At the 2002 Entretiens Hardt, on the topic of Galen and philosophy, I delivered a paper in which I highlighted the complexity of Galen's cultural presuppositions in his concrete analysis of the language of Hippocrates. During the discussion session, I was asked what Galen meant by sunētheia, by language usage, a concept I referred to frequently during my presentation. At that particular moment I gave a provisional and summary answer, adding that the point deserved an independent study. On this occasion, I report on at least the first stage of this study.

My investigation will not be limited to the semantics of a single word: rather, I hope to describe in greater detail the approach Galen adopted with regard to the debate that was at the forefront of linguistic culture – and of cultural enquiry in general – during that period, which focused on the question of a model language advocated by so-called Atticism.