«illustre Champion, N’imitez Pas Un Rhéteur Qui Attaque Sans Prouver...» – L’art de la Polémique dans de Facultatibus Naturalibus de Galien

Abstract

In the De facultatibus naturalibus, Galen presents his physiological theory about the functions of the kidneys and discusses the medical doctrines of his predecessors. Particularly noticeable is the manner in which he conducts a refutation of theories opposed to his own and launches an attack against the defenders of rival doctrines – the founder of the Alexandrian School Erasistratos of Ceos and the founder of Methodism Asclepiades of Bithynia. Galen does not hesitate to make use of several rhetorical strategies chosen to make his rivals lose face and he even resorts to calumny in order to undermine their doctrines. His masterful use of rhetoric makes these rivals appear as the unworthy opponents of himself, a dignified physician at ease with his own knowledge. Rhetoric also enables Galen to display his art as a writer able to take on a persona, that of a choleric who can only find in writing relief for a surge of yellow bile.