Zeus’ pain: did he experience a thunderclap headache?

Authors

  • Giuliano da Paz Oliveira
  • Thiago Mendes Barbosa
  • Giordanno Santana Mazza
  • Raimundo Pereira da Silva-Neto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46979/rbn.v56i3.38215

Keywords:

Neurologia

Abstract

Zeus is known as the king of the gods and god of the sky. His attributes are lightning and thunder and he is often depicted about to hurl them. According to Greek mythology, Zeus molested the titan Metis and decided to swallow her when she was pregnant, which resulted in an excruciating headache, only relieved after a craniotomy performed using Hephaestus’ axe. The result of this procedure was the birth of Athena, Zeus’ daughter. We conducted a combined analysis of some writings such as the classical mythological poem Theogony by Hesiod, and some other books that examine and retell myths and legends of ancient Greece, with medical papers on this topic, trying to characterize Zeus’ headache. Would it be possible to fit Zeus’ headache into the group of thunderclap headaches?

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Published

2020-09-18

Issue

Vol. 56 No. 3 (2020)

Section

Nota Histórica

License

Aceito para publicação, fica entendido que o trabalho torna-se propriedade permanente da RBN que reserva os direitos autorais do artigo publicado, permitindo, entretanto, sua posterior reprodução como transcrição, com a devida citação da fonte, mediante autorização prévia por escrito.