Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. The Greek term for medicine was iatrikē (). Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specifically, the ancient Greeks believed health was affected by the humors, geographic location, social class, diet, trauma, beliefs, and mindset. Early on the ancient Greeks believed that illnesses were "divine punishments" and that healing was a "gift from the Gods". As trials continued wherein theories were tested against symptoms and results, the pure spiritual beliefs regarding "punishments" and "gifts" were replaced with a foundation based in the physical, i.e., cause and effect.
Asclepieia
Asclepius was espoused as the first physician, and myth placed him as the son of Apollo. Temples dedicated to the healer-god Asclepius, known as Asclepieia (; sing. Ἀσκληπιεῖον Asclepieion), functioned as centers of medical advice, prognosis, and healing. At these shrines, patients would enter a dream-like state of induced sleep known as "enkoimesis" () not unlike anesthesia, in which they either received guidance from the deity in a dream or were cured by surgery. Asclepeia provided carefully controlled spaces conducive to healing and fulfilled several of the requirements of institutions created for healing. The Temple of Asclepius in Pergamum had a spring that flowed down into an underground room in the Temple. People would come to drink the waters and to bathe in them because they were believed to have medicinal properties. Mud baths and hot teas such as chamomile were used to calm them or peppermint tea to soothe their headaches, which is still a home remedy used by many today. The patients were also encouraged to sleep in the facilities. Their dreams were interpreted by the doctors and their symptoms were then reviewed. Dogs would occasionally be brought in to lick open wounds for assistance in their healing. In the Asclepieion of Epidaurus, three large marble boards dated to 350 BC preserve the names, case histories, complaints, and cures of about 70 patients who came to the temple with a problem and shed it there. Some of the surgical cures listed, such as the opening of an abdominal abscess or the removal of traumatic foreign material, are realistic enough to have taken place, but with the patient in a state of enkoimesis induced with the help of soporific substances such as opium.
The Rod of Asclepius is a universal symbol for medicine to this day. However, it is frequently confused with Caduceus, which was a staff wielded by the god Hermes. The Rod of Asclepius embodies one snake with no wings whereas Caduceus is represented by two snakes and a pair of wings depicting the swiftness of Hermes.
Neurology in ancient Greece While neurology did not formally emerge as a discipline until the 17th century with Thomas Willis, foundational neurological ideas and observations are evident in ancient Greek writings such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. Neurological thinking is prevalent in ancient Greece, beginning with Homers descriptions of the brain and head. In the Iliad, Homer describes battle injuries and neurological conditions that were not yet classified as neurology, but reflect neurological ideas. Homer frequently describes head injuries sustained in battle and notes that damage to the brain leads to confusion and disorientation. This is seen when he writes So, stung with agony the horse leapt on high as the arrow sank into his brain, and he threw into confusion horses and car as he writhed upon the bronze.
Homer did not specifically define the brain as an organ with a specific function in the nervous system, however, the word enkephalos, meaning "brain" appears several times in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Throughout these passages, he acknowledges the brain and its importance, but does not assign it a distinct function.
The concept of vascular neurology also appears in Homer's Iliad. Several references to what is now known as amourosis fugax or temporary loss of vision are seen in the Iliad. For example, Achilles experienced a sudden loss of vision in his battle with Aenaes. Transient language disturbances which are temporary episodes of difficulty communicating are also explored in the Iliad; this is seen through a soldier's inability to speak when he learns of Patroclus's death.
These observations explain that while neurology as a concept was not yet defined in ancient Greece, Homer's work demonstrates an early understanding of neurological thought.
Hippocratic medicine
The Hippocratic Corpus is a collection of about seventy early medical works from ancient Greece that are associated with Hippocrates and his students. It was primarily focused on pathology rather than creating a comprehensive physiology of the human body. Although once thought to have been written by Hippocrates himself, many scholars today believe that these texts were written by a series of authors over several decades.Vivian Nutton' Ancient Medicine' (Routledge 2004) Thus its theories and concepts about the human body are not fully systematized and have some inconsistencies. Nonetheless, it is significant in that it was one of the first attempts to theorized a biological system and biological causes for disease in Greek science. This is stated in its treatise, "the Sacred Disease", which argues that if all diseases were derived from supernatural sources, biological medicines would not work.
