Simata

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Simata grece pustule ut in translatione greca afforismorum.


Apparatus:

Simata | Simatica B
translatione | translac͞one (-co͡e f) ef
afforismorum AC | aforissmorum (-ismorum j) B j | aff'orum ms. e | a͡ph'orum fp


Translation:

Simata is Greek for Latin pustule {"pustules"} as used in the Latin translation of the {Hippocratic} Aphorisms from Greek.


Commentary:

Simata:
This entry's headword is the result of an early copying error, where 'f' was misread as 'ſ' = "long s", i.e. *fimata was read as *ſimata. The fact that this lemma is listed under the letter "S" clearly proves that its must have occurred very early on. The expected original headword *Fimata is confirmed in the Greek source texts, where in 4 out of 5 occurrences the term φύματα /phýmata/ - itacist /fímata/ - is used.

In the Ravennatic translation - edited by Inge Müller-Rohlfsen - of the Hippocratic Aphorisms, which Simon was probably consulting, the use of the word pustulae occurs 5 times, i.e.

- on pp. 16f. in Aphorism 2,15: Ubi fauces aegrotant aut pustulae in corpore nascuntur, … - "When the throat is feeling ill or pustule grow on the body, etc.
W.H.S. Jones, the editor of the Greek original, Hippocrates, ed. Jones (1923-95: IV.113), ΑΦΟΡΙΣΜΟΙ /APHORISMOI/, translates φύματα /phýmata/ as "tumours", but in an annotation he says: "Possibly φύματα {/phýmata/} here means 'eruptions'." (N.b. The Greek original text can in all quotes be found op.cit. on the left facing page, e.g. here (1923-95: IV.112)

- Also Aphorism 3,20, ed. Jones (1923-95: IV.35) in: which deals with the diseases of spring. Among a host of afflictions that can befall humans one finds: … et pustulae et artreticae - "and pustule and arthritic problems". Jones (1923-95: IV.129) translates: "tumours and affections of the joints".

- On (1923-95: IV.37f) Aphorism 3,26 is dealing with older persons' sicknesses. Among those can be: … scrofae et aliae pustulae - "scrofula and other pustule". Cf. Jones op.cit. p. 133, translates: "tumours generally"

- And (1923-95: IV.62); Aphorism 4,82 Quibus in veretro pustulae nascuntur, "In cases where pustule grow in the genitals", etc. Cf. Jones (1923-95: IV.157): "When tumours form in the urethra".

So far, as Simon rightly states, the Greek term φύματα /phýmata/ is used in the original Greek, but in the last aphorism where pustule occurs in the translation, i.e. p. (1923-95: IV.88), Aphorism 6,9: Latae pustulae non valde pruriginosae - "Broad pustule are not very itchy", the Greek text uses ἐξανθήματα /exanthḗmata/. Jones op.cit. (1923-95: IV.183) translates: "Broad exanthemata {annotation, see below} are not very irritating". Jones annotates: "It is not known what exanthemata are meant; probably the pustules of scabies.

The term the Ravennatic translator(s) chose does not match the meaning of the original too well: Latin pustula, plural pustule, means (upon the skin) "blister, pimple, pustule; bubble" (Lewis & Short, 1879), whereas Greek φῦμα /phŷma/, plural: φύματα /phýmata/, means "growth; that which grows, frequently of diseased growths: tumour, tubercle" (LSJ). As Jones's translation shows, Latin tumor would have been more appropriate.

Pustula is however a better match for the Greek term used in Aphorism 6,9, i.e. ἐξάνθημα /exánthema "efflorescence, eruption, pustule" (LSJ).

WilfGunther 14:15, 3 August 2014 (BST)

See also: Exanthimata


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