Galen was a Greek physician and philosopher who lived during the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. He was born in the city of Pergamon in 129 CE. After a broad education in philosophy, he studied medicine across the eastern Mediterranean, including at the famous center in Alexandria. He served as a doctor for gladiators in Pergamon before moving to Rome, where he became a celebrated physician and eventually served as a court doctor to several Roman emperors. He died in Rome around the year 216 CE, though the exact date is uncertain.
Galen was an exceptionally prolific writer who produced works on medicine, anatomy, and philosophy. He sought to create a unified medical system by combining the practical tradition of Hippocrates with ideas from philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. His major surviving works include detailed studies on anatomy, the functions of the body, and methods of treatment. A significant amount of his writing was lost over time, but much of what survives comes to us through later translations into Arabic and Latin.
According to modern scholars, Galen’s historical importance is immense. His synthesized theories, including the system of the four humors and a teleological view of the body’s design, became the foundation of medical science in Europe and the Islamic world for more than a thousand years. His anatomical descriptions, though based primarily on animal dissections and containing errors, were considered authoritative until the Renaissance. His vast body of work ensured his influence persisted through the Middle Ages and fundamentally shaped the history of medicine and biology.
Available Works
Συμβουλή πρὸς παιδὶ ἐπιληπτικῷ
Advice for an Epileptic Boy
22 passages
Κατὰ Λύκου
Against Lycus
50 passages
Κατὰ τῶν γράψαντων περὶ τύπων ἢ κύκλων
Against Those Who Wrote-Types or Circuits
36 passages
Κατὰ τῶν ὑπὸ Ἰουλιανοῦ περὶ Ἱπποκράτους
Against What Julian Said-Hippocrates' Aphorisms
54 passages
Ὑπομνήματα εἰς Ἱπποκράτους Ἐπιδημιῶν Ϛ'
Commentaries-Hippocrates Book VI of Epidemics
559 passages
Ὑπομνήματα εἰς Ἱπποκράτους Ἐπιδημιῶν Γ'
Commentaries-Hippocrates' Book III of Epidemics
295 passages
Ὑπομνήματα εἰς Ἱπποκράτους Προγνωστικὸν Α'
Commentaries-Hippocrates' Prognostic I
352 passages
Σχόλια εἰς τὰ ἀποσπάσματα τοῦ Πλάτωνος Τιμαίου
Commentaries-Plato's Timaeus Fragments
37 passages
Ὑπομνήματα εἰς τὰ τοῦ Πλάτωνος Τιμαίου ἀποσπάσματα
Commentaries-Plato's Timaeus Fragments
21 passages
Σχόλια εἰς Ἱπποκράτους ἢ Πολυβίου Περὶ ὑγιεινῆς
Commentary-Hippocrates or Polybius' Work-the Healthy Diet of Individuals
49 passages
Παραίνεσις πρὸς τὴν τῶν τεχνῶν μάθησιν
Exhortation to Learn the Arts
19 passages
Ἐξήγησις τῶν παλαιῶν λέξεων τοῦ Ἱπποκράτους
Explanation of Obsolete Words of Hippocrates
96 passages
Γαληνὸς περὶ δίαιτας ἀδυνατίζουσας
Galen
98 passages
Πῶς δεῖ τοὺς νοσοῦντας προσποιουμένους ἐλέγχειν
How Those Feigning Illnesses Should Be Detected
9 passages
Λογικὴ Διδασκαλία
Logical Instruction
118 passages
Ἰατρικὴ Τέχνη
Medical Art
107 passages
Περὶ τῶν τόπων τῶν πεπονθότων
On Affected Places
446 passages
Περὶ τῶν ἀνατομικῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων
On Anatomical Procedures
514 passages
Περὶ ἀντιδότων
On Antidotes
208 passages
Περὶ τῆς πτισάνης
On Barley Drink
16 passages
Περὶ μέλαινας χολῆς
On Black Bile
45 passages
Περὶ τῶν ὀστέων τοῖς νεοφύτοις
On Bones for Beginners
46 passages
Περὶ κρίσεων
On Crises
219 passages
Περὶ τῶν κρισίμων ἡμερῶν
On Critical Days
173 passages
Περὶ ἐθῶν
On Customs
