Greek medicine: a new look

Abstract

The earliest known Greek medical school opened in Cnidus in the Hellenistic period BCE. Alcmaeon of Croton, author of the first anatomical text, worked at this school in the 6th and 7th centuries BCE. Before Hippocrates, he suggested that man might be constituted of Talete’s four individual elements or humours. A person’s health derived from the equilibrium of these elements, which he called isonomy, whereas disease derived from monarchy when one element superseded the others. The Greeks incorporated older Egyptian ideas and remedies into their medicine. Greeks believed that evil spirits or angry gods caused diseases, and that the gods such as Asclepius, son of Apollo, could heal and cure diseases. Sacrifice and prayer, often at Asclepius’ shrine, were common methods of seeking remedy. In Greek mythology, the centaur, Chiron, wounded by Hercules, was thought to have invented medicine in order to heal himself. He taught Asclepius the art of healing, the source of divine medical knowledge. But by ∼500 BCE, Greek doctors had become more interested in using scientific observation and logic to discover what caused diseases. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, most works of the Greek physicians were lost to Western Europe. Fortunately, in the 14th and 15th centuries, some were rediscovered in Arab repositories of learning, many in Spain and Italy. Most texts on Medical History before the 18th century rely heavily on translations often from Greek, Latin or Arabic. With authenticity diminished by the passage of time, many are based on quotations. Thomas M. Walshe’s Neurological Concepts in Ancient Greek Medicine is different. He interrupted his medical career in 1992 to study Ancient Greek, and subsequently wrote a series of original essays, which he has now revised in this book. Walshe relates much academic detail of reference sources and their …