Surgical cures under sleep induction in the Asclepieion of Epidauros
2002; Elsevier BV; Volume: 1242; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0531-5131(02)00717-3
ISSN1873-6157
AutoresHelen Askitopoulou, Eleni Konsolaki, Ioanna A. Ramoutsaki, Maria Anastassaki,
Tópico(s)Classical Antiquity Studies
ResumoStone inscriptions of cures in the sanctuaries of Asklepios, the Greek god physician and surgeon, describe the ritual act of "enkoimesis," a dream-like state of sleep induction practiced in these shrines. While in this state, the patients waited to receive a dream vision of the god who would either give medical advice or even cure them by surgery. In the Asclepieion of Epidauros, three large marble boards, dated ca. 350 BC, preserve the names, case histories, complaints and cures of about 70 patients who came to the temple with a problem and shed it there. Several of these therapies were undertaken while the sufferer was in the state of "enkoimesis." Four surgical cures, opening of an abdominal abscess, removal of traumatic foreign bodies from the jaw, thorax and eyelid are technically simple and realistic enough to have actually taken place, but with the help of soporific substances and most probably opium, given to the sufferers before the act of "enkoimesis." An important archaeological finding was that the coffers presenting poppy flowers, which ornament the marble ceiling of a sanctuary building, provides indirect evidence about the use of opium to facilitate medical and surgical interventions undertaken in this inner area of the sanctuary.
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