HEROIC MEASURES STUDIES IN ANCIENT MEDICINE EDITED BY JOHN SCARBOROUGH PHILIP J. VAN DER EIJK ANN HANSON NANCY SIRAISI VOLUME 30 HEROIC MEASURES Hippocratic Medicine in the Making of Euripidean Tragedy BY JENNIFER CLARKE KOSAK BRILL LEIDEN•BOSTON 2004 Cover Illustration: Telephus holding the baby Orestes. The Nazzano Painter, Calyx-krater. Italic, Latin, Faliscan, Late Classical Period, about 380-360 B.C. Photograph ©2004 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kosak, Jennifer Clarke. Heroic measures : Hippocratic medicine in the making of Euripidean tragedy / by Jennifer Clarke Kosak. p. cm. — (Studies in ancient medicine, ISSN 0925-1421 ; v. 30) Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 90-04-13993-1 (acid-free paper) 1. Euripides—Knowledge—Medicine. 2. Literature and medicine—Greece— History—To 500. 3. Medicine, Greek and Roman. 4. Hippocrates—Influence. 5. Medicine in literature. 6. Tragedy. I. Title. II. Series. PA3978.K57 2004 882’.01—dc22 2004054524 ISSN 0925–1421 ISBN 90 04 13993 1 © Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................... vii Abbreviations ......................................................... ix Introduction:Tragedy, medicineand suffering inthefifth centuryB.C......................................................... 1 part i healers and the heroicsof medical technê ChapterOne: TheHealingArt...................................... 19 a. TheHealer: Lively metaphorand livedreality................ 19 b. Technê andTechnitai inthe HippocraticCorpus................ 30 c. Heroic measures and thehealing art........................... 35 ChapterTwo:HealersinGreek Tragedy ........................... 43 a. PrometheusBound: Thehealer asphilanthropist................. 43 b. Euripides’Hippolytus: Thecharlatan inaction .................. 49 c. Ion: Malpracticesuits ........................................... 65 d.Medea:First, dono harm ....................................... 72 e. Orestes:Noheroic measures..................................... 84 part ii from cause to cure ChapterThree: TheStoryofDisease ............................... 93 ChapterFour:CausesofDisease intheHippocraticCorpus ...... 101 ChapterFive:RemedyintheHippocraticCorpus ................. 109 a. Allopathy ........................................................ 115 b. Metabolê .......................................................... 121 c. Apostasis.......................................................... 125 d.Malthakia and ischys.............................................. 128 vi contents ChapterSix:Finding the Causeand Finding the Cure:Four EuripideanPlays................................................... 131 a. Orestes:Noway out.............................................. 131 b. Heracles:Politics, plaguesand the patient....................... 151 c. Phoenissae:Balanced interiors ................................... 174 d.Bacchae: Homeopathy andrepression .......................... 189 Conclusion............................................................ 193 Bibliography .......................................................... 199 Index nominum etrerum ............................................ 211 Index locorum ........................................................ 221 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study is a revised version of the dissertation I completed in 1994 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I am grateful to the Department of Classical Studies and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies for financial support throughout my time there. I also express my deep appreciation to the members of my doctoral committee, Ann Ellis Hanson, LudwigKoenen, James I. Porter, Arlene Saxonhouse, and RuthScodel(who served asmy advisor)fortheirhelp during the writing of the dissertation and for their suggested improve- ments. I hope I have been able to incorporate some of their fine ideas into the book in its current form. I owe special thanks to Ruth Scodel, who was my first Greek instructor when I was an undergraduate, and who, withherencyclopedicknowledgeofGreek literatureandherabil- ity to see quickly the heart of an argument, has been a ready source of suggestions and an invaluable sounding board for my ideas over the years. I also owe a particular debt of gratitude to Ann Hanson, who not only introduced me to the riches of the Hippocratic Corpus but also, with her typical generosity, read a recent version of the present work with meticulous care, correcting errors and making many helpful remarks (any errors that remain are, of course, my responsibility); her help and guidance have been invaluable. In addition, I would like to thank themembersofthedepartmentsofClassicsatEmoryUniversity, Rutgers University, and, above all, Barbara Weiden Boyd, Jim Higgin- botham and Irene Polinskaya, my colleagues at Bowdoin College, who haveprovidedsupportandencouragementoverthecourseofmyitiner- ant career. At various times, Elizabeth Craik and Heinrich von Staden have heard and reacted to some of my ideas with careful suggestions, and I thank each of them for their interest. I am grateful to Michiel Klein Swormink at Brill for his patient assistance. Finally, I give thanks to my parents, sisters, husband and children for their commitment to theartsand humanitiesandfortheirbeliefinthevalueofbooks. ABBREVIATIONS In the text, I have used the most common English titles for ancient works. In the notes, Ihave generally used fulltitlesorthe abbreviations found in standard English reference works (e.g., Oxford Classical Dictio- nary; LSJ). AbbreviatedtitlesfortheworksoftheHippocraticCorpus: Aer. Airs,Waters,Places Affect. Affections Aph. Aphorisms Ars The Art Artic. Articulations (alsoknown asJoints) Coac. Coan Prenotions Decent. Decorum Dieb. Jud. Critical Days Epid. 1–7 Epidemics 1–7 Flat. Breaths Fract. Fractures Humor. Humors Intern. Internal Affections Jusj. The Oath Loc. Hom. Places inMan Morb.1–4 Diseases1–4 Morb. Sacr. On theSacredDisease Morb. Mul 1–2 DiseasesofWomen1–2 Nat. Hom. The Natureof Man Nat. Mul. The Natureof Women Nat. Puer. The Natureof theChild Prog. Prognostic Pror.1–2 Prorrhetics 1–2 Reg. Acut. Regimen inAcute Diseases Steril. Barren Women Superf. Superfetation x abbreviations Ulc. Ulcers Vet.Med. On AncientMedicine Reg. 1–3 Regimen1–3 Abbreviated titlesforworks of Euripidesand other tragediesfrequently discussed: Ag. Agamemnon PV PrometheusBound Ant. Antigone OT OedipusTyrannus Phil. Philoctetes Cyc. Cyclopes Alc. Alcestis Med. Medea Heraclid. Heraclidae Hipp. Hippolytus Andr. Andromache Hec. Hecabe Supp. Suppliant Women El. Electra Her. Heracles IT IphigeneiaamongtheTaurians Hel. Helen Phoen. Phoenissae Or. Orestes Bac. Bacchae IA Iphigeniaat Aulis Other abbreviations: DK H. Diels and W. Kranz, eds. Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker. 6th edn. Berlin1952. LSJ H.G.Liddell,R.ScottandH.S.Jones,AGreek-EnglishLexicon. 9theditionwithSupplement.Oxford1968. TLG Thesaurus Linguae Graecae: a digital library of Greek literature. Irv- ing,CA 1996–.