BMCR 2025.04.06

The Oxford handbook of Galen

, , The Oxford handbook of Galen. Oxford handbooks. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. Pp. 752. ISBN 9780190913687.

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[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]

 

In the grand scheme of classical scholarship, Galen’s popularity is a recent phenomenon. Beginning in the 1980s and due in no small part to eminent scholars such as Vivien Nutton and Wesley D. Smith, scholarly interest in all aspects of Galen and his oeuvre have enjoyed an ever-increasing popularity. Galen himself provides ample material for study through well over one hundred extant treatises that broach a variety of topics, including anatomy, therapy, pharmacology, ethics, logic, and more. And so, despite the many articles and books devoted to Galen that have appeared in the last forty or so years, there is still much work to be done. For the uninitiated, however, getting a firm grasp on Galen’s thought, scattered as it is throughout dozens of treatises, as well as identifying various status quaestionum current among scholars, is to say the least, a daunting task. The Oxford Handbook of Galen (henceforth abbreviated as OHG), then, which addresses a wide array of topics (and certainly those that are most salient), represents a great boon to all Galenic scholars, but especially nascent ones who might otherwise have difficulty navigating the vast number of primary and secondary sources. It is primarily through that lens that I have considered the work under review.

The OHG comprises twenty-nine essays, all written by leading lights of Galenic studies, as well as an appendix that catalogues modern editions and translations of Galen’s works both in print and online. As a research tool, it wholly supersedes the excellent but now rather dated Cambridge Companion to Galen (hereafter CCG) from 2008. Like the OHG, the CCG boasts outstanding contributors, though the OHG, naturally, has the benefit of incorporating scholarship published in the sixteen years since the appearance of its predecessor but, just as significantly, represents a considerable enlargement of topics over those found in the CCG. The most extensive expansion appears in Part III of the OHG, “Galen’s Legacy.” The rich Nachleben of Galenic texts and the rise of Galenism from the third century on, summarized in the CCG in a valuable contribution by Vivian Nutton, together receive much more granular focus in the OHG. Specifically, this is accomplished in ten contributions that discuss the fortune of Galenic works in the Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew traditions, in Byzantium, and in the West. Even locales that less frequently garner the attention of scholars, such as South Asia, China, and Tibet, are addressed. This expansive introduction to a burgeoning area of Galenic studies is most welcome and will greatly benefit, among others, I imagine, traditional classicists who grapple with works of Galen in translation. Not to be overlooked, however, are several other matters of Galenic medical and philosophical thought that receive direct attention: topics tangentially addressed in the CCG, such as Galen’s pulse theory, views on the soul, and interpretation of Hippocrates, to name a few, have dedicated essays in the OHG. Finally, the CCG also contains an appendix of textual editions and translations of Galenic works, which, though once an invaluable resource, is now sixteen years out of date; the appendix in the OHG surpasses it both in comprehensiveness and through supplements such as a bibliography of texts and translations supplements their arrangement in a table of Galenic treatises. The appendix is a convenient and welcome tool, though one misses a mention of the Corpus Medicorum Graecorum et Latinorum’s online bibliography to Galen,  which the reader may wish to consult, especially as time passes, since despite being less attractive and user friendly, it benefits from updates.

The OHG’s collection of essays is divided into three thematic parts: Part I. Medical and Intellectual Contexts, Part II. Topics and Works, and Part III. Galen’s Legacy. It is worth noting that the “Medical Contexts” of Part 1 seem to refer both to the general state of medical practice in Galen’s time (e.g. Galen’s Pharmacology in Context) as well as explorations of Galen’s lived experience as a physician (e.g. Galen on Women: Gynecology and Female Patients; Galenus Chirurgus: Galen as Surgeon). The “Topics and Works” of Part II, then, encompasses primarily Galen’s theoretical approach to the body and illness (e.g. Pharmacology: Texts, Theories, and Practices; Galen on Food, Diet, and the Healthy Life) but also specific genres of treatises (e.g. Ethical Works). I do not wish to quibble over the structure given the inherent difficulty in making discrete divisions among so many essays; suffice it to say that the distinction between “contexts” and “topics” is not always self-evident. As for the essays themselves, I will offer a few thoughts on a few that stood out to me as particularly noteworthy as introductions while also attempting to somewhat represent the breadth of subjects contained in the volume.

In Part I (Medical and Intellectual Contexts), P. N. Singer’s essay entitled “Philosophy, Science, and Psychology: Galen’s Theory of “Soul” in Its Intellectual Context” stands out even among its esteemed company. Singer’s enormous expertise and experience with Galenic thought are on full display as he lays a substantial foundation for his discussion of the soul (for Galen, an aporetic topic). The essay begins with an explanation of Galen’s approach to logic and demonstration, elemental theory, causal theory, and connection to Plato. From these theoretical beginnings, Singer proceeds to outline how Galen incorporates psychic functions into his notion of physiology, pointing toward his view of the soul’s dependency on the body’s biological condition. In addition to being a thoughtful, nuanced examination of the soul, Singer’s essay is a compressed guide to the theoretical underpinnings of Galen’s approach to medicine that also demonstrates their practical value as principles from which Galen attempts to understand the soul. Any scholar looking to get a handle on Galen’s way of thinking would do well to begin here.

Galen’s approach to the corpus Hippocraticum is explored in Sean Coughlin’s essay, (chapter 5) “Galen’s Hippocratism.” Coughlin’s nuanced piece expands upon two significant topics: Galen’s attitude toward Hippocrates and Hippocratic texts and how that attitude was shaped by earlier generations of physicians, especially his teachers. Coughlin describes Galen as both “philologist” and “innovator” (104) in his reading of Hippocrates and takes that duality seriously, that is, he argues that Galen comes to the corpus Hippocraticum with a perspective conditioned by his philosophical education and rightly avoids depicting Galen’s sometimes clumsy alignment of Hippocrates with his own theoretical views as mere opportunism. Coughlin’s discussion of the generations of physicians preceding Galen is also deserving of note. Since Coughlin’s scope is limited to the Hippocratic issue, his presentation is rich and concise; for the beginner who might use such a handbook, it is entirely digestible, usefully expounding the theoretical positions of figures such as Quintus and Aeficianus.

In Part II (Topics and Works), Susan Mattern addresses some practical aspects of Galen’s life as a physician in her essay (chapter 15) on “Galen’s Clinical Practice.” Piecing together the details of the lived experience of ancient physicians is notoriously difficult and Mattern very ably sorts through Galen’s many anecdotes (or case histories, if one likes) to fashion a picture of his varied clientele and how he depicts them. She further explores Galen’s diagnostic practices, preferred treatments, and pharmacological expertise. Mattern’s thoughtful contribution makes significant inroads toward an understanding of Galen’s medical practice, which is easily overshadowed by his medical theory.

Orly Lewis’ contribution, (chapter 17) “Galen on the Pulse,” represents, by my lights, the best available introduction to Galen’s pulse theory. Though the pulse is well-known to have been an important diagnostic tool and Galen has no shortage of things to say about it, the system he creates is complicated and his meaning at times unclear. Lewis, a leading expert on ancient pulse theory, does an admirable job of explaining the physiology of the pulse from Galen’s perspective and demystifying some of Galen’s terminology. For instance, one might wonder what he means by the “length” of the pulse or that it has “breadth” and “depth”: the former is the perception of the pulse across four fingers applied to the skin, the latter two the expansion and contraction along the artery’s horizontal and vertical axes, respectively (397). Extensive tables and charts encapsulate the many permutations of differentiae that distinguish individual pulses, assets that will be a great resource for those who need them, though most may simply marvel at the complexity of Galen’s system. Therein lies, perhaps, the greatest strength of Lewis’ essay: her discussion of the pulse connects the theoretical system with its implementation as a practical diagnostic tool in a way that clarifies what often seems a very opaque aspect of Galenic medicine, especially in the abstract.

In Part III (Galen’s Legacy), Peter E. Pormann provides an insightful explanation of both the history and process of translation of Galenic texts into semitic languages in his (chapter 22) “Translation into Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew.” The fact that many of Galen’s works were translated into Syriac and Arabic and that some survive only in those languages is well known and commonly noted in discussions of Galen’s oeuvre. Pormann’s piece focuses less on the history of the translations (though that is by no means neglected) and aims instead to explore the method of translation (such as literalness of translations (518), the rendering of Greek technical terms (525), and questions about the use of Greek-Syriac-Arabic glossaries (525)). Pormann leaves the reader with an appreciation both of the translators’ skill (especially in the ninth-century workshop of Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq) and of the intellectual contributions that accompanied translations of Galen in the Islamic world.

Though space allows me to comment on only a few of the volume’s contributions, suffice it to say that the quality of the work is consistently high throughout. Its scholarly essays are uniformly accessible and it bears mentioning that small but significant formatting decisions, such as footnotes over endnotes and individual bibliographies to accompany each essay, make the OHG particularly user-friendly for research-minded readers. In short, the OHG is not only the best entry point for scholars interested in Galen but also a useful reference work for active Galenic scholars, a most welcome collection that promises to be a valuable tool for years to come. Its scope is expansive, its content, erudite, and its presentation, clear.

 

Authors and Titles

Part I. Medical and Intellectual Contexts

  1. Introduction by P.N. Singer
  2. Galen: Life and Works by Véronique Boudon-Millot
  3. Philosophy, Science, and Psychology: Galen’s Theory of “Soul” in Its Intellectual Context by P.N. Singer
  4. Galen, Rhetoric, and the Second Sophistic by Caroline Petit
  5. Galen’s Hippocratism by Sean Coughlin
  6. Galen and Hellenistic Medicine by David Leith
  7. Galen on Women: Gynecology and Female Patients by Rebecca Fleming
  8. Galen’s Pharmacology in Context by Julie Laskaris
  9. Galenus Chirurgus: Galen as Surgeon by Lawrence J. Bliquez

Part II. Topics and Works

  1. Galen on Logic and Scientific Method by Matyáš Havrda
  2. Anatomy and Physiology by Luis Alejandro Salas
  3. Physical and Causal Concepts by R.J. Hankinson
  4. Pharmacology: Texts, Theories, and Practices by P.N. Singer, Matteo Martelli, and Lucia Raggetti
  5. Pathology by Julien Devinant
  6. Galen’s Clinical Practice by Susan Mattern
  7. Galen on Food, Diet, and the Healthy Life by John Wilkins
  8. Galen on the Pulse: Theory and Method by Orly Lewis
  9. Galen on the Signs of Disease by Piero Tassinari
  10. Ethical Works by Ralph M. Rosen

Part III. Galen’s Legacy

  1. Galen in the Late Imperial and Early Byzantine Periods by Christine Salazar
  2. Galenism in Later Byzantium by Antoine Pietrobelli
  3. Translation into Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew by Peter E. Pormann
  4. Galen Beyond Baghdad by Aileen R. Das
  5. Galen’s Return to the West by Stefania Fortuna
  6. Galen in Renaissance and Early Modern Debates by Hiro Hirai
  7. Galenic Anatomy in the Long Renaissance by Vivian Nutton
  8. Galen’s Legacy in Jewish and Muslim Medical Traditions in Europe by Carmen Caballero-Navas
  9. Galenic Medicine in South Asia by Fabrizio Speziale
  10. Galen in Premodern Tibet and China: Impressions and Footprints by Dror Weil and Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim