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Public evening lecture: Prof. Dr. Liba Taub (University of Cambridge / Forschungsinstitut des Deutschen Museums): Talking about medicine: sympotic conversations in ancient Greece and Rome

Lecture at the annual conference of the “Marburg Talks on Ancient Medicine”

Veranstaltungsdaten

We cordially invite you to the public evening lecture of the 5th annual meeting of the “Marburg Talks on Ancient Medicine”. Prof. Dr. Liba Taub of the University of Cambridge and the research institute of the Deutsches Museum.

Abstract: 

Ancient historians have devoted a great deal of work to studying the drinking and dinner parties known as symposia, using many types of historical evidence: epigraphical, archaeological, and literary. In the 1980s, Oswyn Murray, inspired by contemporary anthropology, described the symposion as a select all-male group bound by mutual obligation and shared activity. One of the most important—indeed, characteristic—activities of the symposium was conversation. Some conversations were witty and entertaining, others were serious and even philosophical. I am intrigued by the setting of the symposium as a site of knowledge production, reception, and negotiation.
The human body, health, and disease were topics of discussion.  Was medical knowledge being pursued or developed at symposia?  The setting of the symposium was by its very nature a very social one; the pursuit of knowledge there was not a lone activity, but one that was mediated and shared.
How important is this particular social setting for understanding ancient discussions of the body, health, and disease? For my talk, my chief informant is Plutarch, who in the Table-Talk (Quaestiones convivales) describes in detail a number of conversations on a broad range of topics, including some which might be classified as medical and/or scientific. I will review some of the subjects discussed relating to health and disease, asking what is accomplished by choosing the discursive and dialogic setting.

A registration is encouraged, but not mandatory.

For questions and registrations please contact Marta Chervinka (ag-mgah@staff.uni-marburg.de).

More information about the lecture can be found here. Information about the annual meeting can be found here.

We look forward to your attendance!