ἐπαύσατο, διηγεῖτο <...> οὐδεπώποτε φάσκων κατὰ τὸν βίον ἡσθῆναι πλείονα· λύπην μὲν γὰρ οὐδ' ἡντινοῦν αὐτῷ παραγίνεσθαι, τὸ δὲ τῶν ἡδονῶν πλῆθος ὑπερβάλλειν.’ 

Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 12.81 (p.223-4 Kaibel)

Draw down the moon, hide it in a mirror. On Thessalian medicine women

“Thessalian woman”: refers to medicine women, since the Thessalians are accused of being sorcerers. Even to the present day, Thessalian women are called medicine women (pharmakides). They say it's because when Medea fled, she tossed her basket of medicines (pharmaka) and there they sprouted. Attic speakers read it with a barytone accent [Thes–SA–ly instead of Thes–sa–LY]. Aristophanes: “if I bought a Thessalian woman, I could draw down the moon at night, then hide it like a mirror.” For the orb of the moon has a round shape like a mirror, and they say that people who are skilled in these kinds of things draw down the moon with it (sc. a mirror). There’s also Pythagoras’ trick with a mirror that goes like this: when the moon is full, if someone writes in blood on a mirror whatever he wishes and, while standing behind another person, proclaims against him and shows the words to the moon, if he then looks closely at the orb of the moon, then he can read all that is written on the mirror as if it were written on the moon.

Θετταλὴ γυνή: ἐπὶ τῶν φαρμακίδων. διαβάλλονται γὰρ οἱ Θετταλοὶ ὡς γόητες· καὶ μέχρι καὶ νῦν φαρμακίδες αἱ Θετταλαὶ καλοῦνται. φασὶ δὲ ὅτι ἡ Μήδεια φεύγουσα κίστην ἐξέβαλε φαρμάκων ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἀνέφυσαν. βαρυτόνως δὲ οἱ Ἀττικοὶ ἀναγινώσκουσιν. Ἀριστοφάνης· γυναῖκα πριάμενος Θετταλὴν καθέλκοιμι νύκτωρ τὴν σελήνην· εἶτα καθείρξαιμ' ὥσπερ κάτοπτρον. ὁ γὰρ τῆς σελήνης κύκλος στρογγυλοειδὴς ὡς ἔσοπτρον. καί φασι τοὺς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα δεινοὺς τούτῳ κατάγειν τὴν σελήνην. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόρου παίγνιον διὰ κατόπτρου τοιοῦτον. πληροσελήνου τῆς σελήνης οὔσης, εἴ τις ἔσοπτρον ἐπιγράψειεν αἵματι, ὅσα βούλεται, καὶ προειπὼν ἑτέρῳ σταίη κατόπιν αὐτοῦ, δείκνυσι πρὸς τὴν σελήνην τὰ γράμματα, κἀκεῖνον ἀτενίσαι πλησίον εἰς τὸν τῆς σελήνης κύκλον, ἀναγνοίη πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ κατόπτρῳ γεγραμμένα, ὡς τῇ σελήνῃ γεγραμμένα.

Suda, theta entry 289

“You're drawing the moon down to yourself”: the Thessalian women who draw down the moon are said to lose their eyes and feet.

Ἐπὶ σαυτῷ τὴν σελήνην καθέλκεις: αἱ τὴν σελήνην καθέλκουσαι Θετταλίδες λέγονται τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ τῶν ποδῶν στερίσκεσθαι.

Suda, epsilon entry 2559

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Socrates: First, tell me what it is you want for yourself.

Strepsiades (lying naked in bed): You’ve heard a thousand times what I want: I don't want to have to pay back any interest on my debts.

Socrates: Come now, cover yourself up. Loosen up your mind a little bit. Think about your affairs, analyze and investigate them properly.

Strepsiades: This sucks.

Socrates: Stay calm. If you get caught up in some of your thoughts, put them to the side and move on. Later on, turn your mind to them again and examine them.

Strepsiades (after thinking): ... oh, little Socrates! You’re the best!

Socrates: What is it, old man?

Strepsiades: I have a plan to get out of paying any interest!

Socrates: Show me.

Strepsiades: Alright now, tell me...

Socrates: Tell you what?

Strepsiades: ...if I bought a medicine woman, a Thessalian one, I could bring down the moon at night, then hide it in a round case like the ones we use for mirrors and keep it there.

Socrates: Ok, but how would this help you?

Strepsiades: Because if the moon didn’t rise, I wouldn't have to pay back any interest.

Socrates: Yeah, but why not?

Strepsiades: Because interest is charged by the month.

{Σω.} αὐτὸς ὅτι βούλει πρῶτος ἐξευρὼν λέγε. 

{Στ.} ἀκήκοας μυριάκις ἁγὼ βούλομαι, περὶ τῶν τόκων, ὅπως ἂν ἀποδῶ μηδενί.

