Une histoire trouble : l’adjectif μελάγχλωρος et sa transmission dans les textes médicaux grecs

Abstract

From Hippocratic texts and up to the Byzantine period, the adjective μελάγχλωρος, literally “black-green”, raised debates for its interpretation. Like many adjectives indicating a dichromy, its meaning is difficult to grasp in a precise manner and lends itself to different interpretations depending both on the type of text in which it is used and on the context. In addition to these difficulties of interpretation, there is an additional one concerning tradition : μελάγχλωρος has often been misinterpreted by copyists, to the point of being confused with other adjectival forms (mostly μελάγχρως, μελανίχροος, μελίχλωρος). My investigation is divided into two parts : the first one starts from the study of some references of this adjective in the Hippocratic corpus and the reading of it, independently, by Galen of Pergamon and Aretaeus of Cappadocia, authors who are connoisseurs and extremely faithful to the Hippocratic expression. The second part deals with the field of Galenic pharmacology, where the adjective seems to take on, at a certain point, precise indications concerning the classification of remedies. The study of the μελάγχλωρος κεφαλική, “black-green head plaster”, opens the field to the Byzantine posterity of Galenic pharmacological tradition.

Keywords

• Hippocrates
• Galen
• Aretaeus of Cappadocia
• compound adjectives
• dichromy
• ancient medicine