From Plants to Planets: Human and nonhuman Relations in Ancient Medicine

In this paper, I propose to discuss nature and the human in ancient Greek medicine through a parallel with notions of organicism in German idealism, with a focus on Friedrich Schelling. The unifying thread of the discussion will be questions formulated at the intersections of new materialism and the life sciences (e.g. Adrian Johnston, Prolegomena to Any Future Materialism, 2015) and more particularly the question of the emergence of subjectivity as a denaturalized instance that nevertheless remains immanent to physical substance.

This paper considers how Greek and Roman writers distinguish human and animal olfaction. I show that an episode from Diodorus Siculus’ Library enriches smell theory while questioning how normative categories—especially human and nonhuman, male and female—are constructed.

The study of zoopharmacognosy (animal self-medication) offers insight into the development of ancient pharmacopias. Most studies are based on the observation of wild animals who appear to be intentionally engaging in therapeutic behaviors. For instance, researchers observed chimpanzees choosing the bitter pith and leaves of non-nutritive plants apparently to control parasites and noted that humans in the region also used the same plants medicinally.

The doctrine of sympatheia, promulgated by Stoic philosophers such as Posidonius and explored in various genres of Greek and Latin literature, posits that all of the universe’s components, including human beings and their lives, exist in a network characterized by a constant state of interdependent tension and reciprocal interaction.