{Σω.} ἴθι νυν καλύπτου, καὶ σχάσας τὴν φροντίδα λεπτὴν κατὰ μικρὸν περιφρόνει τὰ πράγματα ὀρθῶς διαιρῶν καὶ σκοπῶν.

{Στ.} οἴμοι τάλας.

{Σω.} ἔχ' ἀτρέμα· κἂν ἀπορῇς τι τῶν νοημάτων, ἀφεὶς ἄπελθε, κᾆτα τῇ γνώμῃ πάλιν κίνησον αὖθις αὐτὸ καὶ ζυγώθρισον.

{Στ.} ὦ Σωκρατίδιον φίλτατον.

{Σω.} τί, ὦ γέρον;

{Στ.} ἔχω τόκου γνώμην ἀποστερητικήν.

{Σω.} ἐπίδειξον αὐτήν.

{Στ.} εἰπὲ δή νυν μοι – 

{Σω.} τὸ τί;

{Στ.} γυναῖκα φαρμακίδ' εἰ πριάμενος Θετταλὴν καθέλοιμι νύκτωρ τὴν σελήνην, εἶτα δὴ αὐτὴν καθείρξαιμ' εἰς λοφεῖον στρογγύλον ὥσπερ κάτροπτον, κᾆτα τηροίην ἔχων.

{Σω.} τί δῆτα τοῦτ' ἂν ὠφελήσειέν σ'; 

{Στ.} ὅτι εἰ μηκέτ' ἀνατέλλοι σελήνη μηδαμοῦ, οὐκ ἂν ἀποδοίην τοὺς τόκους.

{Σω.} ὁτιὴ τί δή;

{Στ.} ὁτιὴ κατὰ μῆνα τἀργύριον δανείζεται.

Aristophanes, Clouds, ll. 737-756

“I'm amazed that this rumour has stuck so firmly to Achilles’ people (sc. the Thessalians) that even Menander, who wrote works with unrivaled subtlety, called a play “The Woman from Thessaly”, which describes these women’s tricks for bringing down the moon. I would have thought that Orpheus was the first to introduce the art from his region to his neighbours’ and that the superstition developed from medicine, if it weren’t the case that Thrace—Orpheus’ homeland—was completely free of the art of magic.”

miror equidem Achillis populis famam eius in tantum adhaesisse, ut Menander quoque, litterarum subtilitati sine aemulo genitus, Thessalam cognominaret fabulam complexam ambages feminarum detrahentium lunam. Orphea putarem e propinquo artem primum intulisse ad vicina usque superstitionis ac medicinae provectum, si non expers sedes eius tota Thrace magices fuisset.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 30.2.7

Two ways to talk about eggs

Two discussions of eggs: one, from Michael of Ephesus, on the egg as a boundary between death and life; another, from Aetius of Amida, on the best way to cook eggs (soft boiled, soaked in wine and fish sauce and cooked on a double-boiler).

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Lemma: “The reason for this is that nature produces the eggs, as it were, before [their] time, because of its own incompleteness…” (Aristotle, Generation of Animals 3.8, 758b19)

"In what follows, he (sc. Aristotle) discusses the reason why insects produce at first a grub which moves itself and is generally speaking an animal; then, once the grub has grown, it turns into an egg, lacking sensation and movement; then it turns into a different animal from the grub. He says that since an insect’s nature, because of its inherent weakness, is in itself unable to nourish and complete the embryo, what it produces is incomplete. And if in addition to generating an incomplete embryo, its nature generated something lacking soul and sensation as well, the embryo would cease to exist. But if this were the case, it is quite likely that the insect-kind would be absent from the world.* So it must be for this reason that nature generates an animal that is able to be nourished from itself, and it feeds on itself until it reaches completion.** Having reached completion, it dies.*** For living and eating are granted to it so that it becomes complete, but once it has reached completion, there is no longer any point for it to eat, and so no point for it to live.**** At this moment it dies, and it is then like an egg surrounded all around by a shell.***** Later, when what is inside of this shell has been completely concocted by the climate as if by a bird and has changed into an animal, it emerges."

758b19 «Τούτου δ’ αἴτιον ὅτι ἡ φύσις ὡσανεὶ πρὸ ὥρας ᾠοτοκεῖ διὰ τὴν ἀτέλειαν τὴν αὐτῆς.»

