Ancient Greek and Roman Medicine: Bodies, Physicians, and Patients (EM or HA)

Subject associations
CLA 231 / HLS 231 / GHP 331 / HIS 231
Term
Spring 2025

This course looks at the formation of a techne ("art" or "science") of medicine in fifth-century BCE Greece and debates about the theory and practice of healthcare in Greco-Roman antiquity. We look at early Greek medicine in relationship to established medical traditions in Egypt and Mesopotamia; medical discourses of human nature, gender, race, and the body; debates about the ethics of medical research; the relationship of the body to the mind; and the nature of "Greek" medicine as it travels to Alexandria, Rome and Baghdad. Readings drawn from primary sources as well as contemporary texts in medical humanities and bioethics.

Instructors
Brooke A. Holmes