Masters Of Truth In Ancient Greece

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.

In the beginning of time, both healing and religion were indivisible. In most societies both priest and physicians were one and the same. They healed their patients physically and spiritually whenever they had to. However decades later the separation began and the clash of religion and medicine began. Western doctors who are believed to be the last defense between people and death are constantly butting heads with patients who believe that they have a spiritual problem and that the spirit needs healing instead of the body. Many people believe that it is impossible for western medicine and religion to coexist.

The passage On the Sacred Disease, is an examination into the alleged 'sacred disease' of epilepsy. Although many of the anatomic and bodily propositions were incorrect, Hippocrates concepts were closer to the diagnostics and teachings of today than those of metaphysical reasoning. For these reasons, On the Sacred Disease provided a structural understanding of diseases in our bodies today.

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

Many individuals ponder how remarkable it is that humans have lasted this long in a world full of war and through chaotic times. One element that has helped humanity is the use of medicine and healthcare systems. Medicine and healing have been around for many centuries, and has made countless advances in the system and cures to diseases within many civilizations. Instead of discussing the change of medicine over all time and around the world, we will narrow the ways in which a civilization heals their sick into a smaller time period and this period was the era of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. In the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, medicine and health were very important to help the ill and infirm, and many medical techniques were developed

Among the three theories of religion, Eliade had the largest impact on my understanding of religion, more specifically, religion pertaining to sickness and health. Throughout Eliade’s perspective of religion, he defines it as, “a mythical time, that is, a primordial time, not to be found in the historical past, an original time, in the sense that it came into existence all at once, that it was not preceded by another time, because no time could exist before the appearance of the reality narrated in the myth.” (Eliade, 72) Eliade’s idea of religion pertaining to sickness was emphasized in the stressful life of Lia Lee, the uplifting experience of the African rituals, and the riveting way in which Atul Gawande deals with sickness. By addressing these ideal points, Eliade carries out the religious significance of each point individually through his interpretation of religion.

Throughout time, medical personnel intertwine science with religion to comprehend the unexplainable and the incomprehensible. The basis of medical knowledge of the ancient Greek period included observation of a disease and attributing it to religion. However, The Sacred Disease takes the first step to start to value science and rationality over religion and superstition in medicine, but there is not a definitive mark that separates science from religious beliefs. The author addresses the issue of superstition and religion within the medical world and attempts to debunk it by humanizing the religious association of the term ‘divine.’ Even through the primeval medical information during the writings of the ‘sacred disease,’ the author bases

With a staggering two millennia separating Bronislaw Malinowski and Hippocrates, one would assume these two intellectuals would have few analogous conclusions. Unbenounced to Hippocrates in the fourth century BC, his corpus’ essay “On the Sacred Disease,” would act as support to Malinowski’s anthropological study of magic amongst primitive peoples in the twentieth century entitled “Magic, Science and Religion.” Malinowski’s essay analyzes the origin of magic, the definition of science, and deciphers whether or not antediluvian societies acknowledge a distinction between magic and science. Alternatively, Hippocrates muses on the subject of epilepsy, the disease’s genesis, and why “witch-doctors” resort to supernal cures opposed to systematic medical approaches. To understand the relationship between the essays, one must first interpret the inner workings of Malinowski’s ideas before applying them to Hippocrates’ postulates in the fashion of a critical lens. Bronislaw Malinowski and Hippocrates both offer compelling ideas that distinguish magic and science as distinct entities, while Hippocrates displays knowledge that adheres to Malinowski’s anthropological observations.

Hippocrates is considered to be the ‘Father of Western Medicine’, because of his founding of the Hippocratic School of Medicine. Through his many advancements in medicine he is known to be the most important medical doctor of his time in ancient Greece and the best representative of the Medical School of Kos. Hippocrates changed the traditional thinking of medicine disciplines such as philosophy and established a style completely different. This essay will explore the life of Hippocrates, his medical discoveries, and the many achievements he has accomplished through his innovative thinking.

Greek Antiquity was a time of some of the greatest minds of all time, such as Plato and Aristotle, leading to many inventions and ideas that are still relevant today, from hydraulics to astronomy. One of the most influential realizations, however, came from the mind of a man named Hippocrates, as he began the real start of the practice of medicine.

Human beings are aware and observational creatures. Once confronted with an issue, they often find a solution that relates to their observations and understandings of how something works. This technique commonly pertains to the practice of medicine. In ancient Greece, each observation about health of the body completely shaped the treatment of patients by physicians. Additionally, these ideas went into common practices used in the general maintenance of health.

This demonstrates that the Ancient Greeks were very meticulous in trying to make sense of the world they lived in, and that they would pay attention to anything that was viewed as less important. In Ancient Greece there were different schools of healing. One was associated with Hippocrates himself. While Lyttkens talks about these different schools, he states, “While the physicians belonged to different schools, with different theories about illness, they had in common the belief that illness was not connected to the supernatural.”

Today there are a vast number of religions and churches. In the past different societies have evolved and religion has evolved along side these societies. By examining a cultures religion, historians can better grasp why certain events and actions took place. In Hippocrates The Sacred Disease he rejects the assumption that epilepsy is a sacred disease. He states that it is not “anymore divine or sacred that other diseases” and that epilepsy actually has a “natural cause”. Hippocrates theories that the sacred origins of this disease were most likely created by “magicians, purifiers, charlatans, and quacks” that felt their “claim to great piety and superior knowledge” was threatened by the lack of a substantial treatment. From this unwanted sense of inferiority they “concealed and sheltered themselves behind superstition and called the illness sacred”(Hippocrates, p49). While Hippocrates is correct about epilepsy being a normal disease, there is much historians can learn about Greek culture and medicine at that time from these exaggerated

The author does not dismiss the divine cause of a disease. It was believed that the gods and the forces of nature were one in the same. In addition, the other presupposition was that body is related to and affected by the environment. Consequently, the author observes that treatment was sustained by the observation of the external “signs”. This leads the author to search for the physical mechanism that occurs in the body to create the disease. In his observations, the author concludes that imbalances of the elements in the body (like the environment) cause disease. While physical and rational observations allow the author to properly treat a disease, the author’s methods of allopathy are built upon the theoretical presupposition that the gods have indefinite power over the human body.

Before the beginning of Islam there existed three forms of religious philosophies associated with religious medical practices. The three main ones were, Greek, Chinese and Ayurvedic healing systems. From these systems arose numerous variations on these three systems. Commonalities developed among them, however, there exists many differences existed between them as well. These differences arise from the different belief systems, and worldviews associated with them. In addition there is a strong spiritual influence, often infused with superstition and magic. This concept provides a firm basis for understanding and interpreting the specific etiology and different diseases. The pathological processes underlying these diseases, and their application come from the respective disciplines within a holistic worldview.