Τὴν αἰτίαν διὰ τούτων λέγει, τίνος ἕνεκα πρῶτον μὲν σκώληξ γεννᾶται κινούμενος καὶ ὅλως ζῷον ὑπάρχων, εἶτα αὐξηθεὶς ᾠὸν γίνεται ἀναίσθητον καὶ ἀκίνητον, εἶθ’ οὕτω πάλιν ζῷον ἕτερον παρὰ τὸν σκώληκα. λέγει οὖν ὅτι ἡ τῶν ἐντόμων φύσις ἀδυνατοῦσα θρέψαι ἐν αὑτῇ καὶ τελειῶσαι τὸ κύημα διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσθένειαν, ἀτελὲς αὐτὸ γεννᾷ· ὥστ’ εἴπερ πρὸς τῷ ἀτελὲς αὐτὸ γεννᾶν καὶ ἄψυχον ἐγέννα καὶ ἀναίσθητον, ἐφθείρετο ἄν· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, τάχιον ἂν ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς ἐξέλιπε τὸ τῶν ἐντόμων γένος. διά τοι τοῦτο γεννᾷ ζῷον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμενον τρέφεσθαι, καὶ τρέφεται ἕως ἂν τελειωθῇ, τελειωθὲν δὲ θνήσκει· τὸ γὰρ ζῆν καὶ ἐσθίειν δέδοται αὐτῷ διὰ τὸ τέλειον γεγονέναι, ἐπειδὴ δὲ τετελείωται, οὐκέτι χρεία αὐτῷ τοῦ ἐσθίειν, ὥστε οὐδὲ τοῦ ζῆν. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ θνήσκει, καὶ ἔστι τότε οἷον ᾠὸν κύκλῳ περιεχόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ κελύφους· εἶθ’ οὕτως τὸ ἐντὸς ὑπάρχον τούτου τοῦ κελύφους ὑπὸ τῆς ὥρας ὥσπερ ὑπὸ ὄρνιθος συμπεφθὲν καὶ εἰς ζῷον μεταβαλὸν ἔξεισιν.

Michael of Ephesus, Commentary on Aristotle's Generation of Animals 3.8, (CAG 14,3 p.153,10-25 Hayduck).

*A reductio: if nature generated embryos without soul, i.e., without life, there wouldn't be any insects in the world; but, there are insects; so, nature does not generate embryos without a soul.

**The idea is either (1) that the grub is able to feed itself, or (2) that it is able to be nourished from the whole of its own body, unlike an egg, in which one part is food (yolk) and one part becomes the animal (white). Cf. GA 2.1, 732a28-32 and Michael’s comments; 3.2, 752a27-28.

***Michael might be thinking of allegories of metempsychosis. I have yet to find whether the psuchê (butterfly) was used as a symbol of resurrection by late Byzantine Christians. Whether or not that's what he has in mind, the idea is not Aristotle’s—he nowhere says that grubs die when they become cocoons, nor does he say, as Michael takes him to, that cocoons are akinêton or without movement; rather, he says they are akinêtisanta or at rest. Elsewhere, Aristotle claims cocoons move when touched, e.g. HA 5.19, 551a19-20. Just how familiar Michael was with the HA is not clear; but Michael is nevertheless right that in the passage he is commenting on, Aristotle emphasizes the lack of motion of chrysalids throughout. And even if allegories of metempsychosis are in the background, Michael is most likely drawing the following inference: if something is alive, it has nutritive (and sensitive) soul; if something has nutritive (and sensitive) soul, then it can (move, sense), eat, and excrete residues; cocoons do none of these things; hence cocoons are not alive. The inference of course would be false: at most it would imply that cocoons are asleep. Michael, however, likely sees that there would be a deeper problem in saying cocoons are alive in this sense of 'sleeping': on the one hand, the soul of the grub and the soul of the completed animal cannot be identical, since the animals have different bodily organs, and souls and the organs they use are correlative; on the other hand, it seems implausible that the grub should have both souls simultaneously. But if it cannot have both souls simultaneously, and it must have a soul, then it must have the souls successively, and so must ‘die’ in some sense. Michael, then, thinks it is better to say that the soul the grub had has perished, while what it left behind is something alive potentially, but actually dead, namely an egg, which comes back to life when warmed by the season. Michael hints that this is what he has in mind by emphasizing that cocoons are like eggs, although he does not explicitly distinguish actual and potential kinds of living. It's telling that another commentator, Philoponus, denies caterpillars perish, and claims they merely change from one form to another (On Physics 8, CAG 16 180,19-20). This suggests people other than Michael were thinking through this problem.

****Michael’s interpretation likely relies on the familiar Arisotelian claim that nature does nothing in vain: it would be in vain for an animal whose purpose is to become an egg to continue to live.

*****A similar point is made by Plutarch, Quaest. Conv. 2.3 (Moralia 636C3-D7)

Eggs the right way, soft boiled and in cups. Detail from a 3rd century mosaic at the Hatay Archaeological Museum in Antakya, Turkey. 

"Eggs of hens and of pheasants are better, while those of geese and ostriches [literally, 'sparrow-camels'] are worse. Best for the body's nourishment are the ones called 'trembling' [i.e., soft-boiled], while runny ones nourish less, but are passed more easily. They soothe the roughness in the throat caused by shouting or an acrid humour, when they are plastered on the affected places and remain there like a poultice; they also cure roughness because their whole substance is not stinging. For the same reason, they heal roughness in the stomach, bowels and bladder. An egg boiled in vinegar, when eaten, dries the discharges in the bowels. And if you mix things suitable for dysentery or a colic disposition with it and then broil it on coals and give it to eat, you will offer no small benefit to your patients. Suitable for these dispositions are the juice of unripe grapes, unripe mulberry plastered on, ashes of snails burnt whole, and grape seeds, myrtle berries and similar things.  Boiled eggs are hard to digest, pass slowly and provide thick nourishment to the body. The ones baked in hot ashes pass even more slowly and produce even thicker humours than them. Fried eggs have the least nutrition in every respect. For when they are cooked they become greasy and produce a thick humor that is bad and full of residues. Better than boiled and baked ones are those called 'curdled': briefly soaked in oil, garum and wine, and boiled on a double-boiler to a medium consistency. Eggs thickened longer become like boiled or baked ones. The same thing should also be done in cases where eggs are poured on a frying pan, taking the frying pan off the fire when the eggs are still soft."

