Heraklas

Heraklas (Greek: Ἡρακλᾶς) was a Greek physician of the 1st century AD whose descriptions of surgeons' knots and slings are preserved in book 48 of Oribasius' Medical Collections (Ἰατρικαὶ Συναγωγαί, Iatrikai Synagogai) under the title From Heraklas.[1]

Heraklas' sling XIII, the plinthios brokhos is produced in the same manner as a string figure. This example is formed in a doubled cord for better visibility.
The diplous karkhesios brokhos or the modern bottle sling
The epankylotos brokhos or the modern Tom fool's knot

Describing them in detail, Heraklas discussed 16 different knots and slings,[1] including the earliest known written account of a string figure.[2] Accompanying illustrations of the knots were added later by Renaissance copyists, but modern analysis of the writings by knot experts has shown many of these early drawings to contain significant errors or misinterpretations.[3]

The knots identified

The current understanding of Heraklas' knots results primarily from analysis and identification by Hjalmar Öhrvall, Lawrence G. Miller, and Cyrus L. Day, although slightly differing interpretations and refinements continue to be made.[1] The table below shows the knots believed to have been described by Heraklas.

ChapterGreek nameTranslated nameModern equivalent
Iertos brokhosthreaded noosecow hitch
IInautikos brokhosnautical nooseclove hitch
IIIkhiestos brokhoscrossed nooseoverhand noose
IVboukolikos brokhos or sandalios brokhospastoral noose or sandal nooseoverhand noose variation
Vdrakon brokhosdragon nooseoverhand noose variation
VIhaploun hamma brokhossingle knot noose(No modern name)
VIIlykos brokhoswolf noosereef knot[4]
VIIIherakleotikon hammaHercules knotreef knot
IXhaplous karkhesios brokhossingle jug-sling noose"true lover's knot" (ABOK #1038)
X–XIIdiplous karkhesios brokhosdouble jug-sling noosebottle sling
XIIItetrakyklos plinthios brokhosfour-looped rectangular nooseString figure, "The sun clouded over"[5]
XIVepankylotos brokhosinterlooped nooseTom fool's knot
XVota brokhosears noose(No modern name)
XVIdiankylos brokhostwo-looped noose(No modern name)
XVIIankhon brokhosstrangler noosetrue lover's knot (ABOK #1038)[6]
XVIIIhyperbatos brokhostransposed nooseclove hitch[7]

See also
  • Medicine in ancient Greece

Notes and references
  1. Hage, J. Joris (April 2008), "Heraklas on Knots: Sixteen Surgical Nooses and Knots from the First Century A.D.", World Journal of Surgery, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 648–655, doi:10.1007/s00268-007-9359-x, PMID 18224483
  2. Miller, Lawrence G. (1945), "The Earliest (?) Description of a String Figure", American Anthropologist, New Series, 47 (3): 461–462, doi:10.1525/aa.1945.47.3.02a00190
  3. Day, Cyrus L. (1967), Quipus and Witches' Knots, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, pp. 86–89, 101–151
  4. Although topologically identical, it is used in a different manner than "VII, Hercules knot". Specifically the bound object (e.g. a limb) is placed in the center of the reef knot.
  5. See Caroline Furness Jayne's String Figures and How to Make Them (1906), p. 383, Roth Plate X, 1. and discussion p. 162. N. B. Miller (1945) correctly points out the difference of a single crossing in Jayne's fig. 359, p 161.
  6. Although topologically identical, it is used in a different manner than "IX, single jug-sling noose".
  7. Although topologically identical, it is used in a different manner than "II, nautical noose".
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