Медицина Древней Греции/ Medicine in Ancient Greece
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Medicine in Ancient Greece

Ancient Greek Medicine

Medicine was very important in Ancient Greece. Ancient Greek Culture was such that a high priority was placed upon healthy lifestyles. Utilising ideas from Egypt and developing new ideas, the Greeks are in many ways the founders of medicine as we know it. Philosophers wrote theories, doctors developed ideas and these were written, taught and distributed. Alongside the emergence of a science or philosophy based approach to medicine was the continuation of superstition and religion in medical practice.

Medical practice in Ancient Greece, like Egypt, was based largely upon religious beliefs. The Cult of Asclepius grew in popularity and was a major provider of medical care. This cult developed old theories and introduced several treatments not too dissimilar from modern ‘alterna tive medicines’.

The Ancient Greeks made major strides in medical knowledge. The works of Hippocrates and his followers led to several scientific facts being recorded for the first time: and perhaps more significantly the work of these philosophers began a tradition of studying the cause of disease rather than looking solely at the symptoms when prescribing a cure.

The significance of Ancient greek medicine is great. Hippocrates theory of the Four Humours was, for a long time, the basis upon which to develop medical reasoning. Likewise the methodology employed by the Greeks has, to a large extent, been retained and modified to form what we now consider to be conventional medicine.

Theory of the Four Humours

The Theory of the Four Humours was an important development in medical knowledge which originated in the works of Aristotle. Hippocrates is credited with developing the theory. It then became a mainstay of medical belief for two thousand years. The Greeks believed that the body was made up of four main components or Four Humours. These Four Humours needed to remain balanced in order for people to remain healthy.

The Four Humours were liquids within the body- blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. These could be connected to the four seasons of the year: Yellow Bile with summer, black bile with autumn, phlegm with winter and blood with spring.

Hippocrates and other Greek practitioners argued that the balance of the Four humours would be most effected in those particular seasons. For example, if someone has a fever they would have been thought to have had too much blood in their body. The logical cure therefore is to ‘bleed’ the patient.

Use of the Four Humours as a diagnostic tool would result in doctors looking for symptoms: the first time that clinical observation of a patient was recorded.

Public Health in Ancient Greece

The Greeks made use of some public health systems that enabled clean water to be brought to towns and waste to be disposed of. There is evidence of this at Greek ruins and on Mediterranean islands. The quality and type of public health available varied from one City State to the next. Much of what the Greeks had developed formed the basis of the more substantial Public Health works conducted by the Romans.

Ancient Greek Public Health

The Ancient Greek would not have been too unfamiliar with some of the health and fitness regimes that are used by people today. The word ‘Regimen’ was used by the Greeks to describe peoples lifestyles: from which can be derived the word regimented (as in organised). The Greek philosophy of ‘Regimen’ covered what people ate, drank, the types and amount of exercise that they took and how much sleep they had.

These ideas were very thorough: it demonstrates that the Greeks knew that lifestyle could affect the quality of life, as evidenced by their development and championing of the Olympics. Such is the quality of the remaining evidence that we can even see that doctors advice differed for those who were rich: and could therefore afford to spend time and money on relaxing, and those who worked or were poorer: and therefore couldn’t maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible.

Ex 1. Find English equivalents:

1. Основатели медицины
2. Назначая лечение
3. Традиционная медицина
4. Медицинская помощь
5. Оставаться здоровыми
6. Жидкости в теле
7. Черная желчь
8. Если у кого-то жар
9. Диагностическое средство/средство диагностики
10. Клиническое наблюдение

Ex 2. Дайте определение следующим словам:

1. Ancient is
2. Founder is
3.  Superstition is
4. Season is

Ex 3 