Contagio / Contaminazione

Abstract

Scholars of Greek and Roman science – and especially of ancient medicine – have been debating for several years which notions of ‘contagion’, i.e. the transmission of a disease from an individual to another, classical antiquity may have had. It is, for many reasons, an interesting question. On the one hand the ancients, whichever ancient civilization is taken into consideration, have conceived of nature and humanity in ways very different from our current ones, but also show, through various narrative forms, feelings and perceptions that can be similar to ours. On the other hand, such comparisons allow to refine our study tools as regards differences in mentality as well as the transformation lines of culture and language.