Greek medicine: history, development and contributions

You can talk about as many medicines as there have been cultures and historical periods. The way in which human diseases have been treated and approached are very varied and have depended on the historical context in which the doctor lived.

Greek medicine is no exception. The way that the ancient Greeks looked at diseases is quite different from how we do it today, although it has influenced and laid the foundations of current medical practice.

Still, it cannot be said that the Greek civilization was something static and culturally monolithic. In fact, there were great changes, which have caused Hellenistic historians to divide the Greek civilization into two great periods.

That is why, when talking about Greek medicine, one cannot ignore the great differences that existed between the oldest times in comparison with the most classical ones, and in this article we are going to see them with greater depth.

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Medicine of Ancient Greece

Within the great periods of the history of Western civilization, Ancient Greece is called the period from the XI-XII century BC. c. until the V a. C.. In these centuries, the Hellenic culture was incorporating elements of other ethnic groups, from Mesopotamia, the Middle East and Africa. At this time, Greek medicine was characterized by not being refined or sophisticated.

Major historical events of the time give clues to what the medical task was like in ancient Greek culture. One of them was the Battle of Troy, one of the great armed conflicts experienced in the early days of young Europe. It was during the war that a number of questions were raised about how should the wounds of badly wounded soldiers be treated.. Medical practices, judging from epic poems such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, were intertwined with religious rites and superstitions. In fact, in the first of the commented works reference is made to those who, according to Homer, were the first practitioners of medicine: Polidirio and Machaón.

According to the legend, Machaon put his healing knowledge into practice with a king, the Spartan Menelaus, who had been wounded by an arrow. The story goes that Machaon treated the monarch first by exploring the wound and in what state it was. found his patient, then he sucked the blood from the lesion and finally administered the treatment.

Cult of the god Asclepiades

As we were already commenting, in the early days of Greek culture, the vision of the therapeutic process was very marked by the belief that one's health depended on the wishes and wills of the Olympian gods. Most of the Hellenic temples were built near water sources, since it was believed that if someone was sick, could be cured by water that, when emerging near a temple, would acquire powers regenerative.

Among the multiple deities that make up the Greek pantheon, one stands out above the others in terms of its role in the therapeutic process: Asclepiades. This deity was the god of medicine, being the son of Apollo, who had previously been the god with the same function, and a beautiful but mortal virgin named Coronis.

Legend has it that Apollo fell madly in love with the virgin watching her bathe in the forest and left her pregnant, however, her father wanted him to marry her cousin, Ischion. Upon learning of this, Apollo cursed his fate, and decided to kill both his beloved and her fiancée, without However, after taking their lives, he felt sorry for his unborn child and decided to extract it from the dead womb of Coronis, giving birth to Asclepiades.

The newborn was taken to Mount Pelion and raised by the centaur Chiron, who taught him multiple knowledge, including medicine. Asclepiades, once he had grown up, went to practice his knowledge in the big cities, performing as a prestigious doctor. With the passage of time, his father, Apollo, who until then had been the god of medicine, abdicated this title, ceding it to his son.

Understanding the myth behind this god, it is logical to think that the doctors of Ancient Greece venerated him, considering his designs something fundamental so that the patient could be cured. The sick came to him to overcome his disease or wonder why he had punished them with it.

Some temples erected to Asclepiades functioned in a similar way as modern hospitals do today. For example, in Pergamum and other temples the sick went there and undressed to put on white robes. Once this was done, they went to another area of ​​the temple, similar to a hotel, with care to treat patients and host them for a while.

In the origins of the cult of this god there were beliefs that today would be unthinkable, and even the Greeks of several centuries later would flatly refuse to use them as an effective treatment. Cures and enchantments were made, and certain practices considered 'natural' were followed, such as licking ulcers by dogs blessed by the god.

The priest who was in charge of ensuring that the rites to the god Asclepiades were carried out according to tradition, In addition to collecting the offerings destined for him and ensuring that the patients received the proper treatment. religious, it was called iatros and, in fact, this word has survived to our days, meaning 'the medical, the surgical'. This iatros had a function similar to the vision we have today of shamans and sorcerers.

