USD $154.00
Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine
From Celsus to Paul of Aegina
Series: - Studies in Ancient Medicine, Volume: 50
In Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine: From Celsus to Paul of Aegina a detailed account is given, by a range of experts in the field, of the development of different conceptualizations of the mind and its pathology by medical authors from the beginning of the imperial period to the seventh century CE.
New analysis is offered, both of the dominant texts of Galen and of such important but neglected figures as Rufus, Archigenes, Athenaeus of Attalia, Aretaeus, Caelius Aurelianus and the Byzantine 'compilers'. The work of these authors is considered both in its medical-historical context and in relation to philosophical and theological debates - on ethics and on the nature of the soul - with which they interacted.
New analysis is offered, both of the dominant texts of Galen and of such important but neglected figures as Rufus, Archigenes, Athenaeus of Attalia, Aretaeus, Caelius Aurelianus and the Byzantine 'compilers'. The work of these authors is considered both in its medical-historical context and in relation to philosophical and theological debates - on ethics and on the nature of the soul - with which they interacted.
P. N. Singer, Ph.D. (1993) Cambridge University, is a Wellcome Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. He has published major translations and commentaries on Galen (OUP and CUP), and articles on Graeco-Roman philosophy and medicine, especially on the psyche.
C. Thumiger, Ph.D. (2004) KCL London, is a classicist and historian of ancient medicne. She is currently Wellcome Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, engaging with a project on the ancient disease phrenitis, has published variously on ancient medicine, history of mental disorders, and Greek tragedy as well as other areas of ancient cultural history.
Contributors are: Marke Ahonen, Sean Coughlin, Julien Devinant, Ricarda Gäbel, Christopher Gill, Ricardo Julião, George Kazantzidis, Melinda Letts, Orly Lewis, Nadine Metzger, P. N. Singer, Chiara Thumiger, and Anna Maria Urso.
C. Thumiger, Ph.D. (2004) KCL London, is a classicist and historian of ancient medicne. She is currently Wellcome Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, engaging with a project on the ancient disease phrenitis, has published variously on ancient medicine, history of mental disorders, and Greek tragedy as well as other areas of ancient cultural history.
Contributors are: Marke Ahonen, Sean Coughlin, Julien Devinant, Ricarda Gäbel, Christopher Gill, Ricardo Julião, George Kazantzidis, Melinda Letts, Orly Lewis, Nadine Metzger, P. N. Singer, Chiara Thumiger, and Anna Maria Urso.
“The editors succeed in every way in presenting a thought-provoking and at the same time approachable volume, which will surely appeal to a readership of both experts and enthusiasts.” - Michaela Senkova, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2019.02.06
"The editors are to be congratulated for compiling such a varied collection and bringing a range of relatively unknown authors and works, particularly those from Late Antiquity, often dismissed as mere copyists and compilers, to prominence, and making it clear how diverse the understanding of mental health, mental illness, and the treatment for mental conditions was. Considering Galen’s dominance of ancient medicine it is not surprising to find more space devoted to him than any other ancient medical author. However, many other lesser known authors and works are given sufficient attention to build on pre-existing scholarship and hopefully inspire new conversations about the history of mental health and mental illness." - Jane Draycott, in: Social History of Medicine 31(4) (2018) pp. 877-900
"Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine makes an outstanding contribution to the study of mental illness in ancient medicine, especially at its intersection with philosophy. Not only does each individual chapter provide a wealth of information and argumentation, but the whole advances an important argument about the emergence and development of the concept of mental illness that has not yet been so thoroughly examined in published form. This volume deserves to become a touchstone text within the field." - Jessica Wright, in: Plekos 21 (2019)
"Insgesamt ist der Band sehr gut ediert. Die Einzelbeiträge hinterlassen den Eindruck einer rege geführten Diskussion durch zahlreiche Verweise aufeinander. Erfreulicherweise sind nur wenige Arbeiten zitiert, die zum Zeitpunkt der Publikation noch nicht erschienenen waren. (...) das Werk [ist] sehr zu empfehlen, gerade auch den an der antiken Entwicklungsgeschichte interessierten medizinischen Psycholog/innen und Psychiater/innen, die sich der Herausforderung einer wissenschaftlichen Selbstreflexion stellen können und möchten." - Lutz Alexander Graumann, in: H-Soz-Kult
