Galen’s Reception in Byzantium: Symeon Seth and his Refutation of Galenic Theories on Human Physiology

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Abstract

GALEN’S RECEPTION in the Byzantine period has not so
far been the subject of a systematic study, and readers
are limited to short studies usually covering a broad
period.1 This article aims to shed light on criticism of Galen
and its context in the Byzantine medical literature. I have
chosen to focus on the interesting case of Symeon Seth’s refutation
of Galenic theories on physiology, as it is the sole
example of a treatise of this kind in the Byzantine period. First
I shall give a brief background on the role of Galenic medical
knowledge in Byzantium and its various modes of reception;
this is followed by an overview of Symeon’s corpus and activity.
The main part of the paper consists of a commentary on
Symeon’s criticism of Galen’s theories. The study is accompanied
by the first critical edition of the text and an English
translation, which I hope will stimulate further interest in
Galen’s presence in Byzantine medical texts.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)431-469
Number of pages39
JournalGreek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies
Volume55
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2015

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