Divine Mania: Alteration of Consciousness in Ancient Greece by Yulia Ustinova

Abstract

Reviewed by: Divine Mania: Alteration of Consciousness in Ancient Greece by Yulia Ustinova William Tortorelli Yulia Ustinova. Divine Mania: Alteration of Consciousness in Ancient Greece. London: Routledge, 2018. xvi + 395 pp. Cloth, £125. Ustinova builds on the growing interest in cognitive science approaches to Greek religious thought. This monograph displays careful attention to philological detail and a wide range of theoretical toolkits, founded on the interdependence of humanity's biological and cultural dimensions. Ustinova begins her book with several missions. First, regarding Plato's description (Phaedrus 244a) of god-sent madnesses that are a benefit to human-kind, she reacts to a few old opinions. Padel (Whom Gods Destroy, 1995) doubted that any of Plato's contemporaries would have shared his idea that madness can be a blessing. Ustinova counters this by finding every example of god-sent mania in other writers from the 7th to 4th centuries. She argues that "many Greeks valued [mania] and sought to experience it in various contexts" (2). Second, Ustinova establishes that this is a good time for us to look to the Greeks for an understanding of how we deal with altered mental states today. Her starting point is somewhat exaggerated, though. It is no longer true that "In our society, the idea that deviation from the normal state of consciousness may be beneficial is still considered by many extravagant, if not preposterous" (ix). In fact, this investigation of the benefits of madness for the Greeks comes at a time when intentional alteration of consciousness (whether pharmacologically or [End Page 724] through meditation, yoga, or other physical means) is in the mainstream rather than the counterculture. Psychologists are now finding uses for altered mental states in the treatment of various mental maladies (see Michael Pollan's recent book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, 2018). Ustinova is reacting to a perceived tendency in many modern societies to treat altered consciousness only as a medical problem. She associates the more open attitude with what she calls "traditional" cultures: "In historical and cultural situations different from the modern Western norm, people take for granted that a person may be out of his or her mind, but not crazy" (ix). But one point of meditation is the loss of self. We recognize the benefit of an athlete's being "in the zone," often described as a disembodied experience. Nonetheless, most readers will agree with her that there is something counterintuitive in the notion that madness can be a good thing. I used this book in a spring 2019 course on "Madness and Wine in the Ancient World," giving chapters to individual students for presentation to the class (I owe thanks, in particular, to Rhett Underwood, Caroline Crounse, Kristin Dupree, Andrew Kooning, and Jared Gibbs). The format of having notes and bibliography following each chapter facilitated this (although it is not without problems for those reading the book as a whole). My students found their chapters clear, comprehensible, and well organized. Ustinova's findings soundly confirm her theory that the Greeks of the Archaic and Classical periods appreciated the benefits of mania. Rather than summarize her findings in each individual chapter, I shall address the wrinkles that my students found most interesting. The first chapter explores prophetic mania. Prophecy is divided into direct connection to the divine and indirect communication through observing signs. A truly inspired mantis is seized by the god and provides prophecy superior to that of the prophētēs who merely interprets omens. Ustinova draws much of the Greek attitude toward prophecy from Cicero's De divinatione. She acknowledges that Plato's contemporaries did not always maintain this distinction between the two types as held by Plato and Cicero. While the truly inspired prophet is usually associated with Apollo, Ustinova notes the importance of thuiades in Delphi. Ecstatic Dionysian ritual may have identified candidates for ecstatic Apollonian prophecy. She elucidates the nature of this candidacy (susceptibility to an induced trance state). As for the book's intention of demonstrating the "blessings" of madness, this chapter leaves some confusion. Prophetic mania is the sole province of the inspired...