Mind and Madness in Ancient Greece

Mind and Madness in Ancient Greece PDF Author: Bennett Simon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Greece
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description

Mind and Madness in Ancient Greece

Mind and Madness in Ancient Greece PDF Author: Bennett Simon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Greece
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description


Divine Mania

Divine Mania PDF Author: Yulia Ustinova
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351581260
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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Book Description
‘Our greatest blessings come to us by way of mania, provided it is given us by divine gift,’ – says Socrates in Plato’s Phaedrus. Certain forms of alteration of consciousness, considered to be inspired by supernatural forces, were actively sought in ancient Greece. Divine mania comprises a fascinating array of diverse experiences: numerous initiates underwent some kind of alteration of consciousness during mystery rites; sacred officials and inquirers attained revelations in major oracular centres; possession states were actively sought; finally, some thinkers, such as Pythagoras and Socrates, probably practiced manipulation of consciousness. These experiences, which could be voluntary or involuntary, intense or mild, were interpreted as an invasive divine power within one’s mind, or illumination granted by a super-human being. Greece was unique in its attitude to alteration of consciousness. From the perspective of individual and public freedom, the prominent position of the divine mania in Greek society reflects its acceptance of the inborn human proclivity to experience alteration of consciousness, interpreted in positive terms as god-sent. These mental states were treated with cautious respect, and in contrast to the majority of complex societies, ancient and modern, were never suppressed or pushed to the cultural and social periphery.

Mental Disorders in Ancient Philosophy

Mental Disorders in Ancient Philosophy PDF Author: Marke Ahonen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3319034316
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
This book offers a comprehensive study of the views of ancient philosophers on mental disorders. Relying on the original Greek and Latin textual sources, the author describes and analyses how the ancient philosophers explained mental illness and its symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, strange fears and inappropriate moods and how they accounted for the respective roles of body and mind in such disorders. Also considered are ethical questions relating to mental illness, approaches to treatment and the position of mentally ill people in societies of the times. The volume opens with a historical overview that examines ancient medical accounts of mental illness, from Hippocrates' famous Sacred Disease to late antiquity medical authors. Separate chapters interpret in detail the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Galen and the Stoics and a final chapter summarises the views of various strains of Scepticism, the Epicurean school and the Middle and Neo-Platonists. Offering an important and useful contribution to the study of ancient philosophy, psychology and medicine. This volume sheds new light on the history of mental illness and presents a new angle on ancient philosophical psychology.

The Life and Health of the Mind in Classical Greek Medical Thought

The Life and Health of the Mind in Classical Greek Medical Thought PDF Author: Chiara Thumiger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107176018
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 513

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Book Description
The first substantial history of psychological thought in Classical Greek medicine, showing the relevance of ancient ideas to modern debates.

Studies in Ancient Greek and Roman Society

Studies in Ancient Greek and Roman Society PDF Author: Robin Osborne
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521837699
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
A collection of innovative essays on major topics in ancient Greece and Rome, first published in 2004.

Whom Gods Destroy

Whom Gods Destroy PDF Author: Ruth Padel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780691025889
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Madness is central to Western tragedy in all epochs, but we find the origins of this centrality in early Greece: in Homeric insight into the "damage a damaged mind can do." Greece, and especially tragedy, gave the West its permanent perception of madness as violent and damaging. Drawing on her deep knowledge of anthropology, psychoanalysis, Shakespeare, and the history of madness, as well as of Greek language and literature, Ruth Padel probes the Greek language of madness, which is fundamental to tragedy: translating, making it reader-friendly to nonspecialists, and showing how Greek images continued through medieval and Renaissance societies into a "rough tragic grammar" of madness in the modern period.

Madness in Greek Thought and Custom

Madness in Greek Thought and Custom PDF Author: Agnes Carr Vaughan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Greece
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description


In and Out of the Mind

In and Out of the Mind PDF Author: Ruth Padel
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400884322
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Ruth Padel explores Greek conceptions of human innerness and the way in which Greek tragedy shaped European notions of mind and self. Arguing that Greek poetic language connects images of consciousness, even male consciousness, with the darkness attributed to Hades and to women, Padel analyzes tragedy's biological and daemonological metaphors for what is within.

The Greeks and the Irrational

The Greeks and the Irrational PDF Author: Eric R. Dodds
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520931270
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
In this philosophy classic, which was first published in 1951, E. R. Dodds takes on the traditional view of Greek culture as a triumph of rationalism. Using the analytical tools of modern anthropology and psychology, Dodds asks, "Why should we attribute to the ancient Greeks an immunity from 'primitive' modes of thought which we do not find in any society open to our direct observation?" Praised by reviewers as "an event in modern Greek scholarship" and "a book which it would be difficult to over-praise," The Greeks and the Irrational was Volume 25 of the Sather Classical Lectures series.

History of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology

History of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology PDF Author: Edwin R. Wallace
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387347089
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 883

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Book Description
This book chronicles the conceptual and methodological facets of psychiatry and medical psychology throughout history. There are no recent books covering so wide a time span. Many of the facets covered are pertinent to issues in general medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and the social sciences today. The divergent emphases and interpretations among some of the contributors point to the necessity for further exploration and analysis.