Gout Research Paper

In terms of modern medicine Gout is a metabolic disease that results from the body’s inability to rid itself of urate crystals forming on bone joints, resulting in redness and inflammation that causes extreme, prolonged agony. However, this definition differs greatly from its perception in antiquity. Gout was often seen as a rich man’s disease due to its presence primarily in those who were able to afford and ingest copious amounts of rich foods and alcoholic beverages. In ancient times this disease developed an incredibly interesting pathography due to the common perception that its diagnosis gave insight into a person’s character. This disease developed a metaphorical meaning due to the lack of information about it so when people would start

In hearing the numerous accounts of gout through ancient literature I was astounded at the variety of interpretation and implications that a rather common disease could have. In many examples of gout, it had rather negative implications linked to morals and character, revealing an extreme stigma surrounding the disease. I was surprised that many sources from ancient literature portrayed it in a negative fashion after linking it to the wealthy as a result of extreme consumption due to corruption. It seemed to be the extreme austerity of previous generations condemning the more recent generations of wealthy citizens for their degenerating morals and debauchery. I previously hadn’t seen a lot of societal critique in ancient literature and so I was amazed when some of the “gout jokes” from ancient authors criticized the aristocracy for their gluttony. Many of these moralizing authors in fact said that the gout was a form of punishment for their condemnable actions. Yet one of their contemporaries, Libanius, provided the counter thought that you could not blame wealth alone for gout, instead lamenting its inevitability. It seemed than many of the sources of information on gout in antiquity came from poetic sources due perhaps to its malleability of its meaning. For some poets Gout as a physical disability even helped them due to their need to spend a lot of time in bed and

I think that Professor Mulligan did an excellent job of using a plethora of primary sources in addition to contextualizing and explaining them thoroughly. There seemed to be a lack of secondary sources, yet I am aware that there may not be many other scholars studying and producing work on such a specific topic. I was sad that there were not many examples of gout in ancient art shown in the presentation, however that could be due to an overall lack of representation in an area that is mainly portrays deities and other important figures and events from antiquity therefore a romanticization of ancient life wouldn’t necessarily include gout. The material itself was presented in an ideal manner so that anyone could see it, however I thought some of the clever nuances Professor Mulligan made may have been overlooked due to the speed he talked at. The lecture as a whole stayed true to its title, however I think it could have been taken a step further by relating the pathography of gout to what is seen in modern day, like that of mental illness. Despite these few flaws, the lecture was surprisingly captivating and covered much about the topic in the span of only one hour. (634