Greek and Swedish ethnologists, anthropologists, psychiatrists and psychologists provide 11 essays which aim to describe how people handle pain culturally and how they define themselves and those around them. The essays take up life histories of people suffering pain, of those trying to come to grips with psychosomatic disorders, of children exposed to traumatic experiences, and of patients living with leprosy. They also discuss: the problems that people encounter when exposed to diagnosis of elevated cholesterol levels; how notions of masculinity have been forged through asceticism towards pain; and how death, body, pain, and suffering are interpreted in different cultural settings.