Heraclas

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Heraklas (Greek Ἡρακλᾶς) was a Greek physician of the 1st century AD. He is the only ancient author from whom writings on surgical knots have survived.

The late antique medicine writer Oreibasios took up his work in book 48 of his medical collections under the chapter From Heraklas . The treatise details 16 knots of surgical and orthopedic use, including the oldest known written description of a thread game . Seven of these knots are still in medical use today and four were recently rediscovered.

node

Thread game The Sun Clouded Over
SUBSCRIPTION # 1141

Heraclas's writing is preserved in four manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The illustrations contained therein come from the copyists of the Renaissance. However, modern nodal analyzes show that many of the early interpretations contain significant errors. Today's understanding of Heraklas' knot is mainly based on the analyzes of Hjalmar Öhrwall , Lawrence G. Miller and Cyrus Lawrence Day.

chapter Greek name translation node
I. ἐρτός βρόχος threaded noose Anchor stitch
II ναυτικός βρόχος nautical sling Loom line
III χιεστός βρόχος crossed noose Slipstek
IV βουκολικὸς βρόχος / σανδάλιος βροχός rural noose / sandal noose -
V δράκοντος βρόχος Dragon snare -
VI ἁπλοῦν ἅμμα βρόχος simple knot loop -
VII λύκος βρόχος Wolf snare Square knot
VIII Ἡρακλεωτικὸν ἅμμα Heracles knot Hercules knot
IX ἁπλοῦς καρχήσιος βρόχος simple jug loop SUBSCRIPTION # 1038
X-XII διπλοῦς καρχήσιος βρόχος double jug loop Boatswain's mate knot
XIII τετράκυκλος πλίνθιος βρόχος four-loop rectangular loop Thread game The Sun Clouded Over
XIV ἐπαγκυλωτὸς βρόχος knotted noose SUBSCRIPTION # 1141
XV ὦτων βρόχος Ear loop -
XVI διάγκυλος βρόχος double loop loop -
XVII ἄγχων βρόχος Choke loop SUBSCRIPTION # 1038
XVIII ὑπερβατός βρόχος exchanged noose Loom line

expenditure

  • Ulco Cats Bussemaker, Charles Daremberg (Ed.): Œuvres d'Oribase. Volume 4, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris 1862, pp. 253-270 ( digitized version) (edition with French translation).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b J. Joris Hage: Heraklas on knots: sixteen surgical nooses and knots from the first century AD In: World Journal of Surgery . No. 32 , 2008, doi : 10.1007 / s00268-007-9359-x , PMID 18224483 ( preview , images ).
  2. ↑ Lawrence G. Miller: The Earliest (?) Description of a String Figure . In: American Anthropologist . 1945, p. 461–462 , doi : 10.1525 / aa.1945.47.3.02a00190 ( full text [PDF]).
  3. ↑ Cyrus Lawrence Day: Quipus and Witches' Knots . The University of Kansas Press, 1967, pp. 86–89 ( preview [accessed March 23, 2020]).
  4. ^ Judy McKinty: String Games in Australia . In: Antipodean Traditions: Australian Folklore in the 21st Century . 2011 ( full text [accessed March 24, 2020]).
personal data
SURNAME Heraclas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἡρακλᾶς (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION greek doctor (ancient)
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC BC or 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 1st century or 2nd century