Version 1
: Received: 30 April 2024 / Approved: 1 May 2024 / Online: 1 May 2024 (07:20:05 CEST)
How to cite:
La Greca, F.; De Caro, L.; Matricciani, E. The “Galenic Question”: A solution Based on Historical Sources and Mathematical Analysis of Texts. Preprints2024, 2024050047. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0047.v1
La Greca, F.; De Caro, L.; Matricciani, E. The “Galenic Question”: A solution Based on Historical Sources and Mathematical Analysis of Texts. Preprints 2024, 2024050047. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0047.v1
La Greca, F.; De Caro, L.; Matricciani, E. The “Galenic Question”: A solution Based on Historical Sources and Mathematical Analysis of Texts. Preprints2024, 2024050047. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0047.v1
APA Style
La Greca, F., De Caro, L., & Matricciani, E. (2024). The “Galenic Question”: A solution Based on Historical Sources and Mathematical Analysis of Texts. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0047.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
La Greca, F., Liberato De Caro and Emilio Matricciani. 2024 "The “Galenic Question”: A solution Based on Historical Sources and Mathematical Analysis of Texts" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0047.v1
Abstract
How many different writers authored the huge number of texts attributed to Galen of Pergamum (129~216 AD), medical doctor and philosopher, a giant in the history of medicine? To find out which texts were his and which ones were written by others is known as the “Galenic Question”. We propose a “solution” to it through a multidisciplinary approach based: (a) on historical research and (b) on a mathematical analysis of the Greek texts. The historical approach has considered historical independent sources and anachronisms. The mathematical approach has been based on a mathematical theory concerning deep–language variables, rarely consciously controlled by any author, therefore capable of giving indications on similarity of texts, with little or no bias. The multidisciplinary approach has convinced us that at least three authors wrote the texts attributed to Galen. The first two very likely were real historical persons: (a) a certain Galen living between the end of the I century BC and the second half of the I century AD; (b) the historical Galen of Pergamum (II–III centuries AD) and (c) several unknown authors hiding under the name Galen, but surely living after Galen of Pergamum’s death.
Keywords
classical Greek; deep–language variables; Galen of Pergamum; history of medicine; statistical analysis; linguistics
Subject
Arts and Humanities, History
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
