Hippocrates and the Magicians

This chapter revisits the ancient clash between the Hippocratic physicians and the “magicians, purifiers, charlatans and quacks” whom they opposed. What, precisely, is the nature of this schism? Some scholars frame the divide as one between naturalism and supernaturalism. But classical scholarship puts this reading into question, for the Hippocratics, too, invoke divinity, purification, and prayer. The chapter suggests that we frame the clash as one between dysteleology and teleology. The Hippocratics were wedded to the idea that madness, and disease generally, happens when something inside of a person cannot perform its correct function. The magicians and purifiers, in contrast, thought of madness as embodying a divine strategy, and more specifically, a punishment for offending the gods. Hence, the tension between madness-as-dysfunction and madness-as-strategy is already prefigured in the classical era. In a sense, this book can be read as a long-overdue apologia for the magicians and purifiers.