So ̄ranos of Ephesos (98 – 138 CE)
Prominent Methodist, ranked with H and G for astute contributions
to the practice of medicine, not simply to gynecology and obstetrics. His talents are
displayed in his extant Gynecology: with access at least to books on human anatomy in
Alexandria, So ̄ranos referred to H’ dissections of the aorta and vessels of the
liver (Gyn. 1.17[57].4 [CMG 4, p. 42) and uterus (Gyn. 4.36[85].2–3 [CMG 4, p. 148]).
So ̄ranos practiced in Alexandria (Gyn. 2.6[70b].4 [CMG 4, p. 55]) before migrating to
Rome to practice “pediatrics” (Gyn. 2.44[113].1–2 [CMG 4, p. 85]). The Souda (Sigma-851,
852) dates him to the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. C A, Acute 2.130
(CML 6.1.1, p. 220; Drabkin, pp. 218–219), says that in Rome he used phlebotomy to
treat pleurisy, and M E, 19.1 (CML 5.1, pp. 310–312), creates an
amusing garble from P 26.4 (Manilius Cornutus, legate in Aquitania), reflecting
So ̄ranos’ later fame.
In addition to the Gynecology, extant are (a) Signs of Fractures (CMG 4, pp. 153–158),
(b) Bandages ( pp. 159–171), and (c) a Life of Hippokrate ̄s ( pp. 173–178; Pinault 1992: 6–18;
FGrHist 1062 F2). The first two are probably surviving fragments of So ̄ranos’ Surgical Oper-
ations (Kheirourgoumena: cf. Gyn. 2.7[76].4 = CMG 4, p. 56). Most scholars now favor a mis-
taken attribution in the Hippokratic MSS as one of the biographies of Lives of Physicians
(Kind 1927: 1115–1116, titles of biographies; cf. Smith 1990: 49 with n. 2, 51 n. 1, and 53
n. 3; Temkin 1991: 52–57; Mansfeld 1994: 182–183 with n. 329; van der Eijk 1999:
401 – 402; but cf. Radicke in FGrHist 1062).
Known by title and fragmentary quotations are a dozen other lost writings demonstrating
So ̄ranos’ wide-ranging interests. (1) Four books On the Soul (Tert., De anima 6, ed. Waszink
[1947] 22–40; Polito 1994; van der Eijk 1999: 402–403). (2) Commentaries on Hippokrate ̄s in
an unknown number of books (Kind 1927: 1116–1117). (3) An Etymology of Human Anatomy
(Scholia on R’ Anatomical Nomenclature, pp. 237–246 DR, and lexicographers). (4) Acute
and Chronic Diseases, essentially translated into Latin by Caelius Aurelianus, with a few Greek
fragments. (5) On Causes (Aitiologoumena), quoted in Caelius Aurelianus, Chron. 1.55 (CML
6.1.1, p. 220; Drabkin, pp. 474–475), “... a nightmare [incubus] is not a god or godlet or
Cupid.” (6) Communities of Diseases (Gyn. 1.6.29 = CMG 4, p. 19), Book 2 of which criticizes
D (M.) for thinking certain pathologies were “natural,” whereas they were
truly “diseased states” (Gyn. 3.4 = CMG 4, p. 96). Caelius Aurelianus, Chron. 4.5 (CML 6.1.2,
p. 776; Drabkin, pp. 816–817), in citing Communities Book 2, indicates So ̄ranos had reduced
the number of pathologies to three: status strictus, status laxus, status mixtus, contrasted to
earlier Methodists. (7) On Fevers: Caelius Aurelianus, Acute 2.177 (CML 6.1.1, p. 250;
Drabkin, pp. 254–255); cf. M/M, 2.2.23 (Rose, p. 57). (8) Principles of Health
(Hugieinon): Gyn. 1.7.32, 1.10.40 (CMG 4, pp. 21, 28]). (9) On Remedies or On Therapeutics (Peri
boe ̄the ̄mato ̄n) cited in the famous account of diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic indications
for “suffocation of the uterus,” or “hysterical suffocation” (husterike ̄ pnix), Gyn. 3.4.26– 29
(CMG 4, pp. 109–113). There, many remedies are suggested, e.g., dry cupping in the groin,
moistening the genitals with sweet olive oil, swinging in a hammock, and mild vaginal
suppositories, optionally followed by an olive oil enema. Following the metasyncritic therapies
common among Methodists (i.e. progressing gradually from mild drugs and therapeutic
measures to harsher methods until the disease is alleviated: Scarborough 1991), So ̄ranos
indicates that the patient is made to choke on white hellebore (elleboros leukos: Veratrum
album L.) and induced to vomit with radishes. Notably, So ̄ranos rejected the theory of the
SO ̄RANOS OF EPHESOS