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[231] Compare what Herodotus (2. 84) says of the number of physicians in Egypt, “πάντα δ᾽ ἶητρῶν ἐστὶ πλέα”, and the system on which every Egyptian physics himself three days in each month (ibid. 77). In Egypt ‘every one is a physician skilled beyond all other men.’ This is the natural view that a stranger would take, when he saw all the people about him dosing themselves. It would seem like a nation of doctors. In the Iliad, “Παιήων” (5. 401, 899) appears as a surgeon, skilled in the treatment of wounds. The present passage, with which we may compare Hesiod , Frag. 139, suggests that medical science had advanced in the interim towards the treatment of all diseases. But cp. the words of the Cyclopes, Hom. Od.9. 411.For the name Παιήων as the eponymous hero of physicians cp. Hom. Il.5. 401Hom. Il., 899.In h. Hom. Apoll. (272) Apollo is called “Ἰηπαιήων”. See critical note above.

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hide References (4 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (4):
    • Homer, Iliad, 5.401
    • Homer, Iliad, 5.899
    • Homer, Odyssey, 9.411
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 3 to Apollo, 272
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