Une «cuisine» guérisseuse avec des animaux dans le monde gréco-romain : éliminer, découper, transférer

Thomas Galoppin

Abstract:

This paper considers animals as remedies (pharmaka) in Greek and Roman Antiquity: that is, as acting substances at the nexus of ritual and medicine. Some pharmaka made of entire animals or animal parts seem, at first sight, to work on the magical principle of “transfer”, implying a belief in the passing of diseases from the patient to the pharmakon. But this notion of “transfer” itself is rarely found in ancient documentation. The texts show a common scheme in these remedies and ancient rituals (especially purification rituals). This ritual scheme works on the analogical treatment of the disease or the impurity through the applicationof the pharmakon and its elimination. When the idea of a “transfer” is made explicit, it shows a development in the transmission of knowledge towards a de-ritualization of the remedies.