Prolegomena to a New Edition of Galen's De Sectis

Abstract

This article tries to show, why we need a new edition of Galen's De sectis. It is argued that G. Helmreich's Scripta-Minora-edition, which is usually used in current research, is deficient mainly in two aspects: Firstly, there are three branches which form the basis for the transmission of De sectis: the Greek codices, the old Latin translation (6th century) and the medieval Arabic translation (9th century). Helmreich, however, has only taken into account only the Greek tradition. Secondly, Helmreich has not used all the Greek manuscripts which were known to him. Furthermore, he has dealt with these codices very arbitrarily in several instances.