4-6
On Mixtures 4-6 · A book already written4-6A book already written
Galen points back to the work this one follows.
· · ·
δὲ1
dè
And
πρὸς2
pròs
—
ἡμῶν3
hēmôn
Ius
καὶ4
kaì
too
εἴρηται5
eírētai
have said
τὰ6
tà
what
εἰκότα7
eikóta
is reasonablelikely
ὑπὲρ8
hypèr
about
αὐτῶν9
autôn
them
δι’10
di’
inthrough
ἑτέρου11
hetérou
another
γράμματος12
grámmatos
bookwriting
, the one
ἐν13
en
in
ᾦ14
ôi
which
ἐσκοπούμεθα15
eskopoúmetha
I looked intowe examined
περὶ16
perì
—
τῶν17
tôn
the
στοιχείων18
stoicheíōn
elements
καθ’19
kath’
according to
Ἱπποκράτην20
Hippokrátēn
Hippocrates
. 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.
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.
Interpretation
I too have said what is reasonable about them in another book, the one in which I looked into the elements according to Hippocrates.
The other book survives: On the Elements according to Hippocrates. There Galen argued that the body is built, through the four humours, from the four elements, and he credited the idea to Hippocrates. This book is its sequel.
Greek authors often say "we" for "I," as here: pros hēmōn, "by us," and eskopoumetha, "we were looking into." The English uses "I." Helmreich’s text prints the relative pronoun as ᾦ; it is the ordinary word "which."
7-10
On Mixtures 7-10 · What this book will do7-10What this book will do
The plan: find every kind of mixture, and start with the words.
· · ·
But now, which is next after that book, in this book I will go through how to find out all the differences of the mixtures: how many there are and of what sort, dividing them by species and kinds, making my start with the explanation of the names.