ANCIENT GREEK
MEDICINE
Jonathon Erlen, Ph.D.
We cannot really talk about
medical "science" in these 2
civilizations, as their approach
to ill health and medicine was
religious rather than scientific
as we use this term today.
We must, however, be very
careful not to overstate the
views and contributions of
ancient Greek medicine. Their
anatomical and physiological
opinions did not directly lead
to modern Western medicine.
In fact, much of the Greek
medical legacy would actually
hinder the evolution of medical
science in the Western world.
Ancient Greek society was
built around the polis , or citystate, such as Athens and
Sparta. The polis was roughly
the size of one of our current
counties and contained one
major city or town.
HOMER
His 2 epic works were the
Illiad and the Odyssey
Homer continued the
Mesopotamian and Egyptian
theory of disease causation by
blaming diseases on divine
intervention by the gods.
The first recorded natural
philosopher of Miletus was
Thales, whom we can say
flourished in 580 B.C. Thales
was a wealthy man who had
made a fortune selling olive
presses and then retired.
THALES
In retirement this philosopher
speculated about the nature of
"being", in other words what
was Physis [pronounced
foosis] or the nature of nature.
What caused or was necessary
for life?
Thales postulated that all life
came from hudor, which is
Greek for water
Thales' idea was ridiculed by
following philosophers over
the next century who came up
with their own definitions of
physis, of being.
Fire
Fire
Air
Earth
Empedocles
EMPEDOCLES’ 4
ELEMENTS
WATER
EARTH
FIRE
AIR
PLATO
In one of his books, Timaeus,
Plato discusses the basis of
good health and the cause of
diseases, saying they both
depended on the appropriate
balance of the 4 elements,
proper nutrition, and proper
respiration.
PLATO
Plato did break with Empedocles'
teachings concerning the site of
intelligence in the body. While
Empedocles had place this
location in the heart, Plato claimed
that intelligence was located in the
brain. Plato also credited the
blood with providing nutrition
throughout the body.
PLATO
Plato had no first hand medical
experience and never dissected
animals-he based his medical theories
on his studies of the writings of earlier
medical authorities and natural
philosophers, the works of
contemporary medical authors, and
tied these views together with his own
physical theory of the universe, thus
creating a systematic and detailed
medical theory for his time.
ARISTOTLE
ARISTOTLE
ALEXANDER THE
GREAT
ARISTOTLE
ARISTOTLE
TELEOLOGY
Nature with a Purpose
ARISTOTLE
ARISTOTLE
HIPPOCRATES OF
COS
HIPPOCRATES OF COS
HIPPOCRATES OF
COS
HIPPOCRATES OF
COS
SOCRATES
ASCELPIADS
They were iatros, Greek
physicians, who were
members of the guild
dedicated to Asclepios, the
healing god of ancient
Greece.
HIPPOCRATES OF COS
COANS
The Coans tended to consider
the whole person to a greater
extent in making their
diagnoses and to make a
synthesis of the symptoms they
observed.
COANS
The Coans prescribed
more systemic
treatments.
CNIDIANS
The Cnidians were more
inclined to consider individual
symptoms as diseases onto
themselves.
CNIDIANS
As a corollary to their
diagnostic ideas the Cnidian
iatros used more local
treatments.
HIPPOCRATES OF COS
4 CARDINALHUMORS
• BLOOD
• YELLOW BILE
• BLACK BILE
• PHLEGM
HIPPOCRATES OF COS
EUCRASIA
DYSCRASIA
EMPEDOCLES’ 4
ELEMENTS
WATER
EARTH
FIRE
AIR
DYSCRASIA
HUMORAL SYSTEM
OF DISEASE
CAUSATION
IATROS
IATROS
IATROS
POLIS IATROS
IATREION
HIPPOCRATES OF COS
RHIZOTOMISTS
THERAPEUTICS
DIETARY CHANGES
REST AND EXERCISE
PHARMACA
CHEIRURGIA
DIETARY CHANGES
REST AND
EXERCISE
PHARMACA
CHEIRURGIA
HIPPOCRATES OF COS
WOUND SALVE
PROGNOIS
HIPPOCRATES OF COS
AMERICAN
MEDICAL
ASSOCIATION
HIPPOCRATES OF COS