Galen (Basel, 1537)

Translated from the Greek by Enrico Prodi, University College London (2022)

Poem in iambic trimeterson Galen’s Introduction, 
by Thrasybulus 
Gessner

If anyone wants to know the method of medicine,
All the principles, and the reality of the art,
The definitions of diseases and of all-healing remedies,
And concise distinctions, and the composition
Of the human body: come, swiftly let him buy
With small expense the book of the Introduction,
Be it by Galen or by some other medical specialist,
And carry with him the greatest treasures
That gently soothe and heal and bring deliverance.
Ever-flourishing Health, the beloved bliss-bringer,
The fair-cheeked joy-giver, the nourisher,
Is the art’s ageless gift to its initiates,
Alongside Strength and Soundness of body and Beauty of limbs.
Yes, these are the four virtues of the body,
And they align in kind with those of the soul.
Health is akin to Temperance:
They rule strictly over the matters that surround them.
Then Strength resembles Fortitude,
For they equally refuse to tremble before a formidable opponent.
A matching counterpart to Beauty is Justice,
In nature and in its fullest reality:
Wherever these are, there are also in attendance,
As if bound by oath, the other virtues too, each in its own kind.
Lastly, Prudence befits the man of sound body,
For they will not suffer twists nor turns.


THE END.

The first page of the Greek text transcribed by Elena Lu, Harvard (2024, see below for the page images):

Εἰς τὴν τοῦ Γαληνοῦ
εἰς ἀγωγὴν ἰαμβεῖον
τρίμετρον, θρασυβούλου τοῦ
γεασνήρου.

Εἰ τὶς ἰατρείας μέθοδον εἰδέναι θέλοι,
Τά τ᾽ἀξιώματα πάντα, καὶ τέχνης ὕπαρ
Νόσων τε, φαρμάκων τε πανακέων ὅρους,
Καὶ συντόμους διαιρέσεις, καὶ σύνθεσιν
Γυίων βροτείων, ἄγε ποδώκης τὴν βίβλον
Τῆς εἰσαγωγῆς, εἴτε Γαληνοῦ, ἤ τινὸς
ἄλλου ἰατροτέχνου, σῦν βραχεῖ νομίσματα 
ὤνησαιτο, κύδιστα φέρων κειμήλια,
θελκτήρια, παιώνια, λυτήρι᾽, ἥπια.
Ἄειθαλὴς ὑγεία, φερόλβιος, ἐρατὴ,
ἡ καλλιπάρηος, ἡ χαριδῶτις, εὐτραφὴς,
Μύσταισι τέχνης δῶρον ἐστ᾽ ἀγήρατον.
Ῥώμη τε, κἀρτιότης, μελῶν τε καλλόνη.
Αὖται γάρ εἰσὶ τέτορες ἀρεταὶ σώματος,
Εἰς ἓν δι᾽ ἄγονται τοῖς γένεσι τῶν ψυχικῶν.
Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ὑγεία σωφροσύνῃ παραβάλλεται,
Μέσων δὲ πραγμάτων κρατοῦσιν ἀκριβῶς.
Ἔπειτα ῥώμη ἐμφερὴς πρὸς ἀνδρίαν,
Ἴσως γὰρ οὐ τρέμουσι δεινὸν αὐτίον.

[<] Κάλλει [>]

Galenus. Medicorum Schola, Hoc est, Claudii Galeni Isagoge, sive Medicus. Basel: Thomas Platter the Elder and Balthasar Lasius, 1537, publisher mark a3r-v. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, signature 67.M.24.  Link: http://data.onb.ac.at/rep/105CE356

VD 16 entry:

Claudius Galenus. MEDICO||RVM SCHOLA,|| Hoc est,|| CLAVDII GALENI || Isagoge, siue Me-||dicus.|| EIVSDEM || DEFINITIONVM || Medicinalium || Liber.|| VTERQVE Graecè pariter & La=||tinè summo studio ac diligentia in artis || Medicae tyronum gratiam excusus, ... ||(Io.Guinterio Ander-||naco interprete.||). BASILEAE,|| M.D.XXXVII.||(PER THOMAM || PLATTERVM ET BALTHA||sarem Lasium, Mense Martio,||). Basel: Thomas Platter the Elder and Balthasar Lasius, 1537, publisher mark a3r-v.

#Medicine, #Baselpublisher, #Pseudonym