Medicine for Body or Soul? Philosophical Reconstruction of the Role of Music in Ancient Healing

The article examines the bond between the soul and the body in the light of ancient musical practices and expounds on the divergence between the philosophical distinction between body and soul, and the widespread belief in their affinity, which has a medical, as well as a religious, background. This divergence is particularly evident in the testimonies regarding the use of music in the so-called Pythagorean way of life. These testimonies seem to be related to an ancient holistic approach, which regards bodily well-being as inseparable from psychical balance.