Remembering to Predict, Classifying to Remember. Two Aspects of the Use of Memory in Ancient Medicine

Abstract

The aim of the research is to examine two aspects of the use of memory in ancient medicine: a theoretical-methodological one (in Hippocratic texts) and a more technical one in the pharmacology of the imperial age. In the first case memory is the basis for recording symptoms, which must be collected and examined by the λογισμός (theoretical reasoning) in order to formulate the prognosis; the λογισμός is defined as a kind of memory that collects data grasped with perception and stores them up in itself and remembers (Precepts chap. 1). Pharmacology to facilitate mnemonic learning and the consultation of texts can follow various systems: the classification of φάρμακα according to the properties, supported by Dioscorides or the classification according to the alphabetical order approved by Galen or finally can use verses.