Simeon Seth

Simeon Seth(i) or Symeon Seth(i) ( _el. Συμεών Μάγιστρος Αντιοχείας του Σήθι, "ٍSymeōn Magister of Antioch, son of Sēth", sometimes also "Simeo" and "Sethus") was an 11th-century Jewish Byzantine doctor, scholar, and grand Chamberlain ("protovestiarius") under Emperor Michael VII Doukas, originally from Antioch. He was a contemporary of Michael Psellos.

He wrote the polytonic|Σύνταγμα κατα στοιχείων περί τροφῶν δυνάμεων (in Latin: "Syntagma de alimentorum facultatibus" or "De cibarium facultate", "On the Properties of Foods") [The full text of the [http://www.bib.ub.es/grewe/showbook.pl?gw016 1658 Paris edition] is available online] , which criticizes Galen and emphasizes eastern medical traditions: "Simeon Seth was the great Orientalist of Byzantine medicine... [he] selected the best, not only from theGreek "materia medica" but also from Persian, Arabic, and Indian sources". [Owsei Temkin, "Byzantine Medicine: Tradition and Empiricism", "Dumbarton Oaks Papers" 16:95-115 (1962) [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0070-7546%281962%2916%3C95%3ABMTAE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2 at JSTOR] ] The "Syntagma" is an important source for Byzantine cuisine and dietetics.

Simeon's work Polytonic|Σύνοψις τῶν φυσικῶν ("Conspectus rerum naturalium", "On natural things" )is a treatise on the natural sciences. It is divided into five books. The first concerns the earth; the second, the elements; the third, the sky and the stars; the fourth, matter, form, nature, and the soul (sense perception); the fifth, the final cause and divine providence. The work is heavily influenced by the philosophy of Aristotle. [A. Delatte, "Anecdota Atheniensia et alia", Volume 2 (Paris, 1939), 1-89 (edition of text with historical introduction).]

He also learned astronomy from Arabic sources. [David Pingree, "Gregory Chioniades and Palaeologan Astronomy", "Dumbarton Oaks Papers" 18:133-160 (1964)]

He translated the book of fables "Kalilag and Damnag" from Arabic to Greek in about 1080. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=44&letter=K "Jewish Encyclopedia", 1906 "s.v." Kalilah wa-Dimnah] ; date from G.H. Gérould, "The Ballad of the Bitter Withy" (not seen), cited by Phillips Barry, "The Bridge of Sunbeams", "The Journal of American Folklore" 27:103. (Jan.-Mar., 1914), pp. 79-89 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8715%28191401%2F03%2927%3A103%3C79%3ATBOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z at JSTOR] ] The protagonists in the Greek version are named "Stephanites" and "Ichnelates." [L.-O. Sjöberg, "Stephanites und Ichnelates: Überlieferungsgeschichte und Text" (Uppsala, 1962).]

Other

* "Simeon Seth'Na" is also the name of a certain thoroughbred Arabian horse.

Bibliography

* Marc Émile Prosper Louis Brunet, "Siméon Seth, médecin de l’empereur Michel Doucas; sa vie, son oeuvre. Première traduction en français du traité "Recueil des propriétés des aliments par ordre alphabétique", Delmas, Bordeaux, 1939. (not seen)
* David Deakle, "Simeon Seth on Cannabis (Cognoscenti of Cannabis II)", 2001 doi|10.1300/J175v01n02_03

Notes