Diocles of Karystus

Diocles of Karystos , or Diocles for short (Greek ∆ιοκλῆς), also called Diocles Karystios , was an ancient Greek doctor from Karystos on Euboia. He lived in the 4th and maybe also in the 3rd century BC. Chr.

Diocles was born in Karystos, the son of the doctor Archidamos and a pupil of Aristotle . He is considered to be one of the most important representatives of medical science after Hippocrates. Living predominantly in Athens, he was given the honorary name "the second Hippocrates" (ὁ δεύτερος Ἱπποκράτης) by his fellow citizens (or by Pliny ). He was in contact with the Platonic Academy ; an affiliation to the Peripatos cannot be proven. He wrote the first manual of anatomy [anatomé (ἀνατομή)] and the oldest Greek herbal manual[Rhizotomikón (Ῥιζοτομικόν)]. Integrating attempts at a medical-philosophical systematics are recognizable, which can be regarded as forerunners of the botanical-phytotherapeutic writings of Krateuas and Pedanios Dioskurides . He also wrote a book on diet issues ( dietary rules for a healthy lifestyle) and a therapeutic book on pain, its causes and healing. The teachings of the Sicilian Medical School ( Philistion of Lokroi , see Plato's 2nd letter) undoubtedly influenced his research . The language of Diocles was Attic and clearly shows the influence of Attic philosophy. His main achievements are in the field of methodology ("method fragment") and dietetics, in the broader sense of body and soul. Diocles emphasizes the individuality of the patient and the by no means always the same effect of the same means and warns, as a representative of the empirical medical school (in contrast to the dogmatists, to whom he - as a doctor who theoretically expanded Hippocratic medicine - was also included ), before generalizations. He was undoubtedly an important "synthesizer" who sought a synthesis between hippocratism, Western Greek medicine [Empedocles, Alkmeon of Croton, Akron of Akragas] and Attic philosophy.

Diocles was a contemporary of the Praxagoras of Kos and, like him, carried out anatomical sections on people, in which he also made pathological findings. The systematic classifications of food and medicinal plants (including the use of synonyms) show connections to Mnesitheos (Μνησίθεος) from Athens and Plato. Diocles also worked in the field of surgery, especially war surgery.

Text editions and translations (selection)

• Philip van der Eijk (ed.): Diocles of Carystus. A collection of the fragments with translation and commentary. 2 volumes. Brill, Leiden 2000-2001, ISBN 90-04-12013-0
• Jutta Kollesch , Diethard Nickel : Ancient healing art - selected texts. Reclam, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 978-3-15-009305-4

Literature (selection)

Overview representations

• Max Wellmann : Diocles 53 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume V, 1, Stuttgart 1903, Col. 802-812.
• Jochen Althoff : Diocles of Karystos. In: Bernhard Zimmermann , Antonios Rengakos (Hrsg.): Handbook of the Greek literature of antiquity. Volume 2: The Literature of the Classical and Hellenistic Period. CH Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-61818-5 , p. 577 f.
• Richard Goulet : Dioclès de Carystos. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-271-05195-9 , pp. 772-774

Investigations

• Felix Heinimann : Diocles of Karystos and the prophylactic letter to King Antigonus. In: Museum Helveticum. Volume 12, 1955, p. 158 ff.
• Werner Jaeger : Diocles of Karystos. Greek medicine and the school of Aristotle. Berlin 1938; 2nd Edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 1963.
• Fridolf Kudlien : Problems with Diocles of Karystos. In: Sudhoff's archive for the history of medicine. Volume 47, 1963, p. 456 ff.

Web links

• Literature by and about Diocles von Karystos in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wolfgang Wegner: Diocles of Karystos. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 308.
2. ↑ Christina Becela-Deller: Ruta graveolens L. A medicinal plant in terms of art and cultural history. (Mathematical and natural science dissertation Würzburg 1994) Königshause & Neumann, Würzburg 1998 (= Würzburg medical historical research. Volume 65). ISBN 3-8260-1667-X , p. 30 f. and 153 f.
3. ↑ Jutta Kollesch , Diethard Nickel : Ancient healing art. Selected texts from the medical writings of the Greeks and Romans. Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1979 (= Reclams Universal Library. Volume 771); 6th edition ibid. 1989, ISBN 3-379-00411-1 , pp. 36 and 150-157.
4. ↑ Jutta Kollesch , Diethard Nickel : Ancient healing art. Selected texts from the medical writings of the Greeks and Romans. Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1979 (= Reclams Universal Library. Volume 771); 6th edition ibid 1989, ISBN 3-379-00411-1 , p. 8 f.
5. ↑ Cf. Max Wellmann (ed.): Fragments collection of the Greek doctors. Volume 1: The fragments of the Sicilian doctors Akron, Philistion and Diocles of Karystus. Weidmann, Berlin 1901.
6. ↑ Markwart Michler : Alexandrian surgery. In: Werner E. Gerabek et al. (Ed.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. 2005, pp. 32-38; here: p. 33 ^a .