CC BY
20
UDK 611.01
van Zwieten KJa, Schmidt KPa, Zubova IA b, Varzin SA b,c, Zinkovsky AV, Piskun OEb
SOME BYZANTINE / GREEK INFLUENCES ON THE EARLY WORK OF THE
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ANATOMIST ANDREAS VESALIUS (1514-1564)9
a Functional Morphology, Department of Anatomy, University of Hasselt, BioMedical
Research Institute, Diepenbeek, Belgium b Department of Biomechanics and Health Sciences, Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University, Saint Petersburg, Russia c Medical Fakulty, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Introduction
500 years after the birth of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) it is appropriate to commemorate thisfirst modern anatomist, doctor, scholar, and author. Differentfrom other Vesalius-commemorations, however, welike toexamine what - until the 16th century -happenedto the knowledge ofanatomy as described byGalen(130-210)[1] whose apparent"faults"were so effectively corrected by Vesalius. Historical developments. Over the centuries,citizens of the Roman empireslowly but surely facedsome changing attitudes towards the healthy human body. As advised by the influential bishopAugustine (354-430 CE), conscientiouspeople should avoid to belured into hedonism andits inherent bodily pleasures.Awareness of unwanted -especially visual - information,e.g.,about the inner side of the living human body, wasdiscouraged as well[2]. A disinterest in physical well-being was propagated, also characterized as "disdain forthe flesh". Bodily asceticism - not to mention anorexia -in perseverant believers,someof whom became sanctifiedlater, was considered highly - also literally - as the long-standing veneration of the so-called Stylites illustrates [3]. During a certain period of time, until about 850 CE,even the imagingof human bodiesbecame problematic, at least for avid Byzantineso-called iconoclasts [4]. The fate of classical medical texts.Meanwhile in philosophy,(Platonic) reasoning gradually shifted towards (Aristotelian) empiricism.In medicine from about the 9th
9 Некое византийское / греческое влияние на ранние работы анатома Андреа Везалиус (1514 - 1564)
century CE,the influential, pre-eminently empiricalmedical writings as formulated by the prominent physician and philosopher of Greek descentGalen (130-210 CE) were passed down in translations, more specifically those fromthe original Greek into Arabic [5]."Galen started medical training with dissection, and went on to study physiology and the movements of human body, andthen he came to an end with the subject of diagnosis" [5].However, some Arabic summaries of Galen's books,somewhat underemphasized the necessity of personally performing dissections [5]. Moreover, Galen's comparative-anatomical, surgical and empirical background,deeply rooted in the typical Roman gladiator- andwar-surgery [1], becamegradually forgotten. The need for empiricism, however,continued to be supported bymany scholars, e.g., the authoritativelranianphysicianand writer Rhazes(854-935 CE) [6].
Knowledge oforiginal Greek texts. In the next century, the so-called schism (1054 CE)between East and West meant the start of an ongoing separation between the interpretation oforiginal Eastern European (Greek or Byzantine) science and the slowly progressing Western European (Medieval) science. Some argue "that this schism was catastrophic to both East and West; that the mystical and monastic sensibility of the East was, for the most part, lost to the West; the emphasis on Reason, and the scholasticism that gave rise to Western science, was lost to the East" [7]. Examples of such differences between East and West canbe found in visual arts too. Illustrations, e.g., icons,show theso-called "Byzantine perspective",being brought to perfection, especially in the East [8].
The Renaissance. From the dawn of the Second Millennium CE,Western EuropeanMedieval Universitiescautiously applied twoapproaches: the Platonic reasoning and the Aristotelian empiricism. Concerning Galen's anatomy, Platonism implied: blindly followingthe author's Greektexts-be theyhanded down from Arabicsummaries, translated into elegant, Ciceronian Latin. From about the Duecento which precededRenaissance, many Western Universities advised theirMedical Faculties to arrange at least one public dissection - better: an anatomical demonstration - a year, showing the infallibilities of Galen's texts. During Renaissance however, arts (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519) and sciences (e.g., Andreas Vesalius,1514-1564) started to doubt the correctness of Galen's translated, summarized, and again translated anatomical descriptions.
Their drive wassincerely Aristotelian, in other words:havingdissectedpersonallythey eventuallycould identifymany differences with regard to Galen. Galen however, had extrapolated comparative vertebrate morphology to human anatomy. Consecutive
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translators, not familiar with themost intricate anatomical differencesby their own experiences, could have easily overlooked such details. Most academics were not aware of these and otherdifferences. It is accepted, however, that Vesalius in turn may have been greatly inspired by e.g. Rhazes [6]
Material& Methods
Simulation. Starting from the hypothesis that "a translation is, or may be, a corruption of the original", we simulated - anachronistically though - the possible fate of the originally Greek descriptions by Galen (2nd-3rd century CE). Control experiment. As a control experiment therefore, the original ancient Greek description of the well-known Christmas story from Luke's Gospel (1st century CE) [9], was translated automatically by means of Google Translate ®. Translation Test. Luke's original ancient Greek text was translated into Arabic, after which these now Arabic sentences were again translated - namely into Latin. For convenience, this Latin translation was finally translated into present-day English. Thereafter, this English text was carefully checked for its comprehensibility. This whole procedure was performed several times, andalso on different moments, namely during three consecutive days in September 2014.
