GALEN ON HIS OWN BOOKS

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ON HIS OWN BOOKS ##

...those I have mentioned, it is clear that they possess neither the perfection of teaching nor detailed precision. This is because the recipients either did not need such detail or were not yet able to learn everything with exactness until they had gained a firm grasp original: "hexin," meaning a stable habit or acquired state of knowledge of the necessary fundamentals. Some authors before me wrote books of this kind and called them sketches original: "hypotypōseis", while others used titles such as introductions original: "eisagōgas", summaries original: "synopseis", or outlines original: "hyphēgēseis". I simply gave my notes to my students without any title at all. Because of this, when the books later reached a wider audience, different people gave them different titles. When some of these were eventually brought back to me for correction, I decided they should be titled "For Beginners" original: "tois eisagomenois". I will discuss these works first.

Chapter 1

I did not even keep copies of all these works. They had been dictated to young men just beginning their studies, or given to certain friends who had requested them. Later, when I arrived in Rome for the second time, as I have mentioned, some of these were brought to me.