Ὠὰ ἀμείνω τά τε τῶν ἀλεκτορίδων ἐστὶ καὶ τῶν φασιανῶν, φαυλότερα δὲ τὰ τῶν χηνῶν καὶ στρουθοκαμήλων. κάλλιστα μὲν οὖν εἰς τροφὴν τοῦ σώματός ἐστι τὰ τρομητὰ καλούμενα, τὰ δὲ ῥοφητὰ ἧττον μὲν τρέφει, ῥᾷον δὲ ὑποχωρεῖ. τὰς δὲ ἐν τῷ φάρυγγι τραχύτητας διὰ κραυγὴν ἢ χυμοῦ δριμύτητα ἐκλεαίνει, περιπλαττόμενα τοῖς πεπονθόσι τόποις καὶ προσμένοντα ὥσπερ τι κατάπλασμα καὶ τῷ τῆς ὅλης οὐσίας ἀδήκτῳ ἐκθεραπεύοντα καὶ τὰς τραχύτητας. τῷ δὲ αὐτῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὰς κατὰ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ γαστέρα καὶ κύστιν ἰᾶται τραχύτητας· ἐν ὄξει δὲ ἑψηθὲν ὠὸν εἰ βρωθείη, ξηραίνει τὰ κατὰ γαστέρα ῥεύματα. καὶ εἰ μίξας δὲ αὐτῷ τι τῶν πρὸς δυσεντερίαν ἢ κοιλιακὴν διάθεσιν ἁρμοττόντων, εἶτα ἐπ' ἀνθράκων ταγηνίσας, δοίης φαγεῖν, οὐ σμικρὰ τοὺς κάμνοντας ὠφελήσεις. ἐπιτήδεια δέ ἐστιν εἰς ταῦτα ὀμφάκιον καὶ ῥοῦς ἐπιπαττόμενος καὶ τέφρα τῶν κοχλιῶν ὅλων καέντων γίγαρτά τε σταφυλῆς καὶ μύρτα καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια. τὰ δὲ ἑφθὰ ὠὰ δύσπεπτα καὶ βραδύπορα καὶ τροφὴν παχεῖαν ἀναδίδωσι τῷ σώματι. τούτων δὲ ἔτι μᾶλλον βραδυπορώτερά τε καὶ παχυχυμότερα τὰ κατὰ θερμὴν σποδιὰν ὀπτηθέντα. τὰ δὲ ταγηνισθέντα χειρίστην ἔχει τροφὴν εἰς ἅπαντα· καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ πέττεσθαι κνισσοῦται καὶ παχὺν χυμὸν γεννᾷ καὶ μοχθηρὸν καὶ περιττωματικόν. ἀμείνω δὲ τῶν ἑφθῶν τε καὶ ὀπτῶν ἐστι τὰ καλούμενα πηκτὰ μετ' ἐλαίου καὶ γάρου καὶ οἴνου βραχέος ἀναδευθέντα καὶ ἐπὶ διπλώματος ἑψηθέντα μέχρι μετρίας συστάσεως. τὰ γὰρ ἐπὶ πλέον παχυνθέντα παραπλήσια τοῖς ἑψηθεῖσι καὶ ὀπτηθεῖσι γίγνεται. τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ χρὴ ποιεῖν κἀπὶ τῶν ἐπιχεομένων ταῖς λοπάσιν ὠῶν, ἔτι ἐγχύλων ὄντων ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς αἴροντας τὴν λοπάδα.

Aetius of Amida, Libri Medicinales, II 134, 201,19-202,14 Olivieri

A Metaphor for Easter

It’s Easter time. A metaphor from Photius on raising the dead.

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epsukhagôgêsen: was hopeful; was encouraged; or, brought back through magic the souls of the dead.

Ἐψυχαγώγησεν: ἐπήλπισε· παρεμυθήσατο· ἢ ψυχὰς διὰ μαγγανείας τῶν τελευτησάντων ἀνήγαγεν.

Photius, Lexicon, 47,14-16

See also the LSJ:

ψυχαγωγέω , (ψυχαγωγός): A. lead departed souls to the nether world, esp. of Hermes. II. evoke or conjure up the dead by sacrifice; hence metaph., lead or attract the souls of the living, win over, persuade, allure.

