Ze ̄no ̄n (Med.) (ca 200 – 150 BCE?)
Physician, perhaps identical to Z L, wrote on pharmacology and
Hippokratic lexicography; cited by C 5.pr.1 and G as exemplary among
He ̄rophileans for pharmacy (Zn.4 von Staden). Participating in the He ̄rophilean
debate on pulse theory, Ze ̄no ̄n argued for contraction and dilation of the arteries producing
an harmonious sequence, with variation in type of pulses and timing, effecting both equal
and unequal beats, analogous with respiration; A criticized the definition for its
redundancies, and G noted Ze ̄no ̄n’s omission of the heart in his discussion of the
pulse (Zn.1 von Staden), probably reflecting acceptance of B’ definition of
“arterial parts” as including both the arteries and the left ventricle (von Staden 1989:
504; Ba.2). Ze ̄no ̄n attributed the sigla found, by M S, in MSS of the
H C, E 3, to H himself. Ze ̄no ̄n read the symbols
as indicating the diagnosis, the length of the illness, and the outcome (health or death:
Zn.5–6 von Staden). A “B” claimed he could not find Ze ̄no ̄n’s readings in
any of the three versions he had examined personally, and further accused Ze ̄no ̄n of
emending the sigla where conceivable resolutions were lacking (Zn.6 von Staden; cf. He.5).
Ze ̄no ̄n explained the ambe ̄ of the H C, J as like a door’s bolt pin
(Zn.7 von Staden) and explained the kammaron of the H C (Places in
Man 27) as what the Dorians in Italy called hemlock (ko ̄neion) (Zn.8 von Staden). C
A refered to the “cassidony” drink for colon complaints of some Ze ̄no ̄n, perhaps
ours (Chron. 4.99 [CML 6.1.2, p. 830]).
von Staden (1989) 501–505; OCD3 1635 (#7), Idem; NP 12/2.752 (#9), V. Nutton.
GLIM
Ze ̄no ̄n (of Athens?) (ca 80 – 120 CE)
Among the guests discussing if food from the sea is better than food from the land in
P’s Table Talk 4.4 (667C–669E). Together with K ( A?), he deemed
fish “lighter,” i.e., easier to digest, for sick people (4.4.3, 669C). Uncited elsewhere, he has
been identified with the pharmacologist Ze ̄no ̄n of Athens contemporary with some teacher
of G, according to pseudo-Gale ̄n, De medicinis expertis 10 (Chartier 1639: v. 10, p. 568;
cf. Wickersheimer 1922).
RE 10A (1972) 146 (#14) F. Kudlien; KP 5 (1975) 1506–1507 (#13), J. Kollesch.
Alain Touwaide
Ze ̄no ̄n of Kition (ca 305 – ca 263 BCE)
Founder of Stoicism. Ze ̄no ̄n was born ca 335 BCE to a Phoenician family in Cyprus and
came to Athens in 313 BCE. He studied philosophy under Krate ̄s the Cynic, P
and X the Academics, and Stilpo ̄n the Megarian before he began to
give discourses at the so-called Stoa poikile ̄, the painted colonnade which gave Stoicism
its name.
D L (7.4) attributes 20 titles to him, none of which survives. Ze ̄no ̄n’s
system was to be considerably elaborated by his successors in the school, but the basic and
most fundamental doctrines of Stoicism can often be traced back to Ze ̄no ̄n. He
emphasized the interdependence of physics, ethics, and logic, although as with later Stoics,
ZE ̄NO ̄N (MED.)