Mind and Madness in Ancient Greece: The Classical Roots of Modern Psychiatry

by Bennett Simon

BRAND NEW softcover, clean text, solid binding, NO remainders NOT ex-library slight shelfwear / storage-wear; WE SHIP FAST. Carefully packed and quickly sent. 201512351 The central problem in contemporary psychiatry is to understand and sort out the bewildering variety of ways in which we conceptualize the origins, nature, and treatment of mental illness. This book attempts to deal with that problem by exploring the thinking of Greek antiquity, a vital period in the history of psychiatry. Even defining the scope of modern psychiatry is a formidable task. Yet without some sense of what psychiatry is, it is impossible to write anything about its history, let alone use the past to illuminate the psychiatry we know today. I shall explore this difficulty and sketch some previous attempts to define the connection between ancient and modern psychiatry before going on to discuss in detail the ancient precursors and analogues of contempory models of mental illness. With an examination of Homer, the tragedians, Plato, and Hippocrates I explore the nature and origins of the two fundamental polarities in psychiatry the intrapsycic vesus the social model of the origins and treatment of mental disturbance, and the medical versus the psychological model. The application of all these models to the elucidation of one particular condition is presented in a case study of hysteria. I shall conclude with a consideration of the requirements for a synthesis of these divergent perspectives. --- excerpt from book's Preface We recommend selecting Priority Mail wherever available. (No shipping to Mexico, Brazil or Italy.)

Genres: Psychology, Collections

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly informative and useful to anyone interested in the Greek psyche in literature and philosophy.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stuff on the Homeric stuff. His take on the tragedies was a little to Freudy for me, and he fixated on Euripides. But perhaps I should read more Euripides.