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Biography of GalenName: GalenBirth Date: 130 Death Date: 200 Place of Birth: Pergamon, Asia Minor Nationality: Greek Gender: Male Occupations: physician, anatomist, physiologist, philosopher, lexicographer Galen Galen (130-200), Greek physician, anatomist, physiologist, philosopher, and lexicographer, was probably the most influential physician of all time.Throughout his life Galen was a prolific writer, producing his first books, Three Commentaries on the Syllogistic Works of Chrysippus, at the age of 13 and his last, Introduction to Dialectics, in the year of his death. His total output has been estimated at more than 2 1/2 million words. Those of his writings which survive make up over half the extant works of ancient medicine.Various birth dates from 127 to 132 have been suggested, but 130 is generally accepted. Galen was born at Pergamon, Asia Minor, into a well-to-do family with strong scholarly traditions and influenced by the renaissance in Greek culture which had started at the end of the 1st century A.D. This renaissance had led to increasing Hellenization of the Roman world, the adoption of Greek models of learning, and the use of Greek …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…have avoided placing my name at the beginning of my books." On the other hand, he was pleased to record Marcus Aurelius's lavish praise that he was "the first of physicians and the only philosopher." Further Reading The translation by M. T. May, Galen: On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body (2 vols., 1968), contains an excellent introduction and an extensive bibliography. Other translations of his works are R. Walzer, Galen on Medical Experiences (1946); R.M. Green, A Translation of Galen's Hygiene (1951); A.J. Brock, Galen on the Natural Faculties (1952); C. Singer, Galen on Anatomical Procedures: The Later Books (1962); and P.W. Harkins and W. Riese, Galen on the Passions and Errors of the Soul (1964). A few selections can be read in M.R. Cohen and I.E. Drabkin, A Source Book in Greek Science (1948), and L. Clendening, Source Book of Medical History (1960). See also George Sarton, Galen of Pergamon (1954). |