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The ancient Greek poet Sappho and the first case report of the fight-or-flight response

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Abstract

Sappho has always been regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets of ancient Greece. Her famous poem Fragment 31 V., also known as the “Ode to Jealousy”, accurately describes the profound emotional reaction triggered by the sight of her beloved. The poet’s precise description of each sign and symptom triggered by this arousal makes Sappho 31 V., to the best of our knowledge, the first analytical description of the acute stress response, the so-called “fight-or-flight” response, in human history. Here, Fragment 31 V. is re-read from a medical point of view, correlating the ancient Greek lyric text, the corresponding medical terms, and the underlying catecholamine mechanism of action.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Sarah Jane Christopher for her linguistic revision of the text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, Catholic University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Giampaolo Papi, Rosa Maria Paragliola, Salvatore Maria Corsello & Alfredo Pontecorvi

  2. Unit of Endocrinology, Azienda USL Modena, Modena, Italy

    Giampaolo Papi

  3. Unità Operativa S.D. Di Endocrinologia, Azienda USL Modena, Via S. Giovanni del Cantone 21, 41100, Modena, Italy

    Giampaolo Papi

  4. Institute of Romance Studies, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany

    Valentina Cuomo

  5. Unit of Psychiatry, Azienda USL Modena, Modena, Italy

    Enrico Tedeschini

  6. Fondazione Policlinico “Gemelli” IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Rosa Maria Paragliola, Salvatore Maria Corsello & Alfredo Pontecorvi

Authors
  1. Giampaolo Papi
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  2. Valentina Cuomo
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  3. Enrico Tedeschini
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  4. Rosa Maria Paragliola
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  5. Salvatore Maria Corsello
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  6. Alfredo Pontecorvi
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Correspondence to Giampaolo Papi.

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Papi, G., Cuomo, V., Tedeschini, E. et al. The ancient Greek poet Sappho and the first case report of the fight-or-flight response. Hormones 20, 819–823 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42000-021-00290-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42000-021-00290-6

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