Galen as representative of Greek paideia of the second sophistic era

Thanks to the extensive corpus of Galen's writings, which includes numerous autobiographical works and individual notes, we possess a wealth of information regarding his upbringing and education. According to a fami-ly tradition, he received a classical Greek education (known as paideia), which allowed him to transition from a provincial intellectual to one of the influential figures in Roman society and achieve the status of a court physi-cian. His brilliant command of language, extensive erudition, and active participation in the intellectual life of the Roman elite justify considering Galen as one of the authors of the so-called "Second Sophistic." This article scrutinizes Galen's various accounts of his mentors, early education, and scholastic experiences, with their veracity corroborated by contemporaneous testimonials. In addition to reading and scrutinizing the classical texts that formed the cornerstone of Greek paideia, Galen's education placed great emphasis on the study of exact sciences such as Euclidean geometry and arithmetic, which, together with Aristotle's logic, enabled Galen to adhere to the evidence-based method in medicine. An analysis of Galen's citation fre-quency of classical authors revealed that his foundational education was similar to other authors of his time, whereas the citation of medical authors is unparalleled in ancient literature. Unfortunately, we can only form a vague notion of his library since much of it was lost in a fire during Galen's lifetime in 192 AD. However, his collection of texts is a mix of various knowledge, rare writings, and quotes. Galen's interest in language and words, which confirmed his status as an intellectual, suggests his association with the "Second Sophistic" group. He wrote several works on ancient grammar, word usage, and rhetoric, criticiz-ing both extreme linguistic purism and loose interpretations of old-fashioned Attic language. This paints Galen not just as a doctor but also as a knowledgeable figure of his time

Ancient Greek · Art · Cicero · Citation · Elite · Linguistics · Literature · Paideia · Politics · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Classics · History · History of Medicine Studies · Law · Philosophy

• The Stylistic Expression of Irony in Galen’s Polemics

  Open Access•Irina Prolygina•Филология научные исследования•2025

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