History, Myths, Etc.

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A brief history of Greece

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1400-1100 BC: Mycenean Era

1100-800 BC: Dark ages, no surviving writing

800-500 BC: growth of Greek empire around Mediterranean, lots of interfighting between city states. Each city state ad its own law, coinage, government, but shared a language, religion, and cultural values

500 BC: Persian invasion of Greece, vastly superior army, forced Greece to bind together, escape to the sea from Athens, and win with superior naval capabilities

500-400 BC: Classical era, rise of art and philosophy from the confidence of beating Persia

400 BC: Peloponnesian War: Athens vs. Sparta

Phillip the Macedon unifies Greece, bears son Alexander the Great. Attacks Persia in retaliation for the Greco-Persian War, builds large nation and spreads Greek culture

300 BC-500 AD: Hellenistic world - Alexander's generals fight for territory after his death, creating the Hellenistic kingdoms. Produces lots of writings and advancements, e.g. Euclid, Pluto, Aristotle, etc. Advancements in medical, biological, and anatomical studies

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When Romans invade

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2 distinct time periods:

1. 5th-1st century BC: SPQR, The Roman Senate and the People, the Roman Republic, lots of interfighting

2. Roman Empire: 1st century BC-4th century AD. Created by Augustus Caesar, every following emperor shared the name Caesar.

A linguistic divide appeared down the center of the Roman Empire, with the West speaking Latin and the East speaking Greek. Another professional divide also occurred, with law and the public center speaking Latin while philosophy, medicine, and science used Greek.

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Aftermath of ancient languages

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Latin produced the romance languages: French, Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, and Italian. It was also used in academic writing, nomenclature, and within the Roman Catholic church. It was also commonly spoken as a second language after the fall of the Roman Empire

Greek produced modern Greek, and formed the Cyrillic alphabet of Slavic languages. It was used to write the New Testament, and derived scientific terminology that had to be transliterated to Latin

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Why Latin and Greek for medical terminology

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Historical reasons:

1. Greek was the first language used in Western medicine and biology

2. Many Greek texts were transliterated into Latin first, allowing it to be accessible to non-Greeks

Linguistic reasons:

1. Ancient Greek and Latin are static languages, they are not spoken anymore and will therefore not evolve.

2. They fit into all modern European languages easily

3. Ancient Greek can combine to form long but precise terminology

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Important people in Greco-Roman medical history

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Hippocrates: 5th century BC. Father of modern medicine, first physician to document observations

Plato: 5th century BC. Philosopher interested in the soul/body connection. Wrote an influential book on the topic: Timaeus.

Aristotle: 4th century BC. Student of Plato, more hands on philosopher-scientist. Utilized empirical investigation,s comparative anatomy, and systemic classification of the natural world. Was unable to do human dissections due to Greek morals.

Herophilus and Erasistratus: 3rd century BC. Greek physicians in Egypt, able to do anatomy research based on the first documented human dissections.

Aesclepiades of Bithynia. 1st centry BC. No surviving medical texts, but was still popular in Rome despite rejecting Hippocratic medicine

Dioscorides: 1st century AD. Physician and pharmacologist, wrote a pharmacological book used until the 17th century: De Materia Medica.

Galen: 2nd century AD. Most influential physician, wrote hundreds of medical texts, dissection work, followed and expanded on the ideas of Hippocrates.

No prominent Roman figures because they believed that science and medicine were below the, more concerned with law.

Celsus: 1st century AD. Wealthy Roman figure, wrote De Medicina, not actually a physician

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Ancient medical theories

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Centered around balance:

1. Pneumatic theory: an animating spirit within the body

2. Corpuscular theory: clusters of little bodies (atoms) within the body require unrestricted movement around the body. It was the result of Democritus' atomic theory, and revolved around the balancing of the relaxation and constriction of pores.

3. Humoral theory: Balance of the 4 liquids in the body - every liquid has a specific location and quantity that they belong in. Bile, blood, phlegm, and black bile. Believed in by Hippocrates and therefore, Galen. Formed the basis of Western Medicine until the 18th century.

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Greco-Roman medical sects

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1. Dogmatism: focuses on human anatomy, believed in various theories on disease. It treats every patient as an individual with their own circumstances and symptoms, and focused on patho-physiology. Pushed forward by Hippocrates and Galen.

2. Empiricism: no regard for disease origin nor anatomy, instead treats symptoms by prior experience in treating similar symptoms. High emphasis on accurate record keeping and case notes.

3. Methodism: also no regard for anatomy nor disease origin, and believed solely in the corpuscular theory. The mot popular sect and supported by Aesclepiades of Bithynia, it promised swift treatment and gentle therapy.