Results
Rather to oursurprise, as a consequence oftranslation procedures, 40 % - 50 % of the original ancient Greek text had disappeared or was corrupted, orlost in translation. This apparently wasthe result of producing untranslatable and/or incomprehensible, and/or even inappropriate words - sometimes whole phrases.
Discussion
In spite of the surprising results of our translation test, theseare nevertheless in accordance with modern Translation Quality Assessment (TQA) Research [10]. Now with respect to Vesalius and his followers, it may be said that this attitude of "examineand verify everything yourself" - so essential fortoday's science -,started duringthe Renaissance indeed[6]. In view of severalother great,e.g., geographical discoveriesstarting inthe 15th and 16th century [11], Vesalius may be characterized as a pre-eminentRenaissance craftsman, observer, scholar and author. His life's anatomical work "De HumaniCorporisFabrica"(1543) describes, presents and shows man's internal geography in convincingly correct ways despite well-intentioned spiritual advices by authors such asAugustine [2].Furthermore, though Vesalius'
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"corrections" of Galenmay have come down to "correctinglong-standing errors in observation and translation", one still wonders which other elements contributed to the continuing success of his work.
We consider the following factors, some of which are also inherent to anatomy.
1. In the Middle Agesbutalso later, confirming evidence as well as canonization did play arole in curiosity about our inner body [12] [13].
2. The overwhelming images (woodcuts) of Vesalius'anatomical dissections resulted from the close collaboration between Vesalius as a physician and an anatomist, and a visual artist - most likely Jan Stephan van Calcar [14]. Some Western European rules of perspective-in-the-artshowever, were not fully respected in his anatomical illustrations [15]. Anatomically, 3-D representation is important even now, e.g., in anatomical modelling [16].
3. In words and images the "Fabrica"demonstrates, taking us "by the hand",disputing and arguing in academic style. Therefore,also didactically, our personal experience has convincedus that most of Vesalius' "take-home-messages" are surprisingly "lifelike" and vivid - not to say quasi-modern.
4. Around the start of the 16th century, Alessandro Benedetti (1450-1512) wasa professor of Anatomy and Surgeryat the University of Padua.Having "obtained his degree in Padua in 1475, he stayed for many years on the(Greek .^island of Crete, where he practiced medicine and, in 1490, beganto teach medicine in Padua" [17].His "Historiacorporishumanisiveanatomice" (1493)was mainly a compendium of descriptive anatomy" [17]. Thanks to thisGreek experience, Benedetti was one of the first doctors and anatomists competent to read, understand, and directly translate Galen from Greek - only a few decades before Vesalius. Figuring out thisGreek anatomical terminology was an enormous help. Most terms then appeared in Greek in Vesalius' early work "Tabulae Sex" (1538) [6].
5. Apart from his Greek terms, manyof whichbecame officialnames, Benedetti was also the first to proposeand to construct"temporaria" or"amphitheatres", to demonstrate and attend anatomical dissections. In the next centuries, most universities possessed a "theatrumanatomicum" [18].
Conclusion
The intention of Vesalius - possibly after Rhazes - to correct Galen's mistakes, may have been helped greatly by his initial contacts with the original Byzantine / Greek texts of Galen,translated by Benedetti during his medical practice on the island of Crete. It may also serve as an example of early East-West cooperation.
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7. Customer Discussions > Can the Schism of 1054 be bridged?, May 17, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2014 from Orthodox Christianity forum
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15. Bulbulian A (1961) Art in the Service of Anatomy. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 49, 2,178-186.
16. van Zwieten KJ, Lippens PL (2003) Some factors influencing 3-D modeling of the human finger. In : F. Schuind (Ed.) Brussels International Symposium Advances in Anatomy and Clinical Examination of the Hand and Wrist, March 28-29, 2003, Genval - Brussels, 48-48.
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Ключевые слова: анатомия, Везалиус, Гален, история медицины. Keywords : Anatomy, Vesalius, Galen, History of Medicine.
УДК 82-1
Котова Е.Л.
ВРАЧУЯ ДУШУ... (К 200-летию со дня рождения М.Ю. Лермонтова)10
ГБОУ СОШ №579, Санкт-Петербург, учитель русского языка и литературы
В октябре 2014 года мир отмечал 200-летие со дня рождения выдающегося русского поэта 19 в. М.Ю. Лермонтова. Юбилейные торжества привлекли внимание многих людей не только к личности поэта, но и к его творчеству, не потерявшему актуальности.
Так весьма современно звучат программные произведения поэта «Дума» и «Герой нашего времени», в которых автор выступает и обвинителем, и диагностом, и больным. Да, больным. «Печально я гляжу на наше поколенье...» [1] (курсив мой) - взгляд изнутри. «Дума» вся написана так. Это не привычный для Лермонтова ракурс. Мы, нас, наш - эти местоимения встречаем почти в каждой строфе знаменитого стихотворения.
«Врачу, исцелися сам!» - вот один из смыслов этих шедевров. Очевидно, создавая и образ Печорина, М.Ю.Лермонтов искал для самого себя лекарства от охлаждения души и безверия. Эта гипотеза не делает роман менее значимым
10 Kotova E.L., Healing Soul ... (To the 200 anniversary since the birth of M. Yu. Lermontov) / Secondary School 579, Saint Petersburg, Russia