The Hippocratic Corpus opposed ancient beliefs, offering biologically based approaches to disease instead of magical intervention. Ancient Greek physicians did not regard disease as being of supernatural origin, i.e., brought about from the dissatisfaction of the gods or demonic possession: "The Greeks developed a system of medicine based on an empirico-rational approach, such that they relied ever more on naturalistic observation, enhanced by practical trial and error experience, abandoning magical and religious justifications of human bodily dysfunction." However, in some instances, the fault of the ailment was still placed on the patient and the role of the physician was to conciliate with the gods or exorcise the demon with prayers, spells, and sacrifices.
Humoral theory Humorism (or the four humors) refers to blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Each of the four humors were linked to an organ, temper, season and element. It was also theorized that sex played a role in medicine because some diseases and treatments were different for females than for males. Moreover, geographic location and social class affected the living conditions of the people and might subject them to different environmental issues such as mosquitoes, rats, and availability of clean drinking water. Diet was thought to be an issue as well and might be affected by a lack of access to adequate nourishment. Trauma, such as that suffered by gladiators, from dog bites or other injuries, played a role in theories relating to understanding anatomy and infections. Additionally, there was significant focus on the beliefs and mindset of the patient in the diagnosis and treatment theories. It was recognized that the mind played a role in healing, or that it might also be the sole basis for the illness.Bendick, Jeanne. "Galen – And the Gateway to Medicine." Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, 2002. .
Ancient Greek medicine began to revolve around the theory of humors. The humoral theory states that good health comes from a perfect balance of the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Consequently, poor health resulted from improper balance of the four humors. Hippocrates, known as the "Father of Modern Medicine",
The father of modern medicine: the first research of the physical factor of tetanus , European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases established a medical school at Cos and is the most important figure in ancient Greek medicine.Atlas of Anatomy, ed. Giunti Editorial Group, Taj Books LTD 2002, p. 9 Hippocrates and his students documented numerous illnesses in the Hippocratic Corpus, and developed the Hippocratic Oath for physicians, which is still in use today. He and his students also created medical terminology that is part of our vocabulary today. Medical words included acute, chronic, epidemic, exacerbation, relapse, and others. The contributions to ancient Greek medicine of Hippocrates, Socrates and others had a lasting influence on Islamic medicine and medieval European medicine until many of their findings eventually became obsolete in the 14th century.
The establishment of the humoral theory of medicine focused on the balance between blood, yellow and black bile, and phlegm in the human body. Being too hot, cold, dry or wet disturbed the balance between the humors, resulting in disease and illness. Gods and demons were not believed to punish the patient, but attributed to bad air (miasma theory). Physicians who practiced humoral medicine focused on reestablishing balance between the humors. The shift from supernatural disease to biological disease did not completely abolish Greek religion, but offered a new method of how physicians interacted with patients.
Ancient Greek physicians who followed humorism emphasized the importance of environment. Physicians believed patients would be subjected to various diseases based on the environment they resided. The local water supply and the direction the wind blew influenced the health of the local populace.
Female biology Due to its primary focus on pathology (rather than physiology), Hippocratic theories on the female anatomy were generally not fully comprehensive. However, there were some consistent themes to their theories of the female body. In particular, Hippocratic authors had similar views of menstruation, the development of breasts, and the nature of the womb. Hippocratic views in the breasts and menstruation were rooted in an assumption that the flesh of a woman was of a completely different essential nature (or physis) compared to that of a man. for instance, they believed women's flesh to be "spongy, loose and porous" (Diseases of Women 1.1 (=8.2) whereas the flesh of a man was more firm and compact. It was believed that this nature of female flesh caused it to soak up excess blood generated by the body, which was then expelled through menstruation as a way of regulating the blood humor. Likewise the "looseness" of female flesh was used to account for the existence of female breasts. It was believed that in both male and female bodies, the breast was a gland that absorbs fluids and moisture, and thus the loose porous nature of women's flesh allowed their breast to absorb more and grow larger. Finally, in regards to the womb, Hippocratic scholars believed the wandering womb theory; that it was a detached organ within the female body and had the ability to migrate. The migration of the womb was assumed to be the cause of many maladies and symptoms of discomfort or bad mood in women.