Suchergebnisse

Empedocles is spoken of as a physician by various ancient authors. However, none of the medical works attributed to him has survived. These may have been the treatise of Empedocles mentioned by Pliny the Elder on the deliverance of Athens from the plague and the medical treatise in six hundred verses. Nevertheless, we have at our disposal a number of fragments of his poem, in which the structure of various parts of the body is described, an attempt is made to explain the functioning of the processes of perception, some physiological processes and the structure of living organisms are described. Empedocles is also mentioned in some treatises of the Hippocratic corpus, but rather as a fake doctor in comparison with the real, i. e. Hippocratic doctors. This study aims to resolve the conflict that exists between the fragments of Empedocles' poem, in which he speaks in the first person and promises to teach various "magical" techniques, the testimonies of Heraclides and Timaeus based on these statements, and the reaction to Empedocles by representatives of the Hippocratic school. For this we will have to turn both to doxographic evidence and to some treatises of the Hippocratic corpus — "Ancient Medicine", "The Sacred Disease" and "Decorum". The article examines what medicine was in antiquity, what was the reason for the institutionalization of the medical profession, and whether a clear disciplinary boundary could be drawn between medicine and natural philosophy at the time. These questions are included in the general discussion of the relation between religious and scientific views in the philosophy of Empedocles, as well as in the mentioned treatises of the Hippocratic corpus. In addition, the article attempts to interpret the story of the miraculous resurrection of the breathless by referring to contemporary research in the field of resuscitation.

All of us have an idea of the ideal conditions in which we would like to live. They will vary according to the degree of ambition and level of education. However, people have common wishes since we don't live in isolation (perhaps with rare exceptions) and we require guarantees from other people that they are willing to accept certain rules and conditions for the best possible coexistence. Plato was the first to look for such general or even necessary requirements to create an ideal social structure. He considers different aspects of social reality – the division of society into classes, the specifics of upbringing and education, even the physical structure of the city and its religion. The article is devoted to the consideration of religious practices, associated cult activities and holidays. In ancient Greece, religion permeated all areas of human life. It would be more correct to say that religion simply did not exist separately from everyday life. Of course, we can distinguish major religious events in the form of solemn organised processions marking the change of seasons, dedicated to the harvest or some other memorable dates. But more often, religious practices were tightly woven into people's lives, so that even political and military actions were accompanied by an offering to the gods or consultation with the oracle. Understanding the role that religious activity plays in educating citizens, Plato does not seek to create an entirely new popular religion, but as a philosopher interested in the common good, he begins to interpret the images of traditional Greek gods differently. He focuses most of his attention on Zeus, Dionysus and Aphrodite. By comparing traditional notions of the gods with the way Plato portrays them, we conclude that the philosopher has done serious work to rationalise their images. Zeus ceases to be a famous womanizer and head of Olympus, and acquires the traits of a creator, the only good god who is incapable of any evil or injustice. The raucous fun, dancing and intoxication that used to be the cause of many misfortunes and associated with Dionysus are now being declared useful in terms of testing strength and honesty on the one hand, and, on the other, are understood as a necessary means of getting rid of negative energy and bringing people together. The uncontrolled erotic desire sent by Aphrodite is seen by Plato as behavior that is unacceptable in the citizens of an ideal state, and so he develops the doctrine of the two Aphrodites, heavenly and vulgar, in which the heavenly Aphrodite is declared to be a certain stimulus that leads the soul to the supreme good.