More on philosophers and magic, and Anaxagoras on teaching philosophy to cattle

"Apollonius, from Tyana, philosopher, son of Apollonius and a citizen-mother of the nobility. When she was pregnant, his mother saw a daimon suddenly appear saying that he himself would be the one she gives birth to, he being Proteus the Egyptian. For this reason, he was assumed to be the son of Proteus. He was in his prime during the time of Claudius, Gaius and Nero, up until Nerva, at which time he died. He kept silence for five years, following Pythagoras. Next he set out for Egypt, then for Babylon to go to the Magi, then to the Arabs, and he collected from all of them countless numbers of their magical incantations. He composed such works as Rites of Initiation or On Sacrifices, Covenant, Oracles, Letters, Life of Pythagoras.

"Philostratus of Lemnos wrote a biography of him fitting for a philosopher. [He says] that Apollonius of Tyana exceeded Sophocles in continence, for the latter used to say "one escapes the raging and wild master, once one has come into old age", but Apollonius, through virtue and continence, did not give way to them even in his youth. About Apollonius, Philostratus says that he was more divine in his approach to wisdom than Pythagoras, since he overcame tyrants and he lived in a time not too ancient and not too modern. People do not yet recognize that he comes from the true philosophy, which he practiced philosophically and soundly. Rather, some people accept one thing about the man, others another. Still others consider him a Magus and attack him as unwise, because he learned from the Magi of Babylon, the Brahmin of India, and the Naked [ones] in Egypt. They poorly understand him. The fact is Empedocles, Pythagoras himself, and Democritus, associated with the Magi and said many demonic things, and yet they were never seduced by the art. And Plato, who went to Egypt and, like a painter when he adds colour to a sketch, infused his own writings with many things derived from the prophets and priests of that place was never thought to practice magic, and he most of all among people is envied for his wisdom.

"Regarding his ability to perceive and foretell many things, one should not attack Apollonius for the things he predicted in his wisdom, since then Socrates will also be attacked for the things he predicted, and Anaxagoras, who, at Olympia, when there was not the least sign it would rain, went into the stadium under a fleece, indicating a prediction of rain. It is wrong for them to attribute to Anaxagoras this foreknowledge that comes from wisdom and deny it to Apollonius. It seems to me, therefore, that one should not pay attention to the ignorance of the many, but describe the man with precision, both with respect to his chronology, when he said or did something, and with respect to the ways of his wisdom, by which he came to be thought daimonic and divine. 

"I have collected reports from the cities that love him, from the temples which, having previously broken their rites, were restored by him, and from the things others wrote to him and he to others. He used to write to kings, sophists, philosophers, Elians, Delphians, Indians, and Egyptians about gods, about customs, and about laws, from whom [we can learn] what he did. The more accurate reports are from Damidos, his pupil.

"This Apollonius of Tyana had a good memory if anyone has. He kept his voice in silence, but gathered many things, and when he was one hundred years old had strength of memory beyond Simonides. He had a hymn to Memory which he would sign, in which he says all things wash away in time, but through memory time itself is ageless and immortal. Concerning Apollonius, look under the entry on 'Timasion' for other predictions. 

"[It is reported] that this Apollonius said the following about Anaxagoras: he said he was from Clazomenae and the things he established were for cattle and camels, and that he would rather teach philosophy to cows than people. Crates from Thebes threw his property into the sea, making it useful for neither cows or men."

Ἀπολλώνιος, Τυανεὺς, φιλόσοφος, υἱὸς Ἀπολλωνίου καὶ μητρὸς πολίτιδος τῶν ἐπιφανῶν, ὃν κύουσα ἡ μήτηρ ἐπιστάντα δαίμονα ἐθεάσατο λέγοντα, ὡς αὐτὸς εἴη ὃν κύει, εἶναι δὲ Πρωτέα τὸν Αἰγύπτιον: ὅθεν ὑπειλῆφθαι αὐτὸν Πρωτέως εἶναι υἱόν. καὶ ἤκμαζε μὲν ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου καὶ Γαί̈ου καὶ Νέρωνος καὶ μέχρι Νέρβα, ἐφ' οὗ καὶ μετήλλαξεν. ἐσιώπησε δὲ κατὰ Πυθαγόραν ε' ἔτη. εἶτα ἀπῆρεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ἔπειτα εἰς Βαβυλῶνα πρὸς τοὺς μάγους, κἀκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἄραβας, καὶ συνῆξεν ἐκ πάντων τὰ μυρία καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ θρυλούμενα μαγγανεύματα. συνέταξε δὲ τοσαῦτα: Τελετὰς ἢ περὶ θυσιῶν, Διαθήκην, Χρησμοὺς, Ἐπιστολὰς, Πυθαγόρου βίον.

