Tarantism

Tarantism is a historical phenomenon observed in parts of Southern Italy between the 15th and 17th centuries, characterized by episodes of intense, frenzied dancing, tremors, and other symptoms attributed to the bite of a tarantula spider. The term tarantism derives from the tarantella, a fast-paced folk dance that became associated with the cure for the condition.

Traditional accounts attributed the illness to the bite of Lycosa tarantula, with symptoms including convulsions, fever, sweating, and sleep disturbances. The social and religious context, including feasts, collective celebrations, and devotional rituals, played a role in how the condition spread and was treated. Treatments typically involved prescribed dances, vigorous music, and rest; physicians sometimes prescribed specific diets or tonics, and religious leaders offered prayers and exorcisms.

Modern scholars view tarantism as a psychosocial or sociogenic illness, likely a form of mass hysteria or a culturally structured illness triggered by stressors, with dancing serving as a socially sanctioned catharsis. The phenomenon is linked to the development of the tarantella, a regional dance form that persists in Italian culture as a musical-dance tradition. Some historians emphasize that tarantism reflected the social, economic, and religious landscape of early modern southern Italy rather than a medical disease.

Although no longer considered a medical condition, tarantism remains a subject of study in medical history and ethnomusicology as an example of how culture shapes the experience and treatment of illness.