Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond
-
George Kazantzidis
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to address the almost complete absence of human oddities in early paradoxography and to trace the developments which gradually transform the human body, in later collections, into a source of paradox and wonder. In my investigation, Hippocratic medicine occupies a central position. I argue that the main reason why paradoxography, in its early stages, excludes the human subject from its material has to do with the fact that in previous medical texts human nature has been studied thoroughly and systematically, so much so that it leaves, as it were, little room for imagination and paradoxographical exploitation. This strict line between medicine and the paradox collapses in later collections from the Roman imperial period. Phlegon of Tralles not only includes stories of humans in his marvellous accounts, but he seems to be drawing some of his material from medicine in order to describe anatomical oddities, deformities, monstrous births, sex changes and so on, which to him qualify perfectly as paradoxographical material. My aim in this section is to illustrate how for the first time medicine and paradox converge in the Hippocratic Corpus with almost exclusive reference to the female body, and how essentially Phlegon’s emphasis on women’s bodies can be situated in this tradition. While excluding the idea of paradox from its epistemological spectrum, early Greek medicine leaves the door open for it when it comes to women, and this selective treatment helps to put into perspective the dominant presence of female oddities in later paradoxography.
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to address the almost complete absence of human oddities in early paradoxography and to trace the developments which gradually transform the human body, in later collections, into a source of paradox and wonder. In my investigation, Hippocratic medicine occupies a central position. I argue that the main reason why paradoxography, in its early stages, excludes the human subject from its material has to do with the fact that in previous medical texts human nature has been studied thoroughly and systematically, so much so that it leaves, as it were, little room for imagination and paradoxographical exploitation. This strict line between medicine and the paradox collapses in later collections from the Roman imperial period. Phlegon of Tralles not only includes stories of humans in his marvellous accounts, but he seems to be drawing some of his material from medicine in order to describe anatomical oddities, deformities, monstrous births, sex changes and so on, which to him qualify perfectly as paradoxographical material. My aim in this section is to illustrate how for the first time medicine and paradox converge in the Hippocratic Corpus with almost exclusive reference to the female body, and how essentially Phlegon’s emphasis on women’s bodies can be situated in this tradition. While excluding the idea of paradox from its epistemological spectrum, early Greek medicine leaves the door open for it when it comes to women, and this selective treatment helps to put into perspective the dominant presence of female oddities in later paradoxography.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
-
II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
-
II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