εἰς τοῦτον ἔγραψε Φιλόστρατος ὁ Λήμνιος τὸν φιλοσόφῳ πρέποντα βίον. ὅτι Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεὺς ἐς σωφροσύνην ὑπερεβάλλετο τοῦ Σοφοκλέους. ὁ μὲν γὰρ λυττῶντα ἔφη καὶ ἄγριον δεσπότην ἀποφυγεῖν, ἐλθόντα ἐς γῆρας, ὁ δὲ Ἀπολλώνιος ὑπ' ἀρετῆς καὶ σωφροσύνης οὐδὲ ἐν μειρακίῳ ἡττήθη τούτων. ὅτι Φιλόστρατος λέγει περὶ Ἀπολλωνίου, θειότερον ἢ ὁ Πυθαγόρας τῇ σοφίᾳ προσελθεῖν τυραννίδων τε ὑπεράραντα καὶ γενόμενον κατὰ χρόνους οὔτ' ἀρχαίους οὔτ' αὖ νέους. ὃν οὔπω οἱ ἄνθρωποι γινώσκουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθινῆς φιλοσοφίας, ἣν φιλοσόφως τε καὶ ὑγιῶς ἐπήσκησεν. ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν τὸ, ὁ δὲ τὸ ἐπαινεῖ τἀνδρός: οἱ δὲ, ἐπειδὴ μάγοις Βαβυλωνίων καὶ Ἰνδῶν Βραχμᾶσι καὶ τοῖς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ Γυμνοῖς συνεγένετο, μάγον ἡγοῦνται αὐτὸν καὶ διαβάλλουσιν ὡς μὴ σοφὸν, κακῶς γινώσκοντες. Ἐμπεδοκλῆς τε γὰρ καὶ Πυθαγόρας αὐτὸς καὶ Δημόκριτος ὁμιλήσαντες μάγοις καὶ πολλὰ δαιμόνια εἰπόντες οὔπω ὑπήχθησαν τῇ τέχνῃ. Πλάτων δὲ βαδίσας ἐς Αἴγυπτον καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἐκεῖ προφητῶν τε καὶ ἱερέων ἐγκαταμίξας τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ λόγοις καὶ καθάπερ ζωγράφος ἐσκιαγραφημένοις ἐπιβαλὼν χρώματα οὔπω μαγεύειν ἔδοξε, καίτοι πλεῖστα ἀνθρώπων φθονηθεὶς ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ.

οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ αἰσθέσθαι πολλὰ καὶ προγνῶναι διαβάλλοι ἂν τὸν Ἀπολλώνιον, ἐφ' οἷς προὔλεγεν, ἐς τὴν σοφίαν ταύτην, ὡς διαβεβλήσεται καὶ Σωκράτης ἐφ' οἷς προὔλεγε, καὶ Ἀναξαγόρας, ὃς Ὀλυμπίασιν, ὁπότε ἥκιστα ὕοι, προελθὼν ὑπὸ κωδίῳ ἐς τὸ στάδιον ἐπὶ προρρήσει ὄμβρου. καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ὑπὲρ Ἀναξαγόρου προτιθέντες ἀφαιροῦνται τὸν Ἀπολλώνιον τὸ κατὰ σοφίαν προγινώσκειν. δοκεῖ οὖν μοι μὴ περιϊδεῖν τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ἄνοιαν, ἀλλ' ἐξακριβῶσαι τὸν ἄνδρα τοῖς τε χρόνοις, καθ' οὓς εἶπέ τι ἢ ἔπραξε, τοῖς τε τῆς σοφίας τρόποις, ὑφ' ὧν ἔψαυσε τοῦ δαιμόνιός τε καὶ θεῖος νομισθῆναι.

ξυνείλεκται δέ μοι τὰ μὲν ἐκ πόλεων, ὁπόσαι αὐτοῦ ἤρων, τὰ δὲ ἐξ ἱερῶν, ὁπόσα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐπανήχθη παραλελυμένα τοὺς θεσμοὺς ἤδη, τὰ δὲ ἐξ ὧν ἕτεροι πρὸς αὐτὸν ἢ αὐτὸς πρὸς ἄλλους ἔγραφεν. ἐπέστελλε δὲ βασιλεῦσι, σοφισταῖς, φιλοσόφοις, Ἠλείοις, Δελφοῖς, Ἰνδοῖς, Αἰγυπτίοις, ὑπὲρ θεῶν, ὑπὲρ ἠθῶν, ὑπὲρ νόμων, παρ' οἷς ὅ τι ἂν πράττοι: τὰ δὲ ἀκριβέστερα παρὰ Δάμιδος ἀκηκοώς.

οὗτος Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεὺς διαμνημονικός τις ἦν εἴπερ τις ἄλλος, ὃς τὴν μὲν φωνὴν σιωπῇ κατεῖχε, πλεῖστα δὲ ἀνελέγετο, καὶ τὸ μνημονικὸν ἑκατοντούτης γενόμενος ἔρρωτο ὑπὲρ τὸν Σιμωνίδην. καὶ ὕμνος αὐτῷ τίς ἐστιν εἰς μνημοσύνην, ὃν ᾖδεν, ἐν ᾧ πάντα μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου μαραίνεσθαί φησιν, αὐτόν γε μὴν τὸν χρόνον ἀγήρω τε καὶ ἀθάνατον ὑπὸ τῆς μνημοσύνης εἶναι. ζήτει περὶ Ἀπολλωνίου καὶ ἕτερα προγνωστικὰ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ Τιμασίων.

