Theatre, Healing, and Epiphany in the Ancient Mediterranean

Descrizione del progetto

Comprendere le antiche culture religiose del Mediterraneo

È opinione diffusa che la cultura europea abbia origine dalle antiche tradizioni greco-romane. I valori fondamentali della salute e della guarigione, tuttavia, appaiono più simili a quelli delle culture non occidentali contemporanee. Nell’antica Grecia, i sogni e le visioni erano parte integrante dei rituali di guarigione collegati ad Asklepios, il dio greco della medicina. Il progetto THEAM, finanziato dall’UE, definisce il rapporto tra rappresentazione drammatica, guarigione ed epifania nelle antiche culture del Mediterraneo, concentrandosi sui santuari isolani di Asklepios in Sicilia, nelle Cicladi e a Creta. Il progetto è volto a comprendere come le rappresentazioni rituali determinassero il contributo delle manifestazioni divine al processo di guarigione, il ruolo di fedeli meno conosciuti in questi rituali, il legame tra le pratiche antiche e i concetti di guarigione moderni, e le ripercussioni sociali delle antiche pratiche religiose.

Obiettivo

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.