Project description
Understanding ancient Mediterranean religious cultures
European culture is widely believed to originate from Ancient Greco-Roman traditions. The core values of health and healing, however, are more comparable to contemporary non-Western cultures. In ancient Greece, dreams and visions were integral to healing and rituals associated with Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine. The EU-funded THEAM project explores the relationship among dramatic performance, healing, and epiphany in ancient Mediterranean cultures, focusing on the island sanctuaries of Asklepios in Sicily, the Cyclades, and Crete. The project aims to understand how ritual performance induced epiphanies contributing to the healing process, the role of lesser-known worshippers in these rituals, the connection between ancient practices and modern healing concepts, and the societal implications of ancient religious practices.
Objective
Concepts of medicine, health, and healing are now at the core of the global agenda due to the recent pandemic. In this context, a better understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of ancient and indigenous medical cultures is crucial. It is often assumed that contemporary European culture derives from the Ancient Greco-Roman one, but if we turn to core values such as health and healing we find out that in Greco-Roman antiquity they are much more comparable to many contemporary non-Occidental cultures than to the Western bio-medical paradigm . Dreams and visions were strongly connected to these concepts as they were used in the ritual of incubation, which brought devotees into visionary contact with the invisible to obtain healing or prophecies. Incubation was the distinctive feature of the cult of Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine. THEAM explores the relationship among dramatic performance, healing, and epiphany by contextualising such practices within the cultures of ancient Mediterranean. How did ritually-induced epiphanies spread in the Mediterranean as a tool for healing? What agency did thousands of unknown worshippers have in the dissemination of these ritual gestures? How are these ritual practices embedded in the design of sanctuaries and theatres? What was the role of islands in this historical phenomenon? How do this ancient practices relate to nowadays concepts of healing and health?
The case studies are the island sanctuaries of Asklepios in Sicily, the Cyclades, and Crete.
Ultimately, THEAM represents a valuable contribution to our understanding of ancient religious practices, their evolution, and their socio-economic implications. It offers a platform for innovative medical approaches that harness the power of performance as a therapeutic tool, such as psychodrama and psychotheatre, further enriching our comprehension of the intersections between ancient religion, medicine, and society.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-TALENTS-02
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11 635 ATHINA
Greece
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.