Remarks upon the term stereotaxy: a linguistic and historical note.

The correct explanation of the term 'stereotaxy' is linguistically not self-evident because the Greek term stereon means not spatial but 'hard' or 'solid'. The aim of our study was to clarify the term stereotaxy historically and linguistically. We carried out our study by reviewing the neurosurgical and ancient Greek literature. The term stereotaxy is composed of two ancient Greek words: stereon and taxis. Stereon was used in particular as a technical term for geometrical solids in Greek mathematics. This term can be traced back to Platon and Euclid in the 4th and 3rd century BC, respectively. Only in this sense of the word does stereon in stereotaxy actually mean 'spatial' or '3-dimensional'. Taxis is derived from the verb tattein(τάττειν) with the meaning 'to position'. The terms 'stereotaxis' and 'stereotaxic apparatus' were introduced by Clarke and Horsley in 1908 to denote a method for the precise positioning of electrodes into the deep cerebellar nuclei of apes. The target in space was defined by 3 distances in relation to 3 orthogonal planes. Although this concept corresponded exactly to x-, y- and z-coordinates in a cartesian coordinate system, Clarke never used the concept of coordinates. The intuitive explanation of the term stereotaxy as spatial positioning is correct, but linguistically more complex than would be expected.

[Pleasure and confusion. A footnote to Freud's translations of Mill]. / Lust und Verwirrung. Eine Fuessnote zu Freuds Mill-Ubersetzungen.

In 1863 Theodor Gomperz came to England to propose to Helen Taylor Mill, step-daughter of J. S. Mill. For several months he delayed the proposal while studying transcripts of the Philodemus papyri in the Bodleian Library. There a threatening note, supposedly left on his desk, triggered an attack of paranoia. My study of this incident, initially a mere footnote, expanded into an examination of the obscure causes of this attack. The philosophical question of the nature of desire and the researcher's passion to reconstruct a fragmented classical text are related to Gomperz's unfocussed relationship with both Mill and his step-daughter, and his ensuing confusion between reality and fantasy. The incident is considered paradigmatic of the perils of scholarly research, when the desire to possess knowledge becomes entangled with transferential relationships.

[Nepenthe].

Iliad and Odyssey are two major literary sources on various phenomena related to human experience and knowledge. In the Odyssey we find references to the nepenthes, a mythical substance which can change the mood, causing sorrow and anger to be forgotten. We can not identify it with any of the well known substances that have these properties, such as opium from the opium poppy, the Egyptian kyfi or cannabis in the Scythians. Ancient Greeks used various anxiolytic, hypnotic and narcotic substances, but phenomena of addiction or withdrawal are not clearly described, with the exception of wine. Wine was used to lighten peoples minds and hearts, as well as a vehicle for drugs. Many ancient sources describe the negative effects of wine abuse. The study of ancient texts, from Homer's epics to Christian literature, allows a fundamental insight into the influence of psychotropic substances and alcohol on the human psyche.

Light in hellas: how German classical philology engendered gay scholarship.

Beginning in the latter part of the eighteenth century, German classical philology acquired a hegemonic status that made it the envy of scholars in other nations. Among the tasks embraced by this great endeavor was the study of what is known of same-sex behavior in ancient Greece. Remarkably, the German philologists chose to present their findings straightforwardly in modern German, accessible to every educated reader. The deposit of this inquiry is the basis of our contemporary knowledge of ancient Greek homosexuality. Moreover, by providing models of homosexual behavior that were more positive than those prevalent in Europe at the time, the research fostered the emergence of the German Gay Movement in 1897.

[The "Limophoros": Polybius III, 87, 2]. / Le "Limophoros": Polybe III, 87, 2.

The word "limophoros", a hapax legomenon appearing in Polybius' Histories, does not mean scurvy, but rather scabies. Polybius created the word to describe an illness he believed was derived from a nutritional deficit, but can really only be seen as an attempt to describe an illness the etiology of which he was wholly unfamiliar.

[Concerning Empedocles' Fragment 100 D.-K]. / Sul frammento 100 D.-K. di Empedocle.

Concerning a fragment by Empedocles on respiration.

The psychic term "etor": its nature and relation to person in Homer and the Homeric Hymns.

Discusses the use in early Greek epic poetry of "etor", one of the three terms for "heart". This word serves frequently as a seat of emotion in individuals, especially of joy, anger and grief. It can also be involved in thought, particularly in emotional situations.

[Another satyriasis. Ancient medicine, philology and art history]. / Une autre satyriasis. Médecine antique, philologie et histoire de l'art.

The author explains that several ancient diseases bear the name of satyriasis. One of them is a form of lepra. An ancient terra-cotta mask of a satyre helps understanding why it is so.

The origin of the Corpus Hippocraticum from ancestors to Codices Antiqi: the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 276.

The Corpus Hippocraticum (C.H.) was originated by the collection of writings of late Greek medicine, mainly of Hippocratic school. The original works have been transmitted through rolls of papyrus or parchments as single treatise or small group of treatises until the IX-X century A.D., when in Byzantium were active scriptoria devoted to collect classical works of both religious and profane argument. Under the auspices of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenete (tenth century), the tendency to encyclopedism of that period induces large collections of thematic works, i.e. about classical philosophy, astronomy, mathematics or medicine, as may be argued by the content of the Encyclopedia [2 Greek words] (X century). Vetusti codices, such as Vindobonensis med. IV, Parisinus 2253 (A), Laurentianus 74.7 (B), Marcianus Venentus gr. 269 (M) and Vaticanus gr. 276 (V) represent witnessing of the formation of the C.H.: codicological analysis suggests that these manuscripts have been handwritten in scriptoria of Byzantium's area, then carried in Western Europe. Since the first testimony of V is at the Royal Court in Palermo, the Norman Kings played a relevant role in tracing codices from Byzantium to Sicily, as well as Cardinal Bessarion to Rome and Venice.