![Simon Seth on botargo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Simon_Seth_on_botargo_.jpg)
Symeon Seth, "Symeōn Magister of Antioch
onof Sēth". His first name may also be spelled Simeon or Simeo. (c. 1035 – c. 1110)
[Antonie Pietrobelli (2016)]
Qui est Syméon Seth ?
Le Projet Syméon Seth. was a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
scientist, translator and official under Emperor
Michael VII Doukas
Michael VII Doukas or Ducas ( gr, Μιχαήλ Δούκας), nicknamed Parapinakes ( gr, Παραπινάκης, lit. "minus a quarter", with reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine e ...
. He is often said to have been
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, but there is no evidence of this. He wrote four original works in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and translated one from
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
.
[Petros Bouras-Vallianatos and Sophia Xenophontos]
"Galen's Reception in Byzantium: Symeon Seth and his Refutation of Galenic Theories on Human Physiology"
''Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies'' 55 (2015): 431–469, at 436–442.
Life
Symeon was originally from
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
. His second name, gives as Seth () or Sethi (), may be a
patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
(indicating his father was named Seth) but is more probably a
family name
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
. The manuscripts of his works describe him as a
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and give him the titles ''
magistros
The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in gr, μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centu ...
'' and ''
vestes
Vestēs ( el, βέστης) was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court title used in the 10th and 11th centuries.
The term is etymologically connected to the ''vestiarion'', the imperial wardrobe, but despite ea ...
''. These titles were losing their significance in Byzantium at the time; they tend to indicate an official of middling rank.
[
During the reign of ]Isaac I Komnenos
Isaac I Komnenos or Comnenus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός, ''Isaakios Komnēnos''; – 1 June 1060) was Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenian dynasty.
The son of the gene ...
, Symeon witnessed a total solar eclipse in Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
on either 23 February 1058 or 15 February 1059. Probably he moved to Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
around 1071. There he sought the patronage of Michael VII and entered into literary competition with fellow polymath Michael Psellos
Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to hav ...
.[
According to the '']Alexiad
The ''Alexiad'' ( el, Ἀλεξιάς, Alexias) is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It was written in a form of artificial ...
'' (c.1148), the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
asked Symeon to translate the Arabic fable collection '' Kalīlah wa Dimnah'' into Greek. The ''Alexiad'' describes him as a mathematician and astrologer capable of predicting the future through calculations. He supposedly predicted the death of Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...
(17 July 1085). For a time he fell out of imperial favour and was imprisoned in Raidestos.[
Around 1112, Symeon appears to have sold a ]gospel book
A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazar ...
bound between wood covers to the monastery founded by Michael Attaleiates Michael Attaleiates or Attaliates ( grc-gre, Μιχαήλ Ἀτταλειάτης, Michaḗl Attaleiátēs, ; – 1080) was a Byzantine Greek chronicler, public servant and historian active in Constantinople and around the empire's provinces in the ...
in Constantinople. He probably died not long after. No letters written by or to Symeon survive. Nor is there evidence that he ever practiced medicine, as commonly stated.[
]
Works
He revised Psellos's (Latin or , "On the Properties of Foods"), which criticizes Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...
and emphasizes eastern medical traditions. Paul Moore says "the text is really an explanation of Aetius Amidenus Aetius, Aëtius, or Aetios (Ἀέτιος) may refer to:
People
* Aetius (philosopher), 1st- or 2nd-century doxographer and Eclectic philosopher
* Aëtius of Antioch, 4th-century Anomean theologian
* Flavius Aetius, Western Roman commander in ch ...
, with material drawn from Dioscorides
Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of ''De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vol ...
. Apparently, Psellos wrote the work for the emperor Constantine IX
Constantine IX Monomachos ( grc-x-medieval, Κωνσταντῖνος Μονομάχος, translit=Kōnstantinos IX Monomachos; 1004 – 11 January 1055), reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita ...
Monomachos. It was then revised for Michael VII Doukas by Symeon Seth, who wrote a brief introduction (the proem.), made some corrections in the text, omitting some chapters. The work deals with some two hundred and twenty-eight plants and animals." The ''Syntagma'' is an important source for Byzantine cuisine
Byzantine cuisine was the continuation of local Greek cuisine and Mediterranean gastronomy. The development of the Byzantine Empire and trade brought in spices, sugar and new vegetables to Greece.
Cooks experimented with new combinations of foo ...
and dietetics
A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...
.
Simeon's work (, "On the things of nature") is a treatise on the natural sciences 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
The four causes or four explanations are, in Aristotelian thought, four fundamental types of answer to the question "why?", in analysis of change or movement in nature: the material, the formal, the efficient, and the final. Aristotle wrote th ...
and divine providence. The work is heavily influenced by the philosophy of Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
.
He learned astronomy from Arabic sources and translated the book of fables '' Kalīlah wa Dimnah'' from Arabic to Greek in about 1080. The protagonists in the Greek version are named "Stephanites" and "Ichnelates".
Seth advanced several proofs that the earth was spherical. He noted that since the sun rises in the east before it sets in the west, it can be afternoon in Persia when it is still morning in Byzantine lands. He points out that the same eclipse that was recorded as having taken place in the afternoon by the Persians was recorded in the morning by the Greeks. Nautical and astronomical proofs are also given.
Notes
References
Further reading
* David Deakle, "Simeon Seth on Cannabis (Cognoscenti of Cannabis II)", 2001
* 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.
{{Authority control
Byzantine writers
Food writers
People from Antioch
11th-century Byzantine people
11th-century Byzantine writers
11th-century Byzantine scientists
Magistri officiorum