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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Mythos and logos in Hesiod's Theogony, circa 700 B.C.

Hesiod's Theogony, a completely preserved poem, is dated from about 700 B.C. It depicts partly a development, partly a situation that has arisen in the course of time in the world. It constitutes an attempt to understand the cosmos as the product of a genealogical evolution, which can be seen as a process of successive separation, differentiation, and hierarchization. In this attempted picture of the world myth and reality are inextricably interwoven. Observations of natural phenomena as far as of congenital malformations are accordingly exaggerated and undergone mythical transformation. Entities enumerated in this genealogical poem, no matter whether they stand for parts and concrete phenomena of the physical world or intellectual properties and abstract concepts, behave, think, and act, and are accordingly though of, in anthropomorphic terms. Monogamy, polygamy, endogamy, exogamy, asexual and sexual reproduction, multiple conceptions and births, dominantly and recessively inherited traits, normal and abnormal offspring, and perceptions and notions on cosmogony, isogamy, and teratogenesis could be observed in the writing of the Theogony and interpreted by rational modern concepts.

Genetics↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the Ancient World. IX. Conclusions.

Evidence of a ritual use of poppies becomes more and more rare during the late Roman age, until only the medical usage of poppies seems to survive. In the meantime, a complete lack of evidence of a hedonic use of opium persists. As a whole, this study shows a remarkable continuity in the modalities of wine and poppy derivative use from the Ancient World to the present, particularly in that the hedonic use of psychoactive drugs remained restricted to alcoholic beverages. This observation challenges the opinion that drug-taking behavior is under the control of transient cultural contingencies. In addition, it imputes that the attribution of any documented prehistoric or historical nonmedical use of psychotropic drugs for the aim of experimenting with their pleasant effects is a stereotype.

Culture↗
PubMed1999

[The classical healer as a castrator. The involvement of doctors in castration practices of the Graeco-Roman world].

The elimination of the testicles of boys and men, what we call castration, was frequently practised in Graeco-Roman antiquity. Probably it was sometimes done by laymen, but certainly also sometimes carried out by doctors. This article provides an overview of classical texts concerning castration practices in which doctors were involved, and explores the background of these specific castration practices. It appears that doctors not only cooperated in several practices that were (thought to be) beneficial for their patients, but also in the involuntary castration of healthly slave boys, mostly for the benefit of slave-owners, and hardly to the advantage of their patients.

Castration↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. II. Wine-induced loss of control and vigilance.

The loss of control, the misjudgment of events, and the lack of vigilance were among the effects of drunkenness that the Ancients perceived as being particularly harmful. The sexual behavior was mainly affected by the loss of control: rape, incest, and fulfillment of a tragic oracle were examples of the ruinous outcome of drunkenness. Excessive drinking, besides the intervention of a good, was considered responsible for a temporary loss of judgment, which could be fatal for the drinker. Finally, several mythological examples were provided to support the view that drunk people were harmless in front of the enemy.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1995

Contraception and abortion in the Greco-Roman world.

The author discusses the validity of the claim that, in Antiquity, effective contraceptives and abortifacients were available, were widely used, and their use was responsible for the decline of population in certain periods. After reviewing the maneuvers and drugs used for those purposes, the author concludes that ancient physicians did not have at their disposal effective contraceptives and abortifacients other than those that acted mechanically. In view of the danger associated with the mechanical induction of abortion, the ineffectiveness of pharmacological agents, and the limitations of mechanical contraceptives, it is concluded that drugs and other means of inducing abortion and contraception had a very limited impact on population in Antiquity.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1998

Illness and health in the ancient world.

This is the first in a series of vignettes about health, disease and care giving practices in the ancient worlds of Greece (1000 BC-100 BC) and Rome (1st AD-500 AD). Attention is directed to what the better known conditions were, what structures existed for the delivery of care, what the commonly held health beliefs were, who the most likely care attendants were and what psych-cultural changes occurred which brought about improvements in health care. Thus the series is about the early origins and development of the Western cultural tradition of health care practices. They demonstrate that there was a recognised community need for health care structures to exist and that the association between healing and religious belief began very early.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2004

Ancient euthanasia: 'good death' and the doctor in the graeco-Roman world.

This article maps the concept of 'good death' (euthanasia) in the ancient world and explores the marginal role of the doctor at a 'good dying'. His assistance was not needed when the Homeric warrior died as a hero and was expected to accept death with resignation. Later the city-state regarded as heroes the men fallen for the cause of the community, honouring these model citizens as those who died well. In the more individualistic age of Hellenism and the Roman Empire, a death in luxury or without suffering could be styled euthanasia. The doctor had neither a place in those acts of dying nor in cases of natural death. He shunned death as a failure of his art. Sometimes a doctor was called in to assist in voluntary death, a role that was not forbidden by the Hippocratic oath. An appeal to this oath by opponents of euthanasia in the modern sense of the word therefore is mistaken.

Attitude to Death↗
PubMed1997

[Diseases in the ancient world].

Antiquity has been considered the cradle of western civilization, including medicine. The role of diseases in the course of history has been stressed by several authors during the last few decades. The aim of this study is to survey the occurrence of diseases in antiquity. There are many obstacles to the study of the occurrence of diseases during antiquity. The most serious problem is the lack of reliable sources. Mostly we have to rely on written sources. Sometimes it is possible to supplement them with archaeological findings (e.g. bones and mummies). The defective sources give an unrealistically static picture of the occurence of diseases. Diseases must be seen as a dynamic relationship between populations and their environment. There is evidence suggesting great secular and regional variations in the occurrence of diseases during antiquity. Micro-organisms were by far the most serious threat to human health. We can be convinced that some diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, mumps, cancer, trauma, etc, occurred during antiquity. Available sources do not, however, permit estimation of the frequency of these conditions in different populations and time periods. We have information of the occurrence of large-scale epidemics during antiquity, e.g. the plague of Athens (431-426 B.C.), the plague of Antonines (about 165-180 A.D.) and the plague of Cyprian (about 251-266 A.D.). However, the first definitely identified large epidemic (bubonic plague) was the plague of Justinian (starting in 542 A.D.).

Disease↗
PubMed2001

The sacred disease of Cambyses II.

Herodotus' account of the mad acts of the Persian king Cambyses II contains one of the two extant pre-Hippocratic Greek references to epilepsy. This reference helps to illuminate Greek thinking about epilepsy, and disease more generally, in the time immediately preceding the publication of the Hippocratic treatise on epilepsy, On the Sacred Disease. Herodotus attributed Cambyses' erratic behavior as ruler of Egypt to either the retribution of an aggrieved god or to the fact that he had the sacred disease. Herodotus considered the possibility that the sacred disease was a somatic illness, agreeing with later Hippocratic authors that epilepsy has a natural rather than a divine cause. Archaeological evidence suggests Herodotus slanders Cambyses, and there is no corroboration that the Persian king had epilepsy or any other disease. However, the view of epilepsy as a somatic disease and uncertainty about the cause of madness shows Herodotus as a transitional figure between supernatural and naturalistic medical theories.

Epilepsy↗
PubMed1999

From Horus the child to Hephaestus who limps: a romp through history.

The question of why Hephaestus, the Greek god of smiths, limped has been the subject of much debate, mainly on mythological grounds. This debate extended also into the field of medical diagnosis, with attempts at defining the nature of the deformity that made the crippled Hephaestus the buffoon of the other Olympic gods. One problem encountered in these debates was the changes to which the ugly young Hephaestus was subjected with the passing of time-from a limping deformed youth to the later dignified and normal man. While some authors, largely influenced by poetic Greek texts and vase paintings, attributed the limp to talipes (club-feet), others pointed to certain features suggestive of achondroplasia. Since the image of the early Hephaestus is based mainly on the much earlier concept of the Egyptian god Ptah, who as the triune god of the resurrection sometimes is depicted as an achondroplastic dwarf (Ptah-Pataikos), the suggestion of the possible achondroplastic dwarf-like nature of the early Hephaestus is not implausible. It is supported by similarities in the image of Hephaestus to some features in other Egyptian gods, such as the domestic god Bes, the guardian of the new-born, and the Horus the Child or Harpocrates (Greek), yet another protector of youth and "the symbol of everything that is young and vigorous" [Budge, 1969: The Gods of the Egyptians, or Studies in Egyptian Mythology. Volume I.]. The characteristic feature of this child-god is the "lock of Harpocrates" on the right side of his head. That this lock can sometimes also be seen not only on the head of Ptah-Pataikos and of Bes but also on the young Hephaestus is highly suggestive of the Egyptian influence on his image. Recently, however, another interesting explanation of Hephaestus's limp has been suggested that may explain why the Egyptian influenced image of the early achondroplastic Hephaestus changed to the later, more Grecian view of the smith-god who hobbled because of club-feet. Improvements in composition-analysis of samples from antique statues and various utensils have led to the suggestion that the introduction of new smelting techniques in antique times may have exposed ancient metal workers to the effects of various toxic metals causing, for instance, chronic lead poisoning or, more relevant here, chronic arsenic poisoning causing peripheral neuritis with weakness and lameness of one or both lower extremities. Later changes in smelting technique, and recognition or guess-work of a possible connection between these techniques and toxic effects, may explain the change from the buffoon-like achondroplastic walk to the club-footed limp and eventual normal behaviour of Hephaestus, the Smith. In other words: Did Hephaestus limp because of his arsen-neuritis?

Achondroplasia↗