ὅτι Ἀπολλώνιος οὗτος τάδε περὶ Ἀναξαγόρα ἔφη: καὶ γὰρ Κλαζομένιον ὄντα καὶ ἀγέλαις καὶ καμήλοις τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἀναθέντα εἰπεῖν, προβάτοις μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις φιλοσοφῆσαι. ὁ δὲ Θηβαῖος Κράτης κατεπόντωσε τὴν οὐσίαν, οὔτε προβάτοις ποιήσας ἐπιτήδειον, οὔτε ἀνθρώποις.

Suda, s.v. Apollonius of Tyana

*Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana, which documents his adventures touring the world talking with kings and gymnosophists is online at Livius.org. 
 

A path home, star men, and the origins of astronomy

Astronomy: "the distribution of the stars." The Babylonians were first to discover it through [the teaching of?] Zoroaster. With them was Ostanes. They established that what occurs at birth is caused by celestial movement. The Egyptians and Greeks came after these men, and they trace those who are born back to movement of the stars.

Also, there is the phrase "to judge by the stars": for those who travel a long and solitary path, and by the stars are led back to the place of their homeland.

And the word, "starry": one who comes from the stars.

Magic and astrology originated from the Magouseans, for the Persians are actually called Magog by the locals, and these are the same as the Magouseans.

Ἀστρονομία: ἡ τῶν ἄστρων διανομή. πρῶτοι Βαβυλώνιοι ταύτην ἐφεῦρον διὰ Ζωροάστρου· μεθ' ὧν καὶ Ὀστάνης· οἳ ἐπέστησαν τῇ οὐρανίᾳ κινήσει τὰ περὶ τοὺς τικτομένους συμβαίνειν· ἀφ' ὧν Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ Ἕλληνες ἐδέξαντο καὶ τοὺς γεννωμένους ἀναφέρουσιν εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀστέρων κίνησιν.

καὶ Ἄστροις τεκμαίρεσθαι, ἐπὶ τῶν μακρὰν καὶ ἔρημον ὁδὸν πορευομένων καὶ ἄστροις σημειουμένων τὰς θέσεις τῶν πατρίδων.

καὶ Ἀστρῷος, ὁ ἐκ τῶν ἄστρων.

ὅτι μαγεία καὶ ἀστρολογία ἀπὸ Μαγουσαίων ἤρξατο. οἱ γάρ τοι Πέρσαι Μαγὼγ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων ὀνομάζονται. καὶ Μαγουσαῖοι, οἱ αὐτοί. 

Suda, s.v. Ἀστρονομία (α-entry 4257)

How to live a long life: learn magic or get some exercise

Pseudo-Lucian talks about the prophecy and piety of the Magi (along with ethnographies of other tribes) as part of a discussion of life-expectancy: why do some groups of people live longer than others? Pseudo-Lucian thinks you could live a long time too if you just exercised and ate properly. Inspired by this article at the BBC: "We learn nothing about nutrition, claim medical students".

---

"Stories have been told of whole races who have a long life expectancy because of their way of life.* There are those called the 'Sacred Scribes' in Egypt, the 'Interpreters of Myths' in Assyria and Arabia, those called 'Brahmans' in India, men completely devoted to the study of philosophy, and those called the 'Magi', a prophetic race who dedicate themselves to the gods, found among the Persians, Parthians, Bactrians, Chorasmians, Arians, Sacae, Medes, and many other Barbarians. They are strong and long-lived because they lead their life in strict observance of magic.

"There are also whole nations who have a long life expectancy, like in the stories they tell about the Seres, who live up to three-hundred years, some attributing the cause of their old age to the climate, others to the land, and still others to their way of life: for, they say, this is a whole nation of water-drinkers. Stories are also told of the people of Athos living up to one- hundred and thirty years, and there is a report that the Chaldeans live over one-hundred years, using bread made from barley because it acts as a drug for preserving good eyesight. They also say that on account of this diet, their other senses are better than those of other people.

"But that's enough about the life expectancy of these races and nations, those which they say survive for a long time either because of the land and climate, or way of life, or both. I, however, want to propose to you that your hopes [of a long life] are easy to achieve, by telling you about men in every land and in every climate who have become long-lived by using the right kind of exercises and a healthy diet."