25 passages
Περὶ διαγνώσεως καὶ θεραπείας ἑκάστου τῶν τοῦ
On Diagnosing and Treating Each Mind's Emotions
57 passages
Περὶ τῆς διαγνώσεως τῶν σφυγμῶν
On Diagnosing Pulses
194 passages
Περὶ τῆς διγνώσεως ἐξ ἐνυπνίων
On Diagnosis from Dreams
4 passages
Περὶ δυσπνοίας
On Difficulty of Breathing
208 passages
Περὶ τῆς μαντικῆς ἐκ τῶν σφυγμῶν
On Divination from Pulses
223 passages
Περὶ μαρασμοῦ
On Emaciation
39 passages
Περὶ πληρότητος
On Fullness
71 passages
Περὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἕξεως
On Good Condition
11 passages
Περὶ κόμης κατὰ Ἱπποκράτην
On Hair According to Hippocrates
14 passages
Περὶ Ἱπποκράτους Ἀφορισμῶν
On Hippocrates' Aphorisms
737 passages
Περὶ Ἱπποκράτους Ἐπιδημιῶν Α'
On Hippocrates' Epidemics I
292 passages
Περὶ Ἱπποκράτους Προγνωστικοῦ
On Hippocrates' Prognostic
316 passages
Περὶ Ἱπποκράτους περὶ καταγμάτων
On Hippocrates'-Fractures
311 passages
Περὶ Ἱπποκράτους περὶ ἄρθρων
On Hippocrates'-Joints
391 passages
Περὶ Ἱπποκράτους περὶ δίαιτας τῶν ὀξέων
On Hippocrates'-the Diet of the Acutely Ill
501 passages
Περὶ Ἱπποκράτους περὶ τοῦ ἰατροῦ ἐργαστηρίου
On Hippocrates'-the Doctor's Workshop
297 passages
Εἰς Ἱπποκράτους Περὶ φύσεως ἀνθρώπου
On Hippocrates'-the Nature of Man
173 passages
Περὶ τῶν ἰδίων βιβλίων
On His Own Books
40 passages
Περὶ βδελλῶν
On Leeches, Revulsion, Cupping, Incision and Scarification
6 passages
Περὶ τῆς ἰατρικῆς ἐμπειρίας
On Medical Experience
11 passages
Περὶ μελαγχολίας
On Melancholy
3 passages
Περί φυσικῶν δυνάμεων
On Natural Faculties
214 passages
Περὶ τῶν ἰδίων δογμάτων
On Personal Doctrines, Unpublished Fragments
7 passages
Περὶ τῆς ὑγιείας διατηρήσεως
On Preserving Health
455 passages
Περὶ προγνώσεως πρὸς Ἐπιγένη
On Prognosis to Epigenes
75 passages
Περὶ τῶν σφυγμῶν πρὸς νεοφύτους
On Pulses for Beginners
40 passages
Περὶ τῶν αἱρέσεων τοῖς εἰσαγομένοις
On Sects for Beginners
43 passages
Περὶ σπέρματος
On Seed
138 passages
Περὶ ἑπταμηνίας
On Seven-Month Birth
4 passages
Περὶ τῶν ἀφροδισίων
On Sexual Matters
3 passages
Περὶ σοφισμάτων ἢ λογικῶν παγίδων
On Sophisms or Verbal Fallacies
17 passages
Περὶ τῶν ὑλῶν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ χυμοῦ
On Substances of Good and Bad Juice
67 passages
Περὶ τῶν κράσεων
On Temperaments
186 passages
Περὶ τῆς ἀρίστης τοῦ σώματος κατασκευῆς
On the Best Constitution of Our Body
13 passages
Περὶ τῆς ἀρίστης διδασκαλίας
On the Best Doctrine
14 passages
Περὶ τῶν αἰτιῶν τῶν νόσων
On the Causes of Diseases
40 passages
Περὶ τῶν αἰτιῶν τῶν σφυγμῶν
On the Causes of Pulses
203 passages
Περὶ τῶν αἰτιῶν τῆς ἀναπνοῆς
On the Causes of Respiration
5 passages
Περὶ τῶν αἰτιῶν τῶν συμπτωμάτων
On the Causes of Symptoms
187 passages
Περὶ συνθέσεως φαρμάκων κατὰ τόπους βιβλία Ι
On the Composition of Drugs by Places
991 passages
Περὶ συνθέσεως φαρμάκων κατὰ γένη
On the Composition of Drugs by Types
697 passages
Περὶ τῆς κατασκευῆς τῆς ἰατρικῆς τέχνης πρὸς
On the Constitution of the Medical Art to Patrophilus
80 passages
Περὶ διαγνώσεως καὶ θεραπείας τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων
On the Diagnosis and Treatment of Any Soul's Sins
45 passages
Περὶ τῶν διαφορῶν τῶν νόσων
On the Differences of Diseases
45 passages
Περὶ τῶν διαφορῶν τῶν πυρετῶν
On the Differences of Fevers
131 passages
Περὶ τῶν διαφορῶν τῶν σφυγμῶν
On the Differences of Pulses
270 passages
Περὶ τῶν διαφορῶν τῶν συμπτωμάτων
On the Differences of Symptoms
43 passages
Περὶ τῆς τῶν μυῶν ἀνατομῆς πρὸς τοὺς νεοφύτους
On the Dissection of Muscles for Beginners
101 passages
