Dissection in Classical Antiquity
A Social and Medical History

Comprehensive study of the social and medical history of dissection in classical antiquity and the parallel development of anatomical texts.

Claire Bubb (Author)

9781009159470, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 December 2022

412 pages, 10 colour illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm, 0.71 kg

'An excellent, comprehensive exploration of the evolution, practice, and knowledge-transfer of dissection in Greco-Roman antiquity … Readers with less background in the topic may be tempted to leave off at the end of Part I, and indeed this will satisfy the basic requirements for proficiency on the topic. While Part II can feel a little daunting with its emphasis on textual survey, I would urge all readers to persist with this part as well, since it amounts to a richly rewarding and fascinating exploration of intellectual and textual transmission, exchange, and competition among the ancient anatomists.' Julia Horn, Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society

Dissection is a practice with a long history stretching back to antiquity and has played a crucial role in the development of anatomical knowledge. This absorbing book takes the story back to classical antiquity, employing a wide range of textual and material evidence. Claire Bubb reveals how dissection was practised from the Hippocratic authors of the fifth century BC through Aristotle and the Hellenistic doctors Herophilus and Erasistratus to Galen in the second century AD. She focuses on its material concerns and social contexts, from the anatomical subjects (animal or human) and how they were acquired, to the motivations and audiences of dissection, to its place in the web of social contexts that informed its reception, including butchery, sacrifice, and spectacle. The book concludes with a thorough examination of the relationship of dissection to the development of anatomical literature into Late Antiquity.

1. Introduction
Part I. Practice: 2. Dissection in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods
3. Dissection in the Roman Period
4. Practical Considerations of the Dissector
5. The Broader Social Contexts of Dissection
Part II. Text: 6. Anatomical Texts of the Classical and Hellenistic Periods
7. Anatomical Texts of the Roman Period
8. Galenic Anatomy before Anatomical Procedures
9. Galen's Anatomical Procedures and its Innovations
10. Epilogue: A Waxing and Waning Art.

Subject Areas: History of medicine [MBX], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]