καὶ γένη δὲ ὅλα μακρόβια ἱστορεῖται διὰ τὴν δίαιταν, ὥσπερ Αἰγυπτίων οἱ καλούμενοι ἱερογραμματεῖς, Ἀσσυρίων δὲ καὶ Ἀράβων οἱ ἐξηγηταὶ τῶν μύθων, Ἰνδῶν δὲ οἱ καλούμενοι Βραχμᾶνες, ἄνδρες ἀκριβῶς φιλοσοφίᾳ σχολάζοντες, καὶ οἱ καλούμενοι δὲ μάγοι, γένος τοῦτο μαντικὸν καὶ θεοῖς ἀνακείμενον παρά τε Πέρσαις καὶ Πάρθοις καὶ Βάκτροις καὶ Χωρασμίοις καὶ Ἀρείοις καὶ Σάκαις καὶ Μήδοις καὶ παρὰ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις βαρβάροις, ἐρρωμένοι τέ εἰσι καὶ πολυχρόνιοι διὰ τὸ μαγεύειν διαιτώμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀκριβέστερον.

ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἔθνη ὅλα μακροβιώτατα, ὥσπερ Σῆρας μὲν ἱστοροῦσι μέχρι τριακοσίων ζῆν ἐτῶν, οἱ μὲν τῷ ἀέρι, οἱ δὲ τῇ γῇ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ μακροῦ γήρως προστιθέντες, οἱ δὲ καὶ τῇ διαίτῃ· ὑδροποτεῖν γάρ φασι τὸ ἔθνος τοῦτο σύμπαν. καὶ Ἀθῴτας δὲ μέχρι τριάκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν ἐτῶν βιοῦν ἱστορεῖται, καὶ τοὺς Χαλδαίους ὑπὲρ τὰ ἑκατὸν ἔτη βιοῦν λόγος, τούτους μὲν καὶ κριθίνῳ ἄρτῳ χρωμένους, ὡς ὀξυδορκίας τοῦτο φάρμακον· οἷς γέ φασι διὰ τὴν τοιαύτην δίαιταν καὶ τὰς ἄλλας αἰσθήσεις ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους ἐρρωμένας εἶναι.

Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν περί τε τῶν μακροβίων γενῶν καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ἅτινά φασιν ὡς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διαγίγνεσθαι χρόνον, οἱ μὲν διὰ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸν ἀέρα, οἱ δὲ διὰ τὴν δίαιταν, οἱ δὲ καὶ δι' ἄμφω. ἐγὼ δ' ἄν σοι δικαίως τὴν ἐλπίδα ῥᾳδίαν παράσχοιμι ἱστορήσας ὅτι καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν γῆν καὶ κατὰ πάντα ἀέρα μακρόβιοι γεγόνασιν ἄνδρες οἱ γυμνασίοις τοῖς προσήκουσιν καὶ διαίτῃ τῇ ἐπιτηδειοτάτῃ πρὸς ὑγίειαν χρώμενοι.

Pseudo-Lucian, Long Lives (Marcobii), 4-8

* διὰ τὴν δίαιταν I'm translating as "way of life" or "diet" depending on the context. Keep in mind that it includes more that just what one eats, but also hygiene more generally: one's daily routine of sleep, waking, food, drink, work and sex.

Galen's advice on how to never get sick ("read my books and pay attention")

"After I turned 28, I had convinced myself that there exists an art of hygiene and I followed its precepts the whole rest of my life. The result was that I never got sick except for the occasional ephemeral fever; but, surely it is possible for someone to preserve themselves completely if they have secured a life of freedom.* This already became clear in the previous sections, and it will become even clearer in the sections that follow should you choose to pay attention. For I say no buboes** can be produced in anyone who has rigorously prepared for health, simply if their body is free from of each kind of excess residue, both in quantity and quality."

ἀλλὰ μετά γε τὸ εἰκοστὸν ὄγδοον ἔτος ἀπὸ γενετῆς ἐμαυτὸν πείσας, ὡς ἔστι τις ὑγιεινὴ τέχνη, τοῖς προστάγμασιν αὐτῆς ἠκολούθησα παρ' ὅλον τὸν ἑξῆς βίον, ὡς μηκέτι νοσῆσαι νόσημα μηδέν, ὅτι μὴ σπάνιόν που πυρετὸν ἐφήμερον. ἔστι δὲ δήπου καὶ τοῦτον αὐτὸν φυλάξασθαι τελέως, ἐλεύθερον ἑλόμενον βίον, ὡς ἔν τε τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἤδη γέγονε δῆλον ἔτι τε μᾶλλον ἔσται σαφὲς ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς εἰρησομένοις, εἰ θέλοι τις προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν. ἐγὼ γάρ φημι μηδὲ βουβῶνα δύνασθαι γενέσθαι τοῖς ἀκριβῶς παρεσκευασμένοις εἰς ὑγείαν, εἴ γ' ἀπέριττον αὐτοῖς ἐστι τὸ σῶμα τοῦ γένους τῶν περιττωμάτων ἑκατέρου, τοῦ τε κατὰ τὸ ποσὸν καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ ποιόν.

Galen, De sanitate tuenda, 5.1, 6.309-10 Kühn

*Galen is referring to something he said a bit earlier: that he gets an occasional fever because sometimes he works too much. In other words, he is not free, since he is dedicated to his practice. If you are free, all the more reason you should remain healthy if you follow his advice.

**not quite sure why Galen is singling out buboes here.