Glosse mediche (embriologiche) nel Lessico di Esichio: una ricognizione

Abstract

The Lexikon by Hesychius from Alexandreia (V-VI century) is one of the most important lexicographical works in Ancient Greek. It contains an encyclopedic amount of glossematic terms (lexeis) from several kinds of literary sources – epic, lyric and dramatic poetry, rhetoric, historiography, paremiography, neo and veterotestamentary tradition, and so on. Although medical glosses – in particular Hippocratic – are significantly present in the Lexikon, they have not been systematically investigated so far. After presenting a brief story of the more recent studies on the textual tradition and the edition of the Hesychius’ work, this paper aims to offer a thorough investigation of some Hesychian glosses with medical (embryological) content which have been traditionally attributed to Hippocratic texts, in particular to the embryological treatise “On the Nature of the Child” (de natura pueri). Through the detailed textual confrontation between Hesychius’ work and other (both lexicographical and literary) sources it emerges how difficult it is to precisely identify the original locus of every glossematic term, for Hesychius’ work is the result of a complex and stratified lexicographical tradition taking into account several cultural, literary and linguistic interests and aspects. From this point of view, this paper aims to lay the foundation for more systematic investigation on some groups of medical glosses from the Hesychius’ Lexikon, selected on the basis of their content or pertaining to specific Hippocratic texts.