Hippocrates’ Role in the Shift From Irrational to Rational Medicine in Ancient Greece

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 were the first to realize that diseases were caused by reactions to certain things and could be cured by certain medicine. Before this diseases were thought of as punishments from the Gods. Also physicians developed an oath among all doctors that created systems like doctor-patient confidentiality. (Ancient History Lists). The Greeks showed us that medicine is a two-fold process. There is the need to understand disease and healing, and there is also a need to regulate the practice of medicine and the ethics involved.

Throughout history the human race has been faced with one key factor that no one civilization has even been able to beat, not the might of the Roman-Byzantine Empire, nor the combined efforts of the entirety of Europe and their scholars could defeat this recurring foe. Pandemics, from the Greek ‘pan’ meaning all, and ‘demos’ meaning people (Harper Etymonline.com), are these indiscriminate killers whom care not for your social standing be it wealth, fame, or glory. Humans have contested with disease ever since the infantile stages of the species, but the ability of it to spread was severely inhibited by the fact that humans stayed in small groups of 10-30 people at most, giving the virus or disease severely hampered virulence. It was not till humans began gathering in larger, more permanent settlements such as the early Classical cities of Athens, Ramses, and Rome, that the issue of sanitation and disease came into effect. This has not to say that our issues with sanitation and disease prevention have stopped, rather have they been brought forward into the limelight, many nations around the world today have issues with age old diseases and give rise to extremely deadly new viruses of their own. To fully understand the effect of pandemics in history, then one must consider three major plagues of our recorded history, the first pandemic ‘Plague of Athens’, the pivotal ‘Plague of Justinian’, and the infamous ‘Black Death’

Diseases can cause a devastating effect on both the human body, and also the human population. Throughout several time periods of the present and past, diseases have caused a humongous impact in several society's in different countries around the world. Several large pandemics and epidemics have killed off the population of many species including humans and primates. Wether the time period is in the present or as far back as the Middle Ages, each and every one of these diseases, have had a life threatening outbreak, across several developing countries. Three known diseases have all created a huge conflict on different civilizations, causing different, unanswered questions to arise. A lot of research has gone into each individual disease, to

answers though science, the Greeks thought that sickness was a punishment and healing a gift from

Diseases have been a plaque to the people of the world, physically, mentally, and even socially since the beginning of time. It has played a role in the shaping of how people look, respond, and even grow as an individual and as a unit. Even till this day, people’s lives are still influenced by how diseases affect people locally and nation-wide. Some diseases can be as simple as something as the common cold, or it can be something as advanced as having Ebola. Even though history has shown that diseases have even taken out some of the greats, such as kings and inventors and even legendary story characters, the advancement of technology through time has given people a better hope for tomorrow. Throughout history, technology has taken a very swift

Blood tests, x-rays, and biopsy tests are a few of the ways we use to diagnose ailments today. Chemotherapy, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and needles are tools we use to cure ailments. Hospitals, clinics, and ambulances are medical resources that are consistently prepared for people with illnesses and injuries. These technologies were not available in ancient Greece, and due to the lack of technology many ancient Greeks died of health issues that are easily fixed today. Even though they lacked the technology of today, the ancient Greeks still had their own way to prevent, diagnose, and heal conditions. Ancient greeks relied on rational medicine and religious ritual to assist them in healing processes.

310). Rituals and prayers helped to reaffirm one’s faith in the gods and enabled visitors to become spiritually connected to the deities (Ellon, 1989). One of the most direct ways to commune with Asclepios was through incubation itself. Preparations for the ritual of incubation included purification through baths, sacrificing to the gods and holding libations (Panagiotidou, 2015). Hymns and chorales were also sung in a prescribed manner (Gesler, 2003). These acts had meaningful components that affected the way patients felt because the patient’s belief in divine intervention and cure would have been amplified by the sanctity of these rituals. Modern researchers such as Humphrey (2002) believed there is a portion of the healing in the asclepieia associated with placebo effects, he describes the placebo effect as attributions to the recovery of health with a remedy that is actually inert. Humphrey suggests that this placebo effect would have acted through the presence of inscriptions placed in the asclepieia and stories that described how successful treatments have occurred in the past. Incubants would have also believed in the medical authority of the asclepiads and Asclepios himself. This was further emphasized through healthy patient-physician relationships.

In early civilization during the pre-Socratic times, there was little known about the human body or medicine. Many philosophers began to explore new ideas of what they believed were the correct reasons for events in nature, bringing about natural philosophy. These explanations were logical based on the knowledge of the people during this time. One specific philosopher or possibly a group of philosophers created a set of values or ethics called the Hippocratic Oath. Hippocrates clearly reveals throughout the Hippocratic Oath the imperative value of natural philosophy including dedication to patients by instilling trust, career expertise, and respect for patient confidentiality. Although these values are highly regarded in medical practices, they often clash with important Greek social principals such as religion and oral

A world full of death and suffering as a result of diseases that are now generally considered to be non-life threatening, was in humanity’s past not too long ago. According to an article titled The Treasure Called Antibiotics, prior to the 20th Century, infectious diseases including smallpox, cholera, syphilis, tuberculosis and pneumonia accounted for high morbidity and mortality rates; the average life expectancy during this time was 47 years (Adedeji, 2016, para. 1). These widespread, highly feared diseases that had high mortality rates are no longer as life threatening as a result of medical innovations that inhibit and alleviate symptoms and complications associated with these diseases. A significant medical discovery made by a man named

The final period in the development of Ancient Greek medicine is welcomed in by Plato. “(Plato) was a profound moralist, and though possessed of one of the keenest intellects of all time, did little to advance medical science. He did not practice medicine, but studied it as a branch of philosophy, and instead of observing and investigating, attempted to solve the problems of health and disease by intuition and speculation. His conceptions were inaccurate and fantastic.” Why he did not practice medicine, he elaborated on the humoral pathology of Hippocrates’s work.

In ancient Greek times, knowledge of herbs and other drugs to treat diseases started earlier than what can be remembered. People used science to come up with ways to treat illnesses and disease. The science of medicine was simply trial and error. For plants, they would classify them based on utility and danger to determine if the plants could be used for treatment. Besides plants, trepanation was a common procedure done in the prehistoric times as treatment of head injuries. During this time, midwives and healers were also fairly common. Later, during the the time of Aristotle, incubation and bloodletting were common. Asclepios and Hippocrates were major medical figures around this time.

After reading the medical treatises I found the word irrational to be misleading in characterizing ancient forms of medicine.

In this essay I will strive to show the extent upon which Galenic medicine was incorporated in to the predominantly Aristotelian world view, concluding that Aristotelian philosophies underpinned the majority of Galenic theories and concepts. To achieve this I will primarily demonstrate the perceived link between medicine and natural philosophy that existed at the time. I will continue with a description of the Aristotelian Form, Matter and Substance theories, which formed the basis for the Aristotelian world view. After considering the concepts that formed the Aristotelian philosophy, form, matter and substance, I will take a closer look at the Galenic

I disagree with the charge that ancient medicine is "irrational”, especially since one of the strengths of Hippocratic medicine was its emphasis on prognosis. Indeed, it is true, back then medical therapy was quite immature, the best possible option for a doctor to evaluate a disease and predict its likely progression was based on data collected in detailed cases. To my understanding this is not very far from the reality of today, nowadays research is the base of medicine. Therefore, if we are to judge ancient medicine as “irrational”, then we are sure to label today’s medicine as irrational one day. Hippocrates’s treatise emphasizes the importance of resting in a patient recovery “It follows that when they walk about before they are well,