Medicalizing heresy: Doctors and patients in Epiphanius of Salamis

Abstract

In his Panarion, or Medicine Chest, the fourth-century bishop Epiphanius of Salamis makes extensive use of medical metaphors, consistently comparing heretics to dangerous and venomous animals, whose poisons and bites can be cured by the author's salutary guidance. To emphasize the power of the Panarion, Epiphanius compares his work to that of earlier authors on medicine, poisons and antidotes, most notably the Hellenistic poet Nicander of Colophon. This article argues that, contrary to the conclusions of Jürgen Dummer and prevailing scholarly opinion, Epiphanius may have engaged directly with Nicander's writings, rather than encountering some of their content through a later epitomizing handbook, and that his medical analogies for heresiology should not be dismissed as mere rhetorical window-dressing. It also explores how Epiphanius used this comparison to construct an authorial persona as an expert in the field, a man who could correctly distinguish the many genera and species of heresy and should be recognized as the best possible guide to avoiding and counteracting its dangers. He also presented himself as an experienced and successful practitioner in a manner similar to the second-century CE physician Galen, as well as celebrating his own exposure and defeat of more dangerous and unscrupulous rivals.