Ocular Diseases in Ancient Greek Art
Although ancient Greek physicians studied a great number of ocular diseases in their medical texts such as glaucoma, cataract, trachoma, chalazion, trichiasis, entropion, ectropion and pterygion, in ancient Greek art there were only few examples which represent ophthalmic diseases. These examples...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
2016-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Research on History of Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://rhm.ir/index.php/rhm/article/view/228 |
| Summary: | Although ancient Greek physicians studied a great number of ocular diseases in their medical texts such as glaucoma, cataract, trachoma, chalazion, trichiasis, entropion, ectropion and pterygion, in ancient Greek
art there were only few examples which represent ophthalmic diseases.
These examples are found especially in portraits, and the ophthalmological disease is an important feature of the portrait of a depicted person. A
majority of these portraits date back to Hellenistic times except for few
examples dated in prehistoric years. Although votive limbs in the form
of eyes were a common dedication in the shrines of ancient healing gods
as the shrines of Asklepios and Amphiaraos, one could expect the presentations of ocular diseases; all these had no pathological sings. Nevertheless, these representations of ocular diseases should be distinguished
from the monstrous fgures of ancient Greek mythology which remind of
ophthalmological pathologies such as the Cyclops who had one eye and
Argos Panoptis with more than two, because these are fantastic fgures
of mythology far from reality |
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| ISSN: | 2251-886X 2251-886X |