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Medicine of Classical Greece

Starting from the 5th century B.C. c. there are a series of sociopolitical and cultural changes that make Greece become the great power of the moment and this is It also reflects on his knowledge, especially in the field of biology, astronomy and, very remarkably, in science. medicine. It could be said that it is at this time, although very far from how it is understood today, that scientific medicine appears.

At this time appears one of the great thinkers in the history of Western civilization, Aristotle, who made an extensive study of life forms, beginning with animals. This philosopher, from the city of Stagira, studied and classified nearly 500 animals with the intention of understanding not only the natural world, but also human nature itself.

But while the work of Aristotle and other great classical Greek thinkers is undoubtedly something that deserves attention and a greater degree of depth, who should have a real prominent role in this article is, without a doubt, Hippocrates of Cos.

Hippocrates: disease is a natural phenomenon

Hippocrates of Cos is, both for doctors and for those who are not, a figure who has had an important role and fame within the field of health sciences. His name is associated with one of the great discoveries in history, assuming a great change in the conception held on the origin of diseases in pre-Christian Greece: all disease is a natural phenomenon.

Hippocrates was opposed to thinking that illness was the result of demonic possession., divine punishment or sorcery. Thus, within the Hippocratic vision of medicine, it was considered that one could become ill due to causes that were in the environment, such as the weather, food, water in poor condition... It is not surprising that Hippocrates is known as the father of medicine as it is understood today.

Among the great contributions of Hippocratic practice and theory, the following three can be mentioned:

1. observation and reasoning

As already mentioned, the religious vision of the disease was overcome and the medical condition from which the patient was suffering was carefully observed and explored.

Diseases have symptoms, which give clues as to what medical condition the patient is suffering from and how it can be dealt with.

In fact, Hippocrates was one of the first to establish the differential diagnosis, specifically between the diseases of malaria and fever.

2. organic cause of disease

The main idea of ​​Hippocrates and that today is the foundation behind modern medicine is that every physiological disease has a biological cause.

In the hippocratic theory of the four humors It talks about how diseases arise, defending the idea that they are the consequence of an imbalance between four substances: bile, phlegm, blood and water.

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3. Deontology

He defended the idea that the doctor had to work in the most ethical and moral way possible towards the patient, ensuring benefit and without discriminating between social group, ethnic group, sex or race.

Until then, those who had the right to be seen by a doctor were usually the men who were among the highest elites of their city-state. Hippocrates changed this, making women, poor and foreigners receive, in some way, medical attention.

Influence of Greek medicine today

Despite the fact that more than twenty centuries have passed since the time when Hippocrates lived, there are many great contributions of this Greek that have had an impact on the vision that medicine and its field of medicine are held today application.

It should not be overlooked that, thanks to the great scientific advances, in addition to the foundation of disciplines such as microbiology, oncology and genetics, the causes of diseases are known more clearly. However, these could hardly have arisen if diseases were still believed today to be the result of invisible celestial curses.

The contribution that is perhaps the best known is that of the Hippocratic Oath. As has already been said, Hippocrates defended the idea that every sick person had the right to be cared for, regardless of their status or social condition. Today, this oath is essential in medical practice and, in fact, those who have just finished their medical studies must recite it during the graduation ceremony.

Another of the great contributions of Greek medicine, in this case from the hand of Aristotle, is the study of animal and human anatomy. Thanks to this, and despite the rudimentary technique, the first surgical interventions could be performed with truly therapeutic results.

Finally, the idea that emerges from the Greek medicine of the V century BC is very important. c. All disease has a biological origin and, therefore, in one way or another it is possible to prevent what causes the disease from causing it. That is to say, Thanks to the medicine of the time, better treatments could be developed, not only with the intention of curing patients, but also to prevent them from suffering from the disease. Prevention and care significantly improved people's well-being.

Bibliographic references:

• Cohn-Haft, L. (1956), The Public Physicians of Ancient Greece, Northampton, Massachusetts.
• Jones, W. h. S. (1946). Philosophy and Medicine in Ancient Greece, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore.
• Mason, S. F. (1956) A History of the Sciences. Collier Books: New York.