Essay on Ancient Greek Medicine

We find that the “oldest written sources of western medicine are The Hippocratic writings from the 5th and 4th centuries BC; which covers all aspects of medicine at that time and contain numerous medical terms.”(Wulff) This was the beginning of the Greek era of the language of medicine, which lasted even after the Roman

The Greeks made many influences to their medical practices as well as ours today. Hippocrates was one of the many doctors at the time and he made many new discoveries in medicines which really helped people live longer and made his procedures a lot easier. He was a very trustworthy doctor. He made an oath stating that he wouldn't do anything to put his patients in harm by giving them bad medicines. Instead, he swore to do everything possible to cures patients and help make them feel better. This was known as the Hippocrates Oath (Doc 4). Even to this day, doctors must swear to not do anything that can cause harm to their patients. It's part of their training while in medical school. The only time a doctor can "harm" his or her patients is when the patient signs a

Ancient Greece has been a religion- centered culture since the earliest period of habitation in Greece, the Pre-Mycenaean/Mycenaean period. Also through to the Dark Ages to the Classical period. It is a religiously centered civilization, and did have significant changes in the how it was incorporated into people’s daily lives. Religion is important to know about the Ancient Greeks because through it we are able to understand how they lived their lives.

The logic and principles of medieval medicine shaped those of Modern medicine. Never was there a more efficient method perfected, so much that it remained through history through so many hundreds of years. Today’s concepts of diagnosis, relationships with the church, anatomy, surgery, hospitals and training, and public health were established in the Middle Ages.

Medieval medicine was rooted in Ancient Greek practices. In 65 A.D., a Greek writer, Discorides, wrote a book, Material Medica. The book is about medical use of over five-hundred different plants. The book is translated into Hebrew and Arabic. Doctors in the Early Modern Era knew very little, and they used plants as the most important care and/or treatment. Due to unsanitary places and tools, many different diseases spread around Europe. Life was challenging during the Early Modern Era because of many diseases(Alchin). During the 1500s- 1600s, diseases overtook many people because doctors knew little, medicine was unknown, and there were many causes.

1. During the Mycenaean civilization, who was the great poet and what were his two important literary works that influenced the Greeks and formed part of Western literature? Homer, The Iliad, The Odyssey

Prior to 18th century Europe there were a few effective medical developments but most treatments lacked medical value. An idea developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans insisted that bloodletting was a fantastic remedy to difficult diseases but it did more harm than good (Doc 4). Another flaw in medicine is the level of hygiene in the institutions that provided care. The sick were crammed into dirty hospitals, dead lay beside those clinging to life, and the air was

It was Hippocrates’ teachings and revolutionary techniques that were the driving force behind the shift from irrational to rational medicine in ancient Greece.

Anatomy, the study of the human body, is a discipline of the medical sciences that flourished beyond precedent during the 17th and 18th centuries in Western Europe. During this time, many physicians, anatomists, and doctors began to not only investigate anatomy more seriously, but also to teach anatomy to more people. Dissections of cadavers became more common at learning establishments and more accepted by the general public, and by government authorities. Anatomical theatres were constructed for the mass teaching of dissections, and any and all bodies from criminal hangings were donated as cadavers to the universities. As trends grow and become popular problems are bound to become known. In anatomy, this problem was the shortage of cadavers

Roman medicine can be viewed as primitive according to today’s standards, however physicians during this time did contribute to the field. Rome also had similar issues that occurs in modern day society, such as physicians conjuring up magical remedies in profiteering scams. Back then one could purchase a cure for digestive problems that consisted of grounded up horse heals, whereas today people in society will purchase natural brain boosters with the intention of ascending to geniuses through a magic pill. This essay will compare and contrast the issues with medical access, the moral code, and pain management for surgery between Roman and modern medicine.

Medicine has come a long way from the Greek period. Theories composed of the four elements were used to explain the sick phenomenon that happens to our bodies. Many of the those theories are not relevant as of now. Medicine and remedies has begun with the Earth, providing all types of compounds and

Hippocrates of Cos, a physician in ancient Greece, is considered to be the father of medicine due to his many contributions to the field in his life. Through research and different experiments he was able to conclude many different principles, including on of the most important: the four humors. By observing reactions to different illnesses, sometimes leading the patient to die, he was able to develop the theory. His theory of the four humors was that the human body was filled with four basic substances, or humors, that when in balance indicate the person is healthy. If there was too little or too much of one of the four, a disease or disability would result. The four humors of Hippocratic medicine are black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. Before the humors were introduced, many people believed that the source of illness was punishment from the Gods. It wasn’t until after Hippocrates’ introduction to medicine that the field stepped away from religion and into science.

Anatomy is to physiology, as geography is to history; it describes the theatre of events. Medical culture that emphasized the study of anatomy through human vivisection peaked in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC, with Herophilus and Erasistratus- the two primary anatomists of the 3rd century- spearheading this movement. Alexandria was the ideal place to study anatomy and physiology during the Hellenistic period since the research was not tied down by civil laws, taboos, or moralism that prevailed on the Greek mainland. Although the practice of human vivisection was decreed by the priesthood throughout the rest of Egypt and Athens, it was not so in this well-insulated center of learning.

While medical students were finally able to practice their future trades on a nonliving human body, the mean by which the bodies were obtained was still frowned upon and very illegal. In addition, there were those who would ruthlessly murder others to use their bodies for anatomical purposes. It was probably the concept of giving students tactile practice before handing them a living body, and the shamelessly detestable “anatomy murders” running rampant in the 1800’s that persuaded the government to finally change the legal standing of cadaver use. In 1831, we were given the Massachusetts Anatomy Act. This act allowed for the legal obtainment and dissection of human cadavers (Dyer & Thorndike, 2000).

Ancient Egyptian medical procedures were renowned all over the world. Egyptians thought that sickness was caused by evil spirits and believed that the only way to get rid of them was by praying to the gods and injecting nasty and smelly concoctions into your body. An Egyptian doctor had to discover what evil spirit was harming the patient and then proceed to drive it out by using magic rituals and talismans. Herbal medicines were used to relieve pain, while magic cured the patient. There was a very high specialization among doctors. Each doctor treated only one disease. The medical field like many fields was mainly controlled by men, but women occaisionally became great doctors. Physicians knew how to treat injuries like throat injuries, broken