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Standard treatment model

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All sects followed this basic model:

1. Adjusting diet

2. Alternating rest and exercise

3. Bathing in hot or cold bath

4. Pharmaceuticals: herbs and minerals, but can harm just as easily as it heals

5. Purging via bleeding, vomiting, enemas, etc.

6. Surgery without anesthesia

7. Cautery, burning of the flesh

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Religion in healing

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Worked in tandem with science and philosophy to form the trifecta of medicine. Any God can be appealed to for healing, but Apollo, the God of healing,and Asclepius, son of Apollo and God of medicine. Apollo is recognized by his youthful, handsome body while Asclepius carried a staff with a snaked twisted around, representing rebirth. Physicians were also known as Asclepiades during Ancient Greek, the son of Asclepius.

Asclepius was borrowed by the Romans during a plague, who carried the symbolic snake back to an island in Rome and built a temple around it. The Roman form is known is known as Aesculapius.

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Procedure for healing in an Asclepion

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Asclepion=temple dedicated to Asclepius.

1. Ritual fasting and purification

2. Sleeping with snakes overnight in the temple

3. Dream visit by Asclepius, who will either heal directly in dream or will provide instructions on actions to be healed after waking up.

4. Offering a testimony of thanks, usually carved into stone tablets.

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Theseus and the Minotaur

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Before the Greek states, Minos, king of Crete, controls Greece. His wife falls in love with and bears a son with a bull, named the Minotaur. Minos digs a labyrinth below his palace to entrap the Minotaur, and demands 7 men and women from Athens annually to feed the Minotaur. Theseus, prince of Athens, convinces his father to allow him to become a tribute, and travels to Crete. Ariadne, daughter of Minos, falls in love with Theseus, provides him with a sword and a spool of thread so he can find his way back out of the labyrinth. After successfully killing the Minotaur, Theseus heads back to Athens with Ariadne in tow before abandoning her on an island while she is asleep

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Staff of Hermes

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Has 2 snakes instead of 1, differentiating it from the staff of Asclepius. Hermes takes soul down to the underworld, known as a psychpomp.

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Myth of the Milky Way

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Zeus bears a son with a mortal woman, named Hercules (Herakles in Greek). Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Hercules at birth by sending a snake to his crib. Hercules kills the snake, choking it to death with one hand. Another version has Hercules nursing from Hera. When he stops suckling, Hera continues to lactate and the milk flows out to form the Milky Way. The word galaxy is derived from galact-, Greek for milk

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Oedipus and the Sphinx

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A creature with the body of a cat, a head of a woman, often with wings. The Sphinx in Egypt was built by Greek influence. Oedipus is the prince of Thebes. Before Oedipus is born, a prophecy is made that the unborn child will kill the father and marry the mother. Due to the prophecy, parents told servant to abandon Oedipus in woods. Servant takes baby to another couple and Oedipus grows up and travels. He arrives at narrow path on road on journey, fights and kills old man trying to pass in the other direction (the king). Arrives at Thebes, which has a spell put on it by a sphinx: must answer riddle in order to enter or leave city, else be eaten. What walks on 4 feet in the morning, 2 feet in the afternoon, and 3 feet in the evening?" Oedipus answers a human being. Sphinx kills herself in anger, people celebrate and gives the widow queen of Thebes to Oedipus to marry. Sphinx puts her hands around own throat, squeezes and chokes herself to death. Therefore, something around something circular squeezing together: giving rise to the sphincter muscle. Oedipus’ mother/wife kills herself, he stabs his own eyes out with a pin, made into a play known as Oedipus Rex.

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Hepatoscopy

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·Divination (predicting the future) usingthe liver, done by the Romans. Inherited from the Etruscans, lived to the northof Rome in Italy, absorbed by Romans. Haruspex: an Etruscan who practices hepatoscopy.

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Theory of 4 humors

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· Philosophers of the ancient world agreed on the4 elements of the universe: fire, air, water, and earth. Sharing characteristics, hot between fire andair, wet between air and water, cold between water and earth, and dry betweenfire and earth. Human beings reflect these characteristics, arenot composed of the element. Different humors reflected the differentelements, blood for air, bile for fire, black bile for earth, and phlegm forwater. Black bile is deduced logically in order tobalance the other humors. Able to be correlated with seasons, ages of ahuman, etc. Theory was appealing because it explained beyondpeople, showed relation between people and wider universe. Draw diagram

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Chronos vs. Cronos

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Gaea is the Greek goddess of the eartho The only things that existed in the verybeginning was the Earth and the sky, Gaea and Uranus. Uranus hides the children they produce, hidesthem inside Gaea. Gaea enlists her son, Cronos, and castrates Uranuswith a sickle, Cronos is identifiable by the sickle. Cronos eats the children that he produces,upsetting his wife. Wife substitutes a son for a stone, which Cronosswallows, child ends up being Zeus. Chronos=/=Cronos, Chronos is the god of thetime, does not carry a sickle, but is confused in the modern world, fathertime (Chronos) is shown with a sickle

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Hysteria

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A disorder peculiar to women, symptoms include volatile emotions, overdramatic behavior, anesthesia and tremors. Due to wandering womb, when it is displaced from its natural position, it is thought to cause disease. Happens to old maids, widows, widowed with children, and virgins that do not take a husband early enough. The cure is for virgins is to cohabit with a man as soon as possible