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.

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 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.

[Inspired by Apollo and Asclepio's sons in Homer and Virgil]. / Ispirati da Apollo e figli di Asclepio in Omero e Virgilio.

Important passages of the Homeric and Virgilian epic are regarding the art of divination and the medical science, and underline contextually the figures of the fortune teller and that of the physician. Two roles are associated to one matrix: heroic-aristocratic or royal-sacerdotal. In Homer's epic it is possible to single out surgical and phytotherapeutic knowledge together with remedies for diseases aroused by a solar god, like Apollo is, gods' physician. Pitiful divinities comfort those who have been struck by demoniac and mysterious forms. On the contrary, in Virgil's epic a symbiosis is carried out between the physician's figure and the priest's one, with the very vague outlines of the two arts and however, overloaded by factors which are typically Virgilian. Unusual form of incubation of the Greek rituals has been transplanted in the Latin matrix; and moreover there is a constant recall of words used in their most antique meaning.