FROM ‘LION FACE’ TO ‘BUTTERFLY ERUPTION’: ZOOMORPHIC METAPHORS AS MESSENGERS OF FACIAL ANOMALIES

Abstract

Medicine contributes to every person’s health in terms of diagnosis, treatment or prevention of a disease. Hence, constructing the clinical picture and the diagnosis of a health condition and conveying complex technical information in a comprehensible language is of utmost importance. In this regard, medical professionals rely not only on Greco-Latin terms of Classical times, but also resort to metaphors to illuminate many facets of medical observations and clinical findings. These metaphors stem either from anthropomorphic or zoomorphic areas and act as primary interface between scientific thought and understanding. From this perspective, the present article examines the value of metaphor in medicine and through the employment of descriptive method, explores some of the most widespread zoomorphic metaphors, which denominate certain facial anomalies.