Reading the Asclepieion: Bibliotherapy as a practice integrating ancient modes of healing

Authors

  • Chris Cleave Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65828/w5170066

Keywords:

Ancient therapy, Asclepieia, Asclepieion, bibliotherapy, embodiment, everydaying, self-therapeutic

Abstract

Bibliotherapy is presented as one of six therapeutic modes of being-in-the-world that were concentrated in the Asclepieia, the holistic healing centres of Ancient Greece. An experiential exercise in therapeutic reading, alongside findings with present-day participants, is used to explore possible reasons for the centrality of bibliotherapy in the Ancient therapeutic practice and its continuing importance today in people's self-therapeutic experiences.

Full text available
Complete access to the full archive of articles is available with SEA membership. Existing members: please log in with your membership password to view full text. Non-members can buy a single article or issue by registering an account on this website, then selecting a padlocked full text button to purchase.

References

Achenbach, G.B. (2023). A Short Answer to the Question: What is philosophical practice? https://www.achenbach-pp.de/de/en_what_is_philosophical_practice.asp [Accessed on 19 June 2023.] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216430353.ch-1

Adams, M. (2019). An Existential Approach to Human Development. London: Palgrave.

Angelakis, A.N., Antoniou, G.P., Yapijakis, C. & Tchobanoglous, G. (2020). History of hygiene focusing on the crucial role of water in the Hellenic Asclepieia (i.e. Ancient Hospitals). Water. 12 (3): 754-770. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030754

Askitopoulou, H. (2015). Sleep and dreams: From myth to medicine in Ancient Greece. Journal of Anesthesia History. 1: 70-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janh.2015.03.001

Askitopoulou, H., Konsolaki, E., Ramoutsaki, I. A. & Anastassaki, M. (2002). Surgical cures under sleep induction in the Asclepieon of Epidauros. International Congress Series. 1242: 11-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0531-5131(02)00717-3

Buckley, P. & Galanter, M. (1979). Altered states of consciousness during psychotherapy: A historical and cultural perspective. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. 25 (2): 118-124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002076407902500207

Christopoulou-Aletra, H., Togia, A., & Variami, C. (2010). The 'smart' Asclepieon: A total healing environment. Archives of Hellenic Medicine. 27 (2): 259-263.

du Plock, S. (2005). 'Silent therapists' and 'the community of suffering': some reflections on bibliotherapy from an existential-phenomenological perspective. Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 16.2: 300-309. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/abr0je68

du Plock, S. (2013). Emily Dickinson: Metaphorical spaces and the divided self. Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 24.2: 268-280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/7txg3z11

du Plock, S. (2016a). Bibliotherapy and beyond: research as a catalyst for change in therapeutic practice. In Goss, S. & Stevens, C. (eds). Making research Matter: Researching for change in the theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy. London: Routledge: 85-155.

du Plock, S. (2016b). The therapeutic functions of literature and narrative. Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 27.1: 36-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/pdp5je59

du Plock, S. (2017). Everyday therapy: Putting the wonderment back into our daily lives. Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 28:1: 93-105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/vn099y89

Elmhirst, S. (2023). 'One billionaire at a time': Inside the Swiss clinics where the super-rich go for rehab. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/feb/23/one-billionaire-at-a-time-swiss-clinics-super-rich-rehab-therapy-paracelsus-kusnacht [Accessed on 20 June 2023.]

Euripide. (2006 [414BCE]). Ion. Bacchicstage. https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Ion.php [Accessed on 20 June 2023.]

Gignesthai. (2023). Third World Congress of Existential Therapy. Gignesthai: Hellenic Association for Existential Psychology. https://www.existentialworldcongress2023.gr/ [Accessed on 19 June 2023.] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119311003.ch3

GoogleEarth. (2023a). Royal Olympic Hotel and Temples of Apollo Delphinium and Kronos & Rhea Google. https://earth.google.com/web/search/Royal+Olympic+Hotel,+Athanasiou+Diakou,+Athens,+Greece/(@37.96802541,23.73242979.68.29762166a.272.77327303d.35v.0h.0t.0r/data=CigIJAogCigIJAogCiglGlRlbXBsZSBvZiBBc2NsZXBpdXMgYXQgRXBpZGF1cnVzLiBHb29nbGUgTWFwcy4gZnJvbSBodHRwczovL2dvby5nbC9tYXBzL0U2YWdKQnhnU3dVQU1TaXQ2IFtBY2Nlc3NlZCBvbiA5IEp1bmUgMjAyMy5d

GoogleEarth. (2023b). Temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus. Google Maps. from https://goo.gl/maps/E6agJBxgSwUAMSit6 [Accessed on 9 June 2023.]

