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Dire Remedies: A Social History of Healthcare in Classical Antiquity / William V. Harris.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes ; 172Publisher: Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, [2024]Copyright date: 2024Description: 1 online resource (XX, 602 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9783111454399
  • 9783111508320
  • 9783111507996
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 610.9
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Abbreviations -- Maps -- 1 The Burden of Illness -- 2 Doctors and their Limitations -- 3 Vernacular Healthcare -- 4 Pain and Analgesics -- 5 Contagion in Ancient Thinking about Disease -- 6 The Mystery of Disgusting Medications -- 7 Physicians Refusing Treatment -- 8 Abortion: its Prevalence, its Acceptability -- 9 Seers and Healthcare -- 10 Seeking Health from Gods and Heroes -- 11 The Evolution and the Extinction of Asclepius -- 12 The Doctors and Religion -- 13 Amulets to Protect and Cure -- 14 Mental Disorders in their Social Context -- 15 Ancient Hospitals -- 16 Conclusions -- References -- Index of Proper Names -- Index of Topics
Summary: Dire Remedies: a Social History of Healthcare in Classical Antiquity is the first wide-ranging social history of ancient healthcare. Greek medicine is at the origin of modern medicine, but it was very often ineffective. What did people actually do when faced with pain and illness? Starting with a review of ancient health conditions and a survey of what doctors had to offer, W.V. Harris describes the multifarious practices and diverse kinds of people to whom Greeks and Romans turned for help. Topics include the possible development of analgesics, ancient ideas about contagion, the history of the god Asclepius and more generally the role of religion and magic, opinions about abortion, ancient responses to mental illness, and the invention of the hospital. Taking into account the fill range of textual sources and archaeological material, this book attempts to provide an unprecedentedly realistic – and readable – depiction of the Greek and Roman responses to ill health.

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Abbreviations -- Maps -- 1 The Burden of Illness -- 2 Doctors and their Limitations -- 3 Vernacular Healthcare -- 4 Pain and Analgesics -- 5 Contagion in Ancient Thinking about Disease -- 6 The Mystery of Disgusting Medications -- 7 Physicians Refusing Treatment -- 8 Abortion: its Prevalence, its Acceptability -- 9 Seers and Healthcare -- 10 Seeking Health from Gods and Heroes -- 11 The Evolution and the Extinction of Asclepius -- 12 The Doctors and Religion -- 13 Amulets to Protect and Cure -- 14 Mental Disorders in their Social Context -- 15 Ancient Hospitals -- 16 Conclusions -- References -- Index of Proper Names -- Index of Topics

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Dire Remedies: a Social History of Healthcare in Classical Antiquity is the first wide-ranging social history of ancient healthcare. Greek medicine is at the origin of modern medicine, but it was very often ineffective. What did people actually do when faced with pain and illness? Starting with a review of ancient health conditions and a survey of what doctors had to offer, W.V. Harris describes the multifarious practices and diverse kinds of people to whom Greeks and Romans turned for help. Topics include the possible development of analgesics, ancient ideas about contagion, the history of the god Asclepius and more generally the role of religion and magic, opinions about abortion, ancient responses to mental illness, and the invention of the hospital. Taking into account the fill range of textual sources and archaeological material, this book attempts to provide an unprecedentedly realistic – and readable – depiction of the Greek and Roman responses to ill health.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Nov 2024)