Florian Steger: Patientengeschichte – eine Perspektive für Quellen der Antiken Medizin? Überlegungen zu den Krankengeschichten der Epidemienbücher des Corpus Hippocraticum

The perspectives of patients are an important element of modern medical historiography. The enriching results particularly depend on the sources’ self-reflecting and introspective content. For research on ancient medicine has traditionally focussed on concepts of medical thinking, the question arises, whether and to what amount the patient’s-historical approach is a productive device for the sources of ancient medicine. The paper will deal with this question with respect to the ‚Epidemics‘ in the Corpus Hippocraticum. As these are dominated by the professional physician’s perspective, the question is whether the sources contain any information apt to gain insight into the patients’ inner attitudes. By analysing two paradigmatic examples, I will demonstrate that this is not the case – the material neither contains descriptions from the patients’ perspective nor does it deal with contemporary medical theory. Hence, it does not provide access to the patients’ inner constitution. The ‚Epidemics‘ therefore lack the introspective character necessary for productively using the patients’-historical approach. This result once more emphasizes the need for the method’s rare and careful application on ancient sources.

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