Images of disease in ancient Greek society
Culture and Text, Tomus XX, 147-158.
Autore: Sara Rubinelli
Tipo di pubblicazione: Articolo


Medicine in considered among the most fundamental aspects of the classical Greek culture. Greek scientists create a system of medicine that, its rationality, formed the basis of Western medicine in the centuries. The aim of this paper is to investigate images of illness and of disease and the process of healing in the growth of rational medicine. In particularly it is my intention to analyse the way people perceived illness, disease and healing and the impact of these perceptions on the development of rational medicine. The analysis here presented is based on a synthesis of the main arguments of Longrigg (1998) and Farrington (2000).