Greek Medicine
The roots of modern medicine are in ancient Greece. On the one hand most Greeks believed in a god of healing called Asclepius. People, who were ill, made sacrifices or offerings to God. They then slept overnight in his temple. They believed that the god would visit them in their sleep (i.e. in their dreams) and when they woke up they would be healed.
At the same time Greek doctors developed a rational theory of disease and sought cures. However one did not replace the other. The cult of Asclepius and Greek medicine existed side by side.
Medical schools were formed in Greece and in Greek colonies around the Mediterranean. As early as 500 BC a man named Alcamaeon from Croton in Italy said that a body was healthy if it had the right balance of hot and cold, wet and dry. It the balance was upset the body grew ill.
However the most famous Greek doctor is Hippocrates (C.460-377 BC). (Although historians now believe that he was much less famous in his own time that was once thought. It is believed that many of the medical books ascribed to him were actually written by other men). Hippocrates stressed that doctors should carefully observe the patients symptoms and take note of them. Hippocrates also rejected all magic and he believed in herbal remedies.
A number of Greeks speculated that the human body was made up of elements. If they were properly balanced the person was healthy. However if they became unbalanced the person fell ill.
Finally Aristotle (384-322 BC) thought the body was made up of four humours or liquids. They were phlegm, blood, yellow bile and black bile. If a person had too much of one humour they fell ill. For instance if a person had a fever he must have too much blood. The treatment was to cut the patient and let him bleed.
The Greeks also knew that diet and exercise and keeping clean were important for health.
Later Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. In 332 BC he founded the city of Alexandria and a great medical school was established there. Doctors in Alexandria dissected human bodies and they gained a much better knowledge of anatomy. However little progress was made in understanding disease.
At the same time Greek doctors developed a rational theory of disease and sought cures. However one did not replace the other. The cult of Asclepius and Greek medicine existed side by side.
Medical schools were formed in Greece and in Greek colonies around the Mediterranean. As early as 500 BC a man named Alcamaeon from Croton in Italy said that a body was healthy if it had the right balance of hot and cold, wet and dry. It the balance was upset the body grew ill.
However the most famous Greek doctor is Hippocrates (C.460-377 BC). (Although historians now believe that he was much less famous in his own time that was once thought. It is believed that many of the medical books ascribed to him were actually written by other men). Hippocrates stressed that doctors should carefully observe the patients symptoms and take note of them. Hippocrates also rejected all magic and he believed in herbal remedies.
A number of Greeks speculated that the human body was made up of elements. If they were properly balanced the person was healthy. However if they became unbalanced the person fell ill.
Finally Aristotle (384-322 BC) thought the body was made up of four humours or liquids. They were phlegm, blood, yellow bile and black bile. If a person had too much of one humour they fell ill. For instance if a person had a fever he must have too much blood. The treatment was to cut the patient and let him bleed.
The Greeks also knew that diet and exercise and keeping clean were important for health.
Later Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. In 332 BC he founded the city of Alexandria and a great medical school was established there. Doctors in Alexandria dissected human bodies and they gained a much better knowledge of anatomy. However little progress was made in understanding disease.