He ̄liodo ̄ros of Alexandria (Astron.) (475 – 510 CE)
Born ca 445 CE to Hermeias and Aide ̄sia, a close relative of S. After Hermeias
died, Aide ̄sia took He ̄liodo ̄ros and his older brother A to Athens for study with
P. He ̄liodo ̄ros proved to be the less talented and studious of the brothers, according
to D. While in Athens, he observed the Moon occulting Venus (475 CE). The
brothers returned to Alexandria in 485 CE. He ̄liodo ̄ros cast horoscopes in 492– 493 CE,
preserved in the commentary on P A attributed to him (§16, 22;
cf. Boer and Pingree pp. 149–150), which may include other He ̄liodo ̄ran material. In
Alexandria, he observed the Moon occulting Saturn (503 CE, with Ammo ̄nios) or a star
(509 CE), and conjunctions of Jupiter with Mars (498, 509 CE), Venus (510 CE), or a star
(508 CE), probably observational attempts to confirm their relative geocentric distances.
Ed.: A. Boer and D.E. Pingree, Heliodori ut dicitur in Paulum Alexandrinum commentarium (1962);
A. Jones, “Ptolemy’s Canobic Inscription and Heliodorus’ Observation Reports,” SCIAMVS 6 (2005)
53 – 97.
Neugebauer (1975) 1038–1041; DPA 3 (2000) 534–535, H.D. Saffrey.
PTKHe ̄liodo ̄ros of Alexandria (Pneum.) (70 – 110 CE)
Greek surgeon supposedly from Egypt (Alexandria), perhaps practiced in Rome and
contemporary with Juvenal who accused him of castrations (Sat. 6.370–373). His Pneu-
maticist leanings suggest the given date-range (contrary to scholarly opinion making him
Hellenistic). L A may have influenced him, and H may
have been his pupil; moreover, he may have influenced A.
He ̄liodo ̄ros wrote four works. His treatise on surgery (Kheirourgoumeno ̄n Hupomne ̄ma),
probably in five books (not 11, per the scholia ad O, Coll. med., 44.11.4), with
interventions arranged a capite ad calcem, demonstrates a search for safe procedures. The
work survives in fragments in one papyrus and in extracts in Oreibasios. He also wrote On
Luxations (Peri Olisthe ̄mato ̄n), On Joints (Peri Arthro ̄n), and On Bandages (Peri Edesmato ̄n), all lost.
Several small tracts in Greek (Diels 2 [1907] 41–42) or Latin (BTML pp. 93–94) have
been attributed to He ̄liodo ̄ros, including the Cirurgia Eliodori, the translation of an Hellenistic
questionnaire (Marganne 1986). Recent scholars have credited He ̄liodo ̄ros with some
papyrus texts (Marganne 1981 and Andorlini Marcone 1993), sometimes on the basis of
nothing more than his reputation as a surgeon from antiquity to the Renaissance (Fausti;
Marganne 1994: 139, 164–165).
Wellmann (1895) 14–19; RE 8.1 (1912) 41–42 (#18), H. Gossen; Drachmann (1963) 171–172,
183 – 184; Kudlien (1968) 1099–1100; Michler (1968) 7, 104, 106, 130, 148, 151; KP 2.998 (#8),
F. Kudlien; Marganne (1981) #75, 77, 87, 103, 153, 168; D. Manetti, “P.Coln. inv. 339,” in A.
Carile, Die Papyri der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München (1986) 19–25; M.-H. Marganne, “La Cirurgia
Eliodori et le P. Genève inv. 111,” in Études de Lettres (1986) 65–73; Eadem, “Le chirurgien Héliodore.
Tradition directe et indirecte,” in Sabbah (1988) 107–111; D. Fausti, “P. Strasb. inv. gr. 1187,” in
Annali della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia di Siena 10 (1989) 157–169; M.-H. Marganne, “Un témoignage
unique sur l’incontinence intestinale: P. Monac. 2.23,” in D. Gourevitch, ed., Maladie et maladies,
histoire et conceptualisation (Mélanges Grmek) (1992) 109–121; Andorlini Marcone (1993) #9, 54, 57, 70,
75, 98; OCD3 675 – 676, V. Nutton; Marganne (1998) passim; BNP 6 (2005) 71–72 (#5), Alain
Touwaide.
Alain Touwaide
HE ̄LIODO ̄ROS OF ALEXANDRIA (PNEUM.)