Galen enthroned among the great physicians, Dioscorides beside him. The Vienna Dioscorides, Constantinople, c. 512 (Austrian National Library, Cod. Med. gr. 1, f. 3v) · public domain
1-4
On Mixtures 1-4 · Hot, cold, wet and dry1-4Hot, cold, wet and dry
Galen opens without fuss. The doctrine he will build on is old and, he says, already proved.
· · ·
Ὅτι1
Hóti
That
τὰ2
tà
the
σώματα3
sṓmata
bodies
τῶν4
tôn
—
ζῴων5
zṓiōn
of animalsliving beings
κέκραται6
kékratai
are blendedhave been mixed
ἐκ7
ek
fromout of
θερμοῦ8
thermoû
the hotwarm
καὶ9
kaì
and
ψυχροῦ10
psychroû
the coldchill
καὶ11
kaì
and
ξηροῦ12
xēroû
the dry
καὶ13
kaì
and
ὑγροῦ14
hygroû
the wetmoist
, καὶ15
kaì
and
ὡς16
hōs
that
μοῖρα17
moîra
the shareportion
πάντων18
pántōn
of eachof all
quality
ἐν19
en
in
τῇ20
têi
the
κράσει21
krásei
mixtureblending
ἐστὶν22
estìn
is
οὐκ23
ouk
not
ἴση24
ísē
equal
, this
μὲν25
mèn
—
ἀποδέδεικται26
apodédeiktai
has been provedshown
ἱκανῶς27
hikanôs
fullysufficiently
ἀνδράσιν28
andrásin
by men
παλαιοῖς29
palaioîs
of oldancient
, τοῖς30
toîs
the
ἀρίστοις31
arístois
best
φιλοσόφων32
philosóphōn
of the philosophers
τε33
te
—
καὶ34
kaì
and
ἰατρῶν35
iatrôn
doctorsphysicians
. That the bodies of animals are blended from the hot and the cold and the dry and the wet, and that the share of each quality in the mixture is not equal, this has been proved fully by men of old, the best of the philosophers and doctors.
That the bodies of animals are blended from the hot and the cold and the dry and the wet, and that the share of each quality in the mixture is not equal, this has been proved fully by men of old, the best of the philosophers and doctors.
Interpretation
That the bodies of animals are blended from the hot and the cold, the dry and the wet, and that the four do not have an equal share in the mixture, has been fully proved by men of old, the best of the philosophers and doctors.
The four words in the first line are adjectives with the article understood: to thermon, "the hot," and so on. They are qualities, not substances, and the whole book is about how they are blended.
The verb is kekratai, "are blended," from the same root as krasis, "mixture." It is the word for mixing wine with water. The book’s Greek title is Peri kraseōn, On Mixtures; its Latin title, De temperamentis, is where our word temperament comes from.
Galen does not name the "men of old." He means the line of thinkers he admired most, the Hippocratic doctors above all, and he will say so in the next sentence.
4-6
On Mixtures 4-6 · A book already written4-6A book already written
Galen points back to the work this one follows.
· · ·
And I too have said what is reasonable about them in another book, the one in which I looked into the elements according to Hippocrates.