Latin Translations

ENGLISH ABSTRACT
The aim of the present article is to give a general picture of the Akathistos hymn's influence in Western literature. This imprint of this beautiful Greek hymn dedicated to the Mother of God was indirect but real and progressive and it happened long before the knowledge of the original text in Greek. With this purpose, this research is focused on the following issues: the outlines of the Greek Akathistos, the Latin translation of Bishop Christophorus in Venice (c. 800), the text known as Salutatio Sanctae Mariae from Paris, (eleventh century), the influence of the Akathistos in the conformation of a new Marian laudatory gen-re, based on concatenated series of eulogies (formal influence) and on the introduction of Byzantine Marian predicates in Western liturgy, theology and piety (doctrinal influence).
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RESUMEN ESPAÑOL
El objetivo del presente artículo es ofrecer un cuadro general de la influencia del himno Akáthistos en la literatura occidental. La huella de este hermoso himno griego dedicado a la virgen fue indirecta pero real y progresiva, y tuvo lugar mucho antes del conocimiento del texto griego original. Con este propósito, la investigación se centra en las siguientes cuestiones: el contenido del Akáthistos, la traducción latina del obispo Cristóforo de Venecia (ca. 800), el texto conocido como Salutatio Sanctae Mariae y compuesto en París en el s. XI, la influencia del Akáthistos en la modelación de un nuevo género laudatorio mariano, basado en series concatenadas de elogios (influencia formal) y en la introducción de predicados marianos bizantinos en la liturgia, teología y piedad occidentales (influencia doctrinal).

This article analyzes the excerpt from the chapter on the herba uerbenaca of Pseudo-Apuleius’ Herbarius offering the cure against the bite of a rabid dog. This excerpt is collated with other Greek and Latin medical sources, while some important manuscripts of the Herbarius are reviewed. Thus, we have detected some additions to the apparently original initial section, which are related to Greek sources, namely Oribasius and Pseudo-Dioscorides’ writings on toxicology. We also obtain some conclusions on neglected readings which might be accepted, and on the presumable existence of ancient Latin translations from Greek medical texts which have not yet been attested.

The classical learning of medieval readers, especially those fortunate to have access to a good library, could be formidable. But in the Middle Ages knowledge was also a commodity, and there was powerful temptation to satisfy intellectual hunger with compressed, simplified digests and easy fare. One text, De vita et moribus philosophorum , long attributed to Walter Burley, seems to have achieved particular success in satisfying that hunger for an easy version of ancient lore. Its roots reach back to Diogenes Laertius' Greek Lives of the Philosophers . This essay explores the roads of transmission that led to the making of De vita et moribus philosophorum , which fed a popular fascination with ancient philosophy and the lives of ancient philosophers. Through what channels did the 'history' of ancient philosophy find a readership beyond the scholarly academy, and how can we explain the appeal of such classical knowledge?