Contagion, Corruption, and Concepts of Disease in Ancient Medicine

Daryn Lehoux ( Queen's University)

Dates: Monday, 31/03/2025
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: F09.331. Madsen Building. Madsen Seminar Room 331
How to register: Free, no registration required

Abstract: It seems remarkable to us, today, that ancient physicians appear not to have recognized that many--or even some--diseases are contagious. That being said, there is an undercurrent of popular sentiment detectable in ancient non-medical literature that does seem to make the connection. This paper will explore that undercurrent, teasing out the mechanisms proposed for contagion (or written between the lines) to ask whether we can, and ultimately whether we should, then turn our attention back to speculate on why ancient physicians disregarded contagion.

Bio: Daryn Lehoux is Professor and Department Head of Classics and Archaeology, as well as Professor of Philosophy at Queen's University. He is the author of What Did the Romans Know? An Inquiry into Science and Worldmaking (Chicago, 2012), Creatures Born of Mud and Slime: The Wonder and Complexity of Spontaneous Generation (Johns Hopkins, 2017), Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World (Cambridge, 2007), and the forthcoming Corruption and Progress in Ancient Science (Princeton) and Ancient Science (Chicago).