Derek Collins, in Magic in the Ancient Greek World, devotes much of his second chapter to the Sacred Disease and its magical or divine connections. When Hercules suffered an epileptic seizure, Lussa, a goddess of madness, entered his body, according to the ancient stories. This made epilepsy a type of possession. Purification was the preferred method of treating such a defilement as possession, although not all possessions were considered dirty: Apollo "possessed" the Pythian priestess when she uttered her predictions; however, the Pythian priestess was simply enhanced, not defiled. Hercules expiated his crimes and defilement through his 12 Labors.
In the third chapter of his book on ancient Greek magic, Collins quotes Plutarch about infant exposure, the practice of letting an unwanted infant lie outside in the elements and so die. Plutarch says the Spartans bathed infants in wine in order to induce epileptic convulsions, if the newborns were so inclined. If they convulsed, they would be exposed at the foot of a mountain at the Apothetai (the exposure place).
