What Shall We Do with the Drunken Greeks?: In Search of a Socio-Cultural Pathology of the Problematic Drinker in Ancient Greece

Were ancient Greek habitual drunks considered mentally ill? This thesis attempts to answer whether ancient Greek drinkers who did not drink according to the drinking rules of the social group they belonged to (and did so in an excessive fashion) were viewed as behaving in a pathological way from a socio-cultural point of view (to stress: not from a bio-medical one). The study heavily depends on research from the social sciences that focuses on the social function of alcohol consumption, mainly Douglas 1987, and concludes by saying that in ancient Greece certain social conditions that are crucial for a a socio-cultural pathology of problematic drinking to develop were absent in ancient Greek society. Therefore, it appears as improbable that a socio-cultural pathology for 'problematic drinking' was already conceptualised in the ancient Greek world. The aim of the thesis primarily was to contribute to the field of Classics that studies ancient mental illnesses and to attempt to provide...Show moreWere ancient Greek habitual drunks considered mentally ill? This thesis attempts to answer whether ancient Greek drinkers who did not drink according to the drinking rules of the social group they belonged to (and did so in an excessive fashion) were viewed as behaving in a pathological way from a socio-cultural point of view (to stress: not from a bio-medical one). The study heavily depends on research from the social sciences that focuses on the social function of alcohol consumption, mainly Douglas 1987, and concludes by saying that in ancient Greece certain social conditions that are crucial for a a socio-cultural pathology of problematic drinking to develop were absent in ancient Greek society. Therefore, it appears as improbable that a socio-cultural pathology for 'problematic drinking' was already conceptualised in the ancient Greek world. The aim of the thesis primarily was to contribute to the field of Classics that studies ancient mental illnesses and to attempt to provide more information on the ancient Greek mind and social world. However, the findings also underline that alcoholism, the modern pathology for problematic drinking, should not be perceived as a universal concept, but as a relative one that depends heavily on the current milieu of the modern world.Show less

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What Shall We Do with the Drunken Greeks? In Search of a Socio-Cultural Pathology of the Problematic Drinker in Ancient Greece