Zopyros (medic)

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Zopyros ( Greek  Ζώπυρος Zṓpyros ) lived as a doctor around 100 BC. In Alexandria and is mentioned in numerous sources. He dealt with surgery, but his afterlife is based on his pharmacological work. His recipes, especially the antidote that he Mithridates VI. Eupator announced were passed on for centuries later.

Life, work, aftermath

The life and work of Zopyros are only known through mentions from other authors. Apollonios of Kition (1st century BC) honors him as the teacher from Alexandria, from whom he was instructed in surgery. However, the prescriptions that identify him as a pharmacologist have been handed down . Presumably he belonged to the empirical school .

Celsus (approx. 25 BC - 50 AD) narrates an antidote in his book De Medicina , which is called ambrosia and which Zopyros put together for "King Ptolemy" (regi Ptolemaeo) . Scribonius Largus (1st century AD) knows about an antidote of Zopyros, but cannot state it: Antidotos ξωπύριος, Deest . Pliny the Elder (23-79) knows a pharmaceutical plant zopyrontion , which significantly helps against snakebites. Galen of Pergamon (129-216) mentions Zopyros several times in his work De Antidotis . He not only gives the recipe and the indication, but also passes on an interesting story: Zopyros reported the recipe to Mithridates (probably Mithridates VI. Eupator) and asked him to test the effectiveness by means of an experiment with a convicted criminal. The test subject survived. So Zopyros was famous as the correspondent of two important rulers. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, Oreibasios and Marcellus Empiricus added his recipes to their collections. At the beginning of the 5th century, Caelius Aurelianus mentioned him in his work Celerum Passionum Libri III .

Antidote in Zopyros

Two detailed antidote recipes from Zopyros have come down to us. Antidote is a remedy against poison and snakebite, but is also prescribed for pain in the bowels, heartburn, bladder problems, expelling dead body flesh, etc. The ambrosia handed down by Celsus consists of nine ingredients. These are aromatic herbal substances that are not particularly effective according to today's understanding, such as pepper, saffron ( Latin croci Cilici , Greek  Χρόχος ), cinnamon ( Latin cinnamomum , Greek  Χιννάμωμον ), myrrh . Galen lists the same plants and a few more, including parsley. The remedies were crushed and boiled in honey or wine.

Source editions

  • Apollonius of Kitium: Illustrated commentary on the Hippocratic script ΠΕΡΙ ΑΡΘΡΩΝ. Edited by Hermann Schöne . Teubner, Leipzig 1896.
  • C. Plinius Secundus the Elder: Natural History , Book XXIV. Edited and translated by Roderich König in collaboration with Joachim Hopp, Darmstadt.
  • Scribonius Largus: Compositiones. Edited by Sergio Sconocchia. Leipzig 1983.
  • Caelius Aurelianus: Acute Diseases , edited by Gerhard Bendz, Berlin 1990.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Apollonios von Kition, commentary on Περὶ ἄρθρων , pp. 1.16 ff.
  2. ↑ a b c Celsus: De Medicina. Edited by Walter George Spencer. London 1960. 5, 23 ( English translation ).
  3. ^ Scribonius Largus, Compositiones , CLXIX
  4. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 24, 137 .
  5. ↑ Lutz Winkler: Galen's text "De Antidotis" , 14.150.
  6. ^ Caelius Aurelianus, Acute Diseases , Book III, 47.
  7. ↑ Lutz Winkler: Galen's text "De Antidotis" , 14.150.
personal data
SURNAME Zopyros
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Medic of antiquity
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC BC or 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 1st century BC Chr.