The thesis examines two of the most prominent forms of Ancient Greek medicine, rational and temple. These two forms put themselves in direct competition with each other and often tried to differentiate their form from the other. On the other hand the public often conflated these two types viewing them as one entity instead of two. The perception of Ancient Greeks was that the two forms were actually very similar and the temple practitioners and rational physicians were in many ways interchangeable.

This report examines the sectarian backdrop for Galen of Pergamum's medical epistemology. It considers the justificatory role that experience (empeiria) and theoretical accounts (logoi) play in Empiricist and Dogmatist epistemology in an attempt to track how Galen incorporates experience into theoretical accounts as a means by which to undergird them. Finally, it briefly considers the exiguous evidence for Methodism, Galen's main medical rivals in the Roman world and claims that Galen forges a middle path between these sects. / text

La notion de « bile », exprimée par le substantif χολή, représente l’un des plus importants et des plus célèbres concepts de la médecine hippocratique, inséparable dans la pensée moderne de la fameuse théorie humorale. Au premier abord, les choses semblent donc claires. Cependant, lorsqu’on se plonge dans la lecture des écrits hippocratiques, la notion de cholè s’avère moins simple et évidente. Notre analyse des textes hippocratiques montre, en effet, que la cholè diffère d’un traité à l’autre et que chaque auteur hippocratique élabore sa propre notion de cholè. Nous nous sommes posé alors la question de l’origine de ce concept médical, ainsi que de l’origine de son cadre, qui est la théorie humorale. Notre quête des origines nous a amenée jusqu’aux idées homérique de chólos et aristophanique de cholè, qui se présentent toutes les deux comme fondamentalement différentes de l’idée médicale de cholè, unissant en elles-mêmes les notions de substance et d’état d’esprit. C’est justement cet écart entre les concepts non-médicaux et les concepts médicaux qui nous a intéressée au plus haut point, car il permet de voir comment les médecins hippocratiques élaborent leurs idées et leur discours. L’essentiel de notre travail consiste, donc, en un examen approfondi des procédés par lesquels les hippocratiques s’approprient des idées non-médicales : ce qu’ils retranchent, ce qu’ils rajoutent et ce qu’ils remanient. Nous espérons ainsi mettre en évidence les chemins par lesquels passe la pensée médicale ancienne, dans son processus d’émancipation de la culture traditionnelle, mais aussi des autres « sciences » de l’époque, telle que la philosophie. / The notion of « gall », expressed by the noun χολή, is one of the most important as well as the most celebrated concepts of the hippocratic medicine, inseparable for the modern mind from the humoral theory. At first sight then, the idea of « gall » seems fairly obvious. However, reading hippocratic treatises in detail, one realizes that the notion of cholè turns out to be far more complex and intricate than expected. Our analysis of the most relevant hippocratic texts shows indeed that the concept of cholè varies according to the texts involved, as every author tends to develop his own concept of cholè. We tried to find out whether the complex nature of the medical concept known as cholè could be elucidated by a survey of its origins, and a survey of the origins of the humoral system as a whole. Our search for the origins of cholè has led us to the Homeric concept of chólos and to the Aristophanic concept of cholè. The prerequisites of both notions conspicuously differ from the medical concept of cholè, because they unite the substance with a state of mind. This discrepancy between medical and non-medical concepts was of utmost importance for us, since it helped to understand how hippocratic authors developed their ideas and their discourse. The main asset of our work consists, therefore, in an in-depth analysis of the ways in which hippocratic authors take over some non-medical ideas to frame concepts of their own : what are the components they cut out, add or modify. Our goal is to show how ancient medical thought proceeds, in its endeavour to emancipate itself from the tradition as well as from the other contemporary “sciences”, as philosophy.

Diseases of Women, Book I, is part of the Hippocratic Corpus of approximately seventy treatises, although different authors contributed to the writings, as is evident by slight changes in text. It is the first of three works by Hippocrates on gynaecological problems. Fifth century BC doctors did not dissect either humans or animals, so their theories were based purely on observation and experience. Book I deals with women who have problems with menstruation, either the lack of it or an excess, infertility and, when conception does take place, the threat of miscarriage and dealing with the stillborn child. Various remedies are given, including herbal infusions, vapour baths and mixtures that the modern day patient would shudder at, e.g. animal dung and headless, wingless beetles. One remedy, hypericum, or St John's Wort, used for depression, has become popular today as an alternative medicine. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (with specialisation in Ancient Languages and Cultures)

Diseases of Women, Book I, is part of the Hippocratic Corpus of approximately seventy treatises, although different authors contributed to the writings, as is evident by slight changes in text. It is the first of three works by Hippocrates on gynaecological problems. Fifth century BC doctors did not dissect either humans or animals, so their theories were based purely on observation and experience. Book I deals with women who have problems with menstruation, either the lack of it or an excess, infertility and, when conception does take place, the threat of miscarriage and dealing with the stillborn child. Various remedies are given, including herbal infusions, vapour baths and mixtures that the modern day patient would shudder at, e.g. animal dung and headless, wingless beetles. One remedy, hypericum, or St John's Wort, used for depression, has become popular today as an alternative medicine. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (with specialisation in Ancient Languages and Cultures)