Full Description
Prometheus was punished by the supreme god Zeus for giving to mankind the Olympic fire with which they learned to think and feel. He was chained to a cliff in the Caucasus, where, to make matters worse, he was visited daily by an eagle who ate part of his liver. At night, however, his liver grew back. We now know that the liver can regenerate, but were the ancient Greeks aware of this quality? The myth of Prometheus has been a source of inspiration for many visual artists over the centuries. In this book, the medical history of the liver is traced through the ages through an examination of historical texts on the organ's functions and properties, parallel to the art movements in which the fascinating iconography of Prometheus is reviewed. The book offers a surprising interplay of art and medicine, placing emphasis on the unique morphology of the liver.
Contents
Introduction
The Prometheus myth
The depiction of Prometheus in classical antiquity
The liver according to the ancient Greeks and the etruscans
The haruspex and Hepatoscopy
Prometheus in the Middle Ages
The liver in the in the Middle Ages, according to Galenus
Prometheus in the Renaissance
The liver in the renaissance as described by Reisch, Vesalius and Da Vinci
Prometheus in the Baroque
The wounds of christ and prometheus - two of a kind?
The liver in the Baroque, according to van der Spiegel, Glisson and Bidloo
Prometheus and modernity
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: or the modern Prometheus
The liver in the enlightenment
The 20th century Prometheus
Liver surgery and liver regeneration
Regeneration of the Hydra polyp
Acknowledgements
On the Authors
Image descriptions
Bibliography