Περὶ τῆς νεύρων τομῆς
On the Dissection of Nerves
25 passages
Περὶ τῆς μήτρας τομῆς
On the Dissection of the Uterus
22 passages
Περὶ τῆς φλεβῶν καὶ ἀρτηριῶν τομῆς
On the Dissection of Veins and Arteries
51 passages
Περὶ τῶν δογμάτων Ἱπποκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος
On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato
70 passages
Περὶ τῶν στοιχείων ἐξ Ἱπποκράτους
On the Elements from Hippocrates
95 passages
Περὶ τῆς μικρᾶς σφαίρας γυμνασίας
On the Exercise of the Small Ball
12 passages
Περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐμβρύων διαπλάσεως
On the Formation of Fetuses
50 passages
Περὶ τοῦ ὀργάνου τῆς ὀσμῆς
On the Instrument of Smell
76 passages
Περὶ τῆς μεθόδου θεραπείας
On the Method of Healing
1020 passages
Περὶ τῆς θεραπευτικῆς μεθόδου διὰ φλεβοτομίας
On the Method of Healing by Venesection
66 passages
Περὶ κινήσεως μυῶν
On the Movement of Muscles
97 passages
Περὶ τῆς τάξεως τῶν βιβλίων πρὸς Εὐγενιανόν
On the Order of His Books to Eugenianus
13 passages
Περὶ τῆς δυνάμεως τῶν καθαρτικῶν φαρμάκων
On the Power of Purgative Medicines
20 passages
Περὶ τῶν ἐν ταῖς τροφαῖς δυνάμεων
On the Powers in Foods
296 passages
Περὶ τοῦ ὤμου τοῖς τρόποις ἐκπεπτωκότος οὓς
On the Shoulder Dislocated in Ways Hippocrates Did Not See
77 passages
Περὶ τῆς οὐσίας τῶν φυσικῶν δυνάμεων
On the Substance of Natural Faculties
10 passages
Περὶ τῶν τῶν ἁπλῶν φαρμάκων κράσεων καὶ δυνάμεων
On the Temperaments and Powers of Simple Medicines I-VI
891 passages
Περὶ τῶν χρόνων τῶν νόσων
On the Times of Diseases
65 passages
Περὶ τῶν χρόνων τοῦ ὅλου νόσου
On the Times of the Whole Disease
43 passages
Περὶ χρείας τῶν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου σώματος μορίων
On the Use of Parts of the Human Body
1305 passages
Περὶ χρείας σφυγμῶν
On the Use of Pulses
32 passages
Περὶ τῆς ὠφελείας τῆς ἀναπνοῆς
On the Usefulness of Breathing
42 passages
Περὶ θηριακῆς πρὸς Πείσωνα
On Theriac to Piso
85 passages
Περὶ τρόμου
On Tremor, Palpitation, Convulsion and Rigidity
58 passages
Περὶ τῶν ὄγκων παρὰ φύσιν
On Tumors Contrary to Nature
28 passages
Περὶ τῶν τύπων
On Types
11 passages
Περὶ ἀνισοῦ ἀκρασίας
On Unequal Intemperance
20 passages
Περὶ φλεβοτομίας κατὰ Ἐρασιστρατείους Ῥώμῃ
On VenesectiErasistrateans Living in Rome
63 passages
Περὶ φλεβοτομίας κατὰ Ἐρασίστρατον
On VenesectiErasistratus
40 passages
Σύνοψις τῶν βιβλίων περὶ σφυγμῶν
Synopsis of His Books-Pulses
103 passages
Ὅτι τὰ ποιοῦντα ἀσώματα
That Qualities are Incorporeal
22 passages
Ὅτι ὁ ἄριστος ἰατρὸς καὶ φιλόσοφος ἐστίν
That the Best Doctor is Also a Philosopher
11 passages
Ὅτι οἱ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τρόποι τοῖς τοῦ σώματος
That the Mind's Morals Follow the Body's Temperaments
55 passages
Θρασύβουλος ἢ πότερον ἰατρικῇ ἢ γυμναστικῇ ὑγιεινή
Thrasybulus or Whether Hygiene Belongs to Medicine or Gymnastics
93 passages
Πρὸς Γλαύκωνα περὶ τῆς μεθόδου θεραπείας
To Glaucthe Method of Healing
146 passages
Εἰ ἐν ταῖς ἀρτηρίαις αἷμα περιέχεται
Whether Blood Is Contained In Arteries
34 passages
Ποιοὺς τίνι καθαρτικῷ καὶ πότε καθαίρειν δεῖ
Whom to Purge with Which Purgative Medicines and When
3 passages
Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia Entry (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Accessed: 2026-01-26
- IEP Entry (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Accessed: 2026-01-26
- Britannica Entry (Encyclopædia Britannica) Accessed: 2026-01-26
- World History Encyclopedia Entry (World History Encyclopedia) Accessed: 2026-01-26