Gutzwiller, K. (2009). Apelles and the painting of language. Revue de philologie, de littérature et d'histoire anciennes. LXXXIII (1): 39-63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/phil.831.0039

Heidegger, M. (2001 [1987]). Zollikon Seminars: Protocols, conversations, letters. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.

Holzhey-Kunz, A. (2014). Daseinsanalysis. London: Free Association Books.

Kierkegaard, S. (2008 [1849]). The Sickness Unto Death. London: Penguin Classics.

Limneos, P., Kostroglou, A., Sioutis, S., Markatos, K., Saranteas, T. & Mavrogenis, A.F. (2020). The Asclepian art of medicine and surgery. Int Orthop. 44: 2177-2183. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-020-04640-8

Mata, M.C. (2018). Drama as Dream: Sophoclean tragedy and the cult of Asclepius. University of New Mexico.

Mehnert, M.F. (2008). Statue of Asclepius, exhibited in the Museum of Epidaurus theatre. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepius#/media/File:Asklepios_-_Epidauros.jpg [Accessed on 19 June 2023.]

Meier, C.A. (2009). Healing Dream and Ritual: Ancient incubation and modern psychotherapy. Einsiedeln: Daimon.

Melfi, M. (2010). Rebuilding the myth of Asklepios at the sanctuary of Epidauros in the Roman period. In Rizakis, A.D. & Lepenioti, C.E. (eds). Roman Pelopennese III: Society, economy and culture under the Roman empire: Continuity and innovation. Athens: Diffusion de Boccard. 329-340.

Melfi, M. (2011). Ritual spaces and performances in the Asklepieia of Roman Greece. The Annual of the British School at Athens. 105: 317-338. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068245400000447

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2014 [1945]). Phenomenology of Perception. New York: Routledge.

Petridou, G. (2019). Literary remedies and rhetorical prescriptions in Aelius Aristides. Medicine and Paradoxography in the Ancient World. 81: 183-197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110661774-009

Ploeg, G. van der (2016). Reconstructing the sensory experience of Caracalla's supplication at the Pergamene Asclepieon. Exchanges. 3 (2): 185-198.

Psychogiou, O. (2012). Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus. Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2374 [Accessed on 5 June 2023.] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350197091.ch-4

Saliu, N., Maligari, A., Elezi, K. & Useini, U.M. (2016). From Asclepius to Ospedale: The evolution of space for healing from antiquity to the Age of Enlightenment. UBT International Conference. 1-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33107/ubt-ic.2016.74

Sartre, J-P. (1984). Merleau-Ponty [1]. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology. 15: 128-154.

Spinelli, E. (2015). Practising Existential Therapy: The relational world. (2nd edition). London: Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036235338

Strabo (2014 [20]). The Geography of Strabo. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tsoucalas, G., Kousoulis, A.A., Mariolis-Sapsakos, T. & Sgantzos, M. (2017). Trepanation practices in Asclepieia: Systematizing a neurosurgical innovation. World Neurosurgery. 103: 501-503. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2017.04.022

Voudouris, K., Yapijakis, C., Georgaki, M. & Angelakis, A.N. (2023). Historical issues of hydrotherapy in thermal-mineral springs of the Hellenic world. Sustainable Water Resource Management. 9: 24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-022-00802-1

West, M.L. (1986). The singing of hexameters: Evidence from Epidaurus. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 63: 39-46.

Published

2023-07-01

Cite This Article

Reading the Asclepieion: Bibliotherapy as a practice integrating ancient modes of healing. (2023). Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis, 34(2), 284-298. https://doi.org/10.65828/w5170066
Download: RIS · BibTeX

Articles by the same author(s)

Related articles