Work

And to end on a poetic note: Galen’s authorial strategies in the pharmacological books

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines the authorial strategies deployed by Galen in his two main pharmacological treatises devoted to compound remedies: Composition of Medicines according to Types and Composition of Medicines according to Places. Some of Galen's methods of self assertion (use of the first person; writing of prefaces) are conventional. Others have not received much attention from scholars. Thus, here, I examine Galen's borrowing of his sources' 'I'; his use of the phrase 'in these words'; and his recourse to Damocrates' verse to conclude pharmacological books. I argue that Galen's authorial persona is very different from that of the modern author as defined by Roland Barthes. Galen imitates and impersonates his pharmacological sources. This re-enactment becomes a way to gain experience (peira) of remedies and guarantees their efficacy.

Source: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A

DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2011.12.019

Author: Laurence M.V. Totelin

Institution: Cardiff University

Language: English

Topic: History of Medicine Studies

Subfield: History

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,930

Funder: Wellcome Trust