TY - JOUR AU - Χανιώτης, Άγγελος PY - 1995/01/01 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Αμαρτίες, αρρώστιες και γιατρειές στη Μικρά Ασία στους πρώτους μεταχριστιανικούς αιώνες JF - Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών JA - DeltioKMS VL - 11 IS - 0 SE - Άρθρα DO - 10.12681/deltiokms.46 UR - https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/deltiokms/article/view/2427 SP - 13-44 AB - <p>The Greek inscriptions are an important source for the history of ancient<br />medicine. The rows, the reports of miraculous healings, and the confession<br />inscriptions reveal the attitudes of simple people toward illness and cures. This<br />article examines the confession inscriptions of Lydia and Phrygia (2nd-3rd cent.<br />AD), which attest the belief that illness (especially oracular diseases and mental<br />disorders) was a form of divine punishment, usually for a sacrilege. Although<br />scientific medicine was not unknown in these areas, the high costs of medical<br />treatment, the belief in the omnipotence of the local gods, and above all the belief<br />that cure could be attained only through expiation brought the villagers to the<br />local sanctuaries. There, the priests practiced a kind of «religious healing»,<br />applying incantations, oracles, sacrifices, purifications, and the ritual transfer of<br />the sin to a triad of animals. In this respect the confession inscriptions of Asia<br />Minor differ from the miraculour healings known from various Asklepieia<br />(Lebena, Epidauros, Pergamon), since the latter are closely related to contemporary<br />scientific medicine.</p> ER -