§1## ΓΑΛΗΝΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΡ’ ΠΙΠΟΚΡΑΤΕΙ ΚΩΜΑΤΟΣ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΝ.
Τί ποτε σημαίνει τὸ τοῦ κώματος ὄνομα παρ’ Ἱπποκράτει;
GALEN'S BOOK ON THE COMA IN HIPPOCRATES. What on earth does the name of "coma" mean in Hippocrates?
πότερον τὴν εἰς ὕπνον καταφορὰν, ὥς τινες τῶν ἐξηγησαμένων ἔφασαν;
Is it the sinking into sleep, as some of the commentators have said?
ἢ ὕπνον αὐτόν;
Or sleep itself?
ἢ, καθάπερ ἄλλοι, τὴν ὑπνώδη καταφοράν;
Or, like others, the sleepy sinking?
καὶ γὰρ καὶ οὕτως ὠνόμασάν τινες ἐν συνθέτῳ προσηγορίᾳ τὴν ἐξήγησιν ποιησάμενοι.
For indeed some have named it thus, making their explanation in a compound appellation.
τινὲς δ’ οὐδὲν μὲν τούτων, τὴν ληθαργικὴν δὲ καταφορὰν κῶμα πρὸς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ὀνομάζεσθαί φασι.
And some say none of these, but that the lethargic sinking is called "coma" by the man.
παρὰ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων παλαιῶν οὐδὲ μία γένοιτ’ ἂν μεγάλη μαρτυρία· καὶ γὰρ εἰ καὶ μάλιστα καθ’. ἑτέρου πράγματος ἐκεῖνοι τοὔνομα φέρουσιν, οὐδὲν κωλύει τὸν Ἱπποκράτην διαφερόντως χρῆσθαι.
From the other ancients no great testimony would come; for even if they apply the name most of all to another matter, nothing prevents Hippocrates from using it differently.
αὐτίκα παρὰ τῷ ποιητῇ δόξειεν ἂν ὕπνον δηλοῦν τοὔνομα· Ἦ με μάλ’ αἰνοπαθῆ μαλακὸν περὶ κῶμ’ ἐκάλυψεν. καὶ
— — ἐπεὶ αὐτῷ ἐγὼ μαλακὸν περὶ κῶμα κάλυψα. ἀλλ’ οὐχ Ἱπποκράτης οὕτω φαίνεται χρώμενος, εἴγε καὶ μετὰ ἀγρυπνίας πολλάκις τὸ κῶμα γίγνεσθαί φησι καὶ φρενιτικοῖς συνεδρεύειν.
For instance, in the poet it would seem to signify sleep: "Indeed, a sweet coma covered me, who have suffered very terrible things." and"...since I covered him with a sweet coma." But Hippocrates does not appear to be using it in this way, if indeed he says that the coma often occurs with sleeplessness and is present with phrenetic patients.
ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν τοῦ προῤῥητικοῦ τάδε γράφει· οἱ κωματώδεες ἐν ἀρχῇσι γινόμενοι, μετὰ κεφαλῆς, ὀσφύος, ὑποχονδρίου, τραχήλου ὀδύνης, ἀγρυπνέοντες, ἆρά γε φρενιτικοί εἰσιν; ἐν δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ τῶν ἐπιδημιῶν (ἀπό τινων τῶν ὁμολογουμένων αὐτοῦ γνησίων βιβλίων λάβωμεν τὰς μαρτυρίας) ὧδέ πως φησιν· ἑνδεκάτῃ κατενόει, κωματώδης δὲ ἦν, οὖρα πολλὰ, λεπτὰ καὶ μέλανα, ἄγρυπνος. εἶτ’ ἐφεξῆς ταῦτά φησι· ταύτῃ τὰ τῶν οὔρων διὰ τέλεος ἦν μέλανα καὶ λεπτὰ καὶ ὑδατώδεα, καὶ κῶμα παρείπετο, ἀπόσιτος, ἄγρυπνος, ἄθυμος. ἐν πάσαις γὰρ ταῖς εἰρημέναις ῥήσεσιν ἀγρυπνίας καὶ κώματος φαίνεται μνημονεύων.
At the beginning of the Prorrhetic he writes as follows: "Those who become comatose in the beginnings, with pain of the head, loin, hypochondrium, neck, being sleepless, are they indeed phrenetic?" And in the third book of the Epidemics (let us take the testimonies from some of his agreed genuine books) he says somewhat as follows: "On the eleventh day he was rational, but he was comatose, urine much, thin and black, sleepless." Then next he says this: "In this woman the urine throughout was black and thin and watery, and coma accompanied, appetite-less, sleepless, dejected." For in all the mentioned passages he appears to be mentioning sleeplessness and coma.
ἕτερον δ’ ἄῤῥωστον αὖθις γράφων ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ βιβλίῳ φησί· τουτέῳ διὰ τέλεος, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἐγὼ οἶδα, κοιλίη ταραχώδης, οὖρα λεπτὰ μέλανα, κωματώδης, ἄγρυπνος. ὥστ’ ἄντικρυς εἶναι δῆλον, ὅτι μηδ’ ὕπνον, μηδὲ καταφορὰν παρ’ αὐτῷ δηλοῖ τὸ τοῦ κώματος ὄνομα.
Writing again of another sick person in the same book, he says: "In this man throughout, as far as I also know, the belly was troubled, urine thin and black, comatose, sleepless." So that it is outright clear that the name of coma signifies in him neither sleep nor sinking.
διὰ τοῦτο, οἶμαι, τινὲς τῶν ἐξηγητῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ κωμάζειν φασὶ τοὺς κωματώδεις ὠνομάσθαι· ἐγρηγορέναι μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοὺς κωμάζοντας, ἐγρηγορέναι δὲ καὶ τοὺς κωματώδεις.
For this reason, I think, some of the commentators say that the comatose are named from "comasing" (making revelry); for those who make revelry are awake, and those who are comatose are also awake.
καὶ νὴ Δία ὥσπερ οἱ κωμάζοντες οὐ πάνυ τι κατανεύουσιν, οὕτως οὐδὲ τοὺς κωματίζοντας, καὶ μάλιστα τοῖν ὀφθαλμοῖν.
And by Zeus, just as those who make revelry do not nod at all, so neither do those who are comatose, and especially in their two eyes.
ὑγρούς τε γὰρ εἶναι καὶ ἐρυθροὺς καὶ ἀστηρίκτους καὶ ἐνδεδυμένους· ἀλλὰ τὸ πᾶν ἀμφοτέροις σῶμα σφαλερὸν ἐν ταῖς κινήσεσι καὶ ἀκρατές·
For they are wet, red, unsteady, and sunken; but the whole body for both is unstable in movements and powerless.
αὐτὸν διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸν Ἱπποκράτην περὶ τῆς ὅλης συνδρομῆς ἀπορεῖν, εἴτε χρὴ φρενιτικοὺς αὐτοὺς ὀνομάζειν, εἴτ’ ἄλλο τι.
For this reason, Hippocrates himself is at a loss about the whole syndrome, whether he should name them phrenetic, or something else.
φρενιτικοὺς μὲν γὰρ εὐλαβεῖσθαι καλεῖν, μηδέπω παραπαίοντας· ἅπαντα δὲ ὁρῶντα συμπτώματα φρενιτικὰ, καὶ γὰρ κεφαλὴν, ὀσφὺν ὑποχόνδριον, καὶ τράχηλον ἀλγοῦντα, μήτε σφάλμα τι, μήτ’ ἄγνοιαν μηδεμίαν ὑποστέλλεσθαι.
For he is cautious to call them phrenetic, since they are not yet delirious; but seeing all the phrenetic symptoms, for indeed head, loin, hypochondrium, and neck are in pain, he does not conceal any error or ignorance.
ταῦθ’ ὡς μὲν οὐκ ἔχει πιθανῶς, οὐδεὶς ἀντείποι· οὐδὲ μὴν ἱκανῶς ἐμοὶ γοῦν, οὐδὲ μετ’ ἀποδείξεως εἰρῆσθαι δοκεῖ.
That these things do not hold plausibly, no one would gainsay; yet they do not seem to me at least to have been said sufficiently, nor with demonstration.
ἐχρῆν γὰρ ἐξ Ἱπποκράτους αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐξήγησιν ποιεῖσθαι τῆς λέξεως, ἵνα μὴ μόνον ὅτι πιθανῶς εἴρηται λέγειν ἔχωμεν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐκείνου γνώμην.
For it was necessary to make the explanation of the word from Hippocrates himself, so that we might have to say not only that it has been said plausibly, but also that it is according to his opinion.
οὐ γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι τοῦτο χρῆναι σκοπεῖσθαι μόνον τὸν ἀγαθὸν ἐξηγητὴν, εἰ πιθανῶς ἢ ἀληθῶς εἴρηκεν, ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ τῆς γνώμης ἔχεται τοῦ συγγραφέως, ὅπερ οὐκ ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν λόγῳ· καίτοι γε μέρος τι τῆς περὶ τοὔνομα γνώμης τοῦ παλαιοῦ δέδεικται διὰ τῶν ῥήσεων, ἐν αἷς ἀγρυπνίαν τὸ κῶμα γνοὺς ἐφαίνετο.
For I do not think a good commentator should consider this alone, whether he has spoken plausibly or truly, but also if he holds to the opinion of the author, which was not done in the previous discourse; although a certain part of the ancient's opinion about the name has been shown through the passages in which he appeared to recognize the coma as sleeplessness.
καί τις ἴσως ἔχειν ἤδη τὸ πᾶν δόξειεν ἂν, ἀλλ’ ἂν βραχὺ περιμείνας ἀκούσῃ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ βιβλίου τοῦ τρίτου τῶν ἐπιδημιῶν ῥήσεων ἑτέρων, οὐχ ὅπως τὸ πᾶν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ παντὸς ἑαυτὸν εὑρήσει γιγνώσκοντα.
And someone perhaps would seem already to have the whole, but if, waiting a little, he hears other passages from the same third book of the Epidemics, he will find himself knowing not only not the whole, but not even the half of the whole.