DFG Long-Term Project
„Galens Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms“
NEWSLETTER 10/2025
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– Aphorism of the Month –
„When during the seasons there is now heat, then cold on the same day, one must expect diseases to be autumnal.“
(III.4)
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Welcome to the first issue of our project newsletter Galen’s Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms!
Our research project Galen’s Commentary on Hippocratic Aphorisms celebrates its first anniversary! Over the past year, we have enjoyed many productive reading sessions in the colloquium, where close collaboration and lively discussion have enriched our work. To mark the occasion, we are pleased to launch our first newsletter—punctual for the anniversary—offering updates and insights from the project’s ongoing progress.
A special feature is our Aphorism of the Month: since February, we have been sharing a Hippocratic aphorism each month on our website and social media to emphasize their subtle humor. Occasionally, the chosen aphorism even resonates with themes discussed in the Colloquium. Take a look at our Aphorism Archive to browse the full collection!
If you would like to continue receiving this newsletter in the future, please subscribe to the HU mailing list by emailing sympa@lists.hu-berlin.de with the subject line: "subscribe gohaberlin.klassphil Firstname Lastname" (replace with your name) or write an e-mail to f.herklotz@hu-berlin.de
With warm regards,
The entire project team
Visiting Fellow
From April to September, Peter Pormann (University of Manchester) has joined our project as a Mercator Fellow at Humboldt-Universität, Berlin. His stay has provided valuable opportunities for exchange on questions of text transmission and interpretation in the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic traditions during our Colloquium sessions.
Link: www.klassphil.hu-berlin.de/en/aphorisms/team/pormann
Monday Colloquium (Summer Semester)
During the weekly Monday Colloquium, Raphaela Veit and Sara von Seggern presented their critical edition of Aphorism IV.1–2 in both Greek and Arabic. In addition, Andrea Calderaro and Sara von Seggern worked together on an edition of the Latin translation of the same passage by Burgundio of Pisa. This translation, which has not been edited before, represents an important independent witness for establishing the Greek text and will play a key role in our editorial work.
Link: www.klassphil.hu-berlin.de/en/aphorisms/activities/colloquium
Conference Presentation
On 4 July 2025, Oliver Overwien presented our project at the 4th Annual Meeting of the working group Marburger Gespräche zur Alten Heilkunde. His talk, entitled Galen’s Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms in the Greek and Arabic Traditions, introduced both the scope of our research and some preliminary results.
Link: www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb16/igphmmr/mgah/jahrestreffen
On 12 September 2025, Oliver Overwien, Raphaela Veit and Sara von Seggern organized a panel at the 35th Orientalistentag in Erlangen entitled Das Fortleben der antiken griechischen Medizin in der syrisch-arabischen Wissenschaftsliteratur that also featured a presentation of our project.
A short report of the event will follow in the next newsletter.
Link: www.dot2025.fau.de
Publications
Philip van der Eijk has presented the GOHA project in a recently published report on editions in preparation for the CMG: ‘Les projets d’édition des textes médicaux grecs pour le Corpus Medicorum Graecorum’, in: J. Jouanna, V. Boudon-Millot, A. Guardasole, N. Grimal (eds.), Histoire de la tradition et de l’édition des textes médicaux, Paris: Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, 2025, p. 97–102.
Philip van der Eijk has discussed the role of aphorisms and other literary genres in ancient medicine in a recent publication: ‘Geschichten, Aphorismen und andere Kunstformen in der antiken Medizin’, in: S. Willich (ed.), Kunst und Medizin, Berlin: Medizinisch-wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2025, p. 3–9.
He will also take part in a panel discussion in the Medical History Museum of the Charité on 24 November 2025, where the volume Kunst und Medizin will be presented.
Sara von Seggern has contributed a project report to the LGBB (= Latein und Griechisch in Berlin und Brandenburg). Designed to present our project Galen’s Commentary on Hippocratic Aphorisms to a wider community, the report introduces current research in Berlin and highlights the diverse possibilities within our disciplines for teachers in Berlin-Brandenburg.
Link: https://davbb.de/sammlung-ausgaben-lgbb/lgbb-2-2025-erschienen/
Summer School 2025
During the Summer School of the Humboldt Student Society for Classical Studies on 26-27 September 2025, we presented our project to high school students. They were introduced to manuscripts of Galen’s commentary and gained practical experience by editing a short aphorism themselves.
Link: www.klassphil.hu-berlin.de/de/schuelergesellschaft
Forthcoming Events and Activities
Monday Colloquium (Winter Semester)
Start: 20 October 2025, 10 a.m.
Location: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, room 3053
Organized by Philip van der Eijk
In this research colloquium, participants and guests present and discuss ongoing work on ancient medicine, philosophy, science and their reception. In addition, Greek and Latin medical texts that are currently in the process of being edited, translated and commented by members of the group are subjected to close reading and discussion. During the Wintersemester 2025, we will read sections from Galen's commentaries on some of the ‘Hippocratic' writings. The colloquium is open to BA and MA students interested in the subject, and they are encouraged to present their work in order to receive constructive feedback. Since work-in-progress and unpublished material will be circulated in advance of the colloquium, those who wish to take part are asked to contact Philip van der Eijk in advance; please send an e-mail to philip.van.der.eijk@hu-berlin.de
Link: www.klassphil.hu-berlin.de/en/avh-professur/events/kolloquium
Workshop: Galen as a Commentator
Date: 20–22 November 2025
Location: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Organized by Markus Asper and Peter Singer
This workshop is the first in a series of meetings and conferences that will accompany the edition of Galen’s Commentary on Hippocratic Aphorisms from a comparative and literary perspective. The aim of this first meeting is to give internationally renowned experts the opportunity to comment on Galen's work as a commentator. We welcome participants (please sign up under markus.asper@hu-berlin.de
Link: www.klassphil.hu-berlin.de/en/aphorisms/activities/events/galen-commentator
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DFG Long-Term Project „Galens Commentary on the Hippocratic Aphorisms“
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Project Website
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