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Darrera modificació: 2025-09-10
Bases de dades: Sciència.cat
Freni, Giulia, "The Controversial Contempt for Perfumes and Ointments in Byzantium", dins: Oberhelman. Steven M. (ed.), Tome 3: Remedies. Pharmacy, Drugs, Archaeology, Tradition, Berlín, De Gruyter (Medical Traditions, 6-3), 2025, pp. 175-192.
- Resum
- This article intends to analyze the perception of perfumes and ointments in Byzantium by considering the lack of interest in these substances, on the one hand, and, on the other, by reassessing the evidence about their frequent use and production. It is generally said that in the Byzantine world, there was a general contempt for perfumes, ointments, and those who produced and sold them, the μυρεψοί and μυροπῶλαι. This attitude, also accompanied by a lack of interest in the art of perfumery, is probably inherited from the ancient Greek world: at that time these professions were not socially considered because they were carried out by foreigners (and by slaves in Rome).However, some exceptions could overturn this idea, first, thanks to a person-ality who had a special predilection for aromatic substances: no other than the Empress Zoe Porphyrogenita. Second, use of oils, incenses, and fumigations in court and religious ceremonies is attested by reliable sources from Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus's De ceremoniis aulae byzantinae (On Ceremonial Protocols at the Byzantine Court) to ecclesiastic documents.
- Matèries
- Medicina - Farmacologia
- URL
- https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110780062-008
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