Sacred Sneezes in Aristotle, Historia animalium I 11 and [Aristotle], Problemata physica XXXIII 7 & 9

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to shed light on three related Peripatetic texts that have received little scholarly attention: a passage in Aristotle’s Historia animalium I 11, on the nose, which mentions in passing that «sneezing […] is alone of breaths (πνευμάτων) a sign prophetic and sacred»; and, two chapters in pseudo-Aristotle, Problemata physica XXXIII, which ask and attempt to answer the question: why is sneezing (thought to be) sacred? An important issue distinguishing the latter from the former is the view that the head is the seat of reason.