The Text as Doctor and Patient

Body and Grammar in Galen and Gellius

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63872/JBBP9284

Keywords:

Galen, Gellius, medical texts, grammar

Abstract

This study explores the metatextual parallels between bodily and textual processes in the writings of Galen and Aulus Gellius. The overlay of medical and grammatical discourse is not merely rhetorical but constitutes a cognitive schema in which texts can fall ill, require treatment, or serve therapeutic purposes themselves. The analysis shows that such analogies operate beyond literary playfulness: they reflect broader Roman strategies of cultural selfunderstanding. By conceptualizing grammar and medicine as overlapping domains, these authors exemplify how knowledge systems in antiquity were interrelated.

Author Biography

Jessica Lightfoot

Jessica Lightfoot is a classical philologist and assistant professor at the Department of Classics, Ancient History, and Archaeology at the University of Birmingham. Her research focuses on the literary and scientific history of Greece and Rome. Her current work centers on the ancient scientific tradition, particularly in the fields of paradoxography, geography, zoology, medicine, and astronomy.

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Published

2025-09-11

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 3–4 (2024): Myth and Drama

Section

Tanulmányok

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Copyright (c) 2024 Jessica Lightfoot

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.