Ancient Greek Medicine

1. Abdulwahab Al-Qurtas 7-4 Ancient Greek Medicine

2. Table of Contents • Introduction. • Ancient Greek Medicine. • Asclepieia. • Hippocrates “Father of Medicine.” • The Hippocratic Oath. • Other Contributors to Greek Medicine. • Greek Contribution to Modern Medicine. • Conclusion. • Bibliography.

3. Introduction Did you know: • The first who had medicine as a profession were the Greeks? • The first who made the doctors take an oath are the Greeks? This oath was called the “The Hippocratic Oath”. • The Greeks were the first to look for what caused human diseases?

4. Ancient Greek Medicine • Greeks used four humors to help them identify sickness: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm (boogers). • To be healthy all four humors should be balanced in the human body.

5. Asclepieia • Temples dedicated to the healer-god Asclepius. • Functioned as centers of medical advice and healing (hospitals).

6. Hippocrates “Father of Medicine” • Born on the Greek island of Kos and Lived between 460 – 370 BC. • Learned medicine from his father and grandfather. • Took lessons from the Thracian physician Herodicus of Selymbria. • Hippocrates and his followers were first to describe many diseases and medical conditions.

7. Hippocrates “Father of Medicine” • Hippocrates began to categorize illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. • The first documented chest surgeon and his findings are still valid. • He didn’t allow doctors to start their career straight after training, they had to say an oath “Hippocratic Oath”. • He died in Larissa at the age of 90 years.

8. The Hippocratic oath Ancient Greek Version: Modern Version I swear by Apollo, the healer I will use the gods as my witness. I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art. I swear to keep the patients information private. I swear to do the best of my ability. I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

9. Other Contributors to Greek Medicine. Aristotle (384 – 322 BC): • Categorized animal species. • Said that the soul was responsible for intelligence. Herophilus of Chalcedon (330–260 BC): • The first medical teacher at Alexandria. • Corrected Aristotle, placing intelligence in the brain. • Distinguished between veins and arteries.

10. Other Contributors to Greek Medicine. Erasistratus of Chios (304 - 250 BC) : • Herophilus and Erasistratus researched the role of veins and nerves. • Performed their experiments upon criminals given to them by their kings. They dissected these criminals alive and observed them while they were still breathing .

11. Greek Contribution to Modern Medicine • Hippocrates was the first to reject superstitions that credited supernatural or divine forces with causing illness. • The Hippocratic Corpus contains textbooks, lectures and research on various subjects in medicine still valuable at the present time.

12. Conclusion • The Greeks were the first to diagnose diseases which helped the modern medicine. • We would never have the Hippocratic Oath and doctors would not be truthful in their practice.

13. Bibliography: Websites: • http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/medicine/ • http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medicine_and_ancient_greece.htm • http://www.fjkluth.com/gmed.html Books: • “Hippocrates”, Encyclopedia Britannica .15th Ed. Vol. 8. Chicago: William Benton, 1980. 942-943. • “Aristotle”. Encyclopedia Britannica .15th Ed. Vol. 1. Chicago: William Benton, 1980. 1162-1171.

14. Ο άρρωστος που όρισε ως κληρονόμο του το γιατρό, ποτέ δε θα γίνει καλά. The patient who set his doctor as his heir, will never get better.