"The editors are to be congratulated for compiling such a varied collection and bringing a range of relatively unknown authors and works, particularly those from Late Antiquity, often dismissed as mere copyists and compilers, to prominence, and making it clear how diverse the understanding of mental health, mental illness, and the treatment for mental conditions was. Considering Galen’s dominance of ancient medicine it is not surprising to find more space devoted to him than any other ancient medical author. However, many other lesser known authors and works are given sufficient attention to build on pre-existing scholarship and hopefully inspire new conversations about the history of mental health and mental illness." - Jane Draycott, in: Social History of Medicine 31(4) (2018) pp. 877-900
"Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine makes an outstanding contribution to the study of mental illness in ancient medicine, especially at its intersection with philosophy. Not only does each individual chapter provide a wealth of information and argumentation, but the whole advances an important argument about the emergence and development of the concept of mental illness that has not yet been so thoroughly examined in published form. This volume deserves to become a touchstone text within the field." - Jessica Wright, in: Plekos 21 (2019)
"Insgesamt ist der Band sehr gut ediert. Die Einzelbeiträge hinterlassen den Eindruck einer rege geführten Diskussion durch zahlreiche Verweise aufeinander. Erfreulicherweise sind nur wenige Arbeiten zitiert, die zum Zeitpunkt der Publikation noch nicht erschienenen waren. (...) das Werk [ist] sehr zu empfehlen, gerade auch den an der antiken Entwicklungsgeschichte interessierten medizinischen Psycholog/innen und Psychiater/innen, die sich der Herausforderung einer wissenschaftlichen Selbstreflexion stellen können und möchten." - Lutz Alexander Graumann, in: H-Soz-Kult
Contents
Acknowledgments
Primary Texts and Abbreviations
Introduction. Disease Classification and Mental Illness: Ancient and Modern Perspectives
Chiara Thumiger and P. N. Singer
1 Between Insanity and Wisdom: Perceptions of Melancholy in the Ps.-Hippocratic Letters 10–17
George Kazantzidis
2 “Not a Daimōn, but a Severe Illness”: Oribasius, Posidonius and Later Ancient Perspectives on Superhuman Agents Causing Disease
Nadine Metzger
3 Athenaeus of Attalia on the Psychological Causes of Bodily Health
Sean Coughlin
4 Archigenes of Apamea’s Treatment of Mental Diseases
Orly Lewis
5 Mental Perceptions and Pathology in the Work of Rufus of Ephesus
Melinda Letts
6 Mental Disorders and Psychological Suffering in Galen’s Cases
Julien Devinant
7 Galen on Memory, Forgetting and Memory Loss
Ricardo Julião
8 Stomachikon, Hydrophobia and Other Eating Disturbances: Volition and Taste in Late-Antique Medical Discussions
Chiara Thumiger
9 “A Most Acute, Disgusting and Indecent Disease”: Satyriasis and Sexual Disorders in Ancient Medicine
Chiara Thumiger
10 Mental Derangement in Methodist Nosography: What Caelius Aurelianus Had to Say
Anna Maria Urso
11 Mental Illnesses in the Medical Compilations of Late Antiquity: The Case of Aëtius of Amida
Ricarda Gäbel
12 Making the Distinction: The Stoic View of Mental Illness
Marke Ahonen
13 Philosophical Psychological Therapy: Did It Have Any Impact on Medical Practice?
Christopher Gill
14 Galen’s Pathological Soul: Diagnosis and Therapy in Ethical and Medica
l Texts and Contexts
P. N. Singer
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Primary Texts and Abbreviations
Introduction. Disease Classification and Mental Illness: Ancient and Modern Perspectives
Chiara Thumiger and P. N. Singer
Part 1 Broader Reflections on Mental Illness: Medical Theories in their Socio-Intellectual Context
1 Between Insanity and Wisdom: Perceptions of Melancholy in the Ps.-Hippocratic Letters 10–17
George Kazantzidis
2 “Not a Daimōn, but a Severe Illness”: Oribasius, Posidonius and Later Ancient Perspectives on Superhuman Agents Causing Disease
Nadine Metzger
Part 2 Individual Authors and Themes
3 Athenaeus of Attalia on the Psychological Causes of Bodily Health
Sean Coughlin
4 Archigenes of Apamea’s Treatment of Mental Diseases
Orly Lewis
5 Mental Perceptions and Pathology in the Work of Rufus of Ephesus
Melinda Letts
6 Mental Disorders and Psychological Suffering in Galen’s Cases
Julien Devinant
7 Galen on Memory, Forgetting and Memory Loss
Ricardo Julião
8 Stomachikon, Hydrophobia and Other Eating Disturbances: Volition and Taste in Late-Antique Medical Discussions
Chiara Thumiger
9 “A Most Acute, Disgusting and Indecent Disease”: Satyriasis and Sexual Disorders in Ancient Medicine
Chiara Thumiger
10 Mental Derangement in Methodist Nosography: What Caelius Aurelianus Had to Say
Anna Maria Urso
11 Mental Illnesses in the Medical Compilations of Late Antiquity: The Case of Aëtius of Amida
Ricarda Gäbel
Part 3 Philosophy and Mental Illness
12 Making the Distinction: The Stoic View of Mental Illness
Marke Ahonen
13 Philosophical Psychological Therapy: Did It Have Any Impact on Medical Practice?
Christopher Gill
14 Galen’s Pathological Soul: Diagnosis and Therapy in Ethical and Medica
l Texts and Contexts
P. N. Singer
Bibliography
Index
All interested in Graeco-Roman medicine, physiology and anatomy, in the history of philosophical and medical psychological theories, in history of psychiatry and in ethics in the Roman imperial period.