Critical Edition books I to IV, Greek Version
Responsible: Maria Börno, Sara von Seggern, Gregor Vetterlein
Galen’s Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms can be considered one of his most influential works, which contributed significantly to the understanding and popularity of the Aphorisms. The value that was attributed to this commentary even well beyond antiquity is also attested by its translations into Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin.
Despite its significance, there is still neither a modern critical edition nor a translation of the entire commentary. While the critical edition of Book VI has already been published and editions of Books V and VII are currently being prepared, studies of the first four books of the commentary are still dependent on the 1829 ‚reading text‘ by the physician and medical historian Karl Gottlob Kühn which, in the end, is nothing more than a faulty copy of earlier editions, which in turn were produced only on the basis of a few corrupt manuscripts without having taken systematic account of the manuscript tradition.
Thus the Greek part of the project aims at producing the first ever critical edition of Books I to IV of Galen’s Commentary on the Aphorisms, which will take into account all surviving textual witnesses as well as its Latin translations and will be carried out in close cooperation with the Arabic part of the project. Maria Börno and Sara von Seggern will edit, translate and comment on Books I and IV, Gregor Vetterlein on Books II and III. At the end of the project, therefore, the entire commentary on the Aphorisms will be available in a critical edition with modern translation and commentary, creating a scientifically sound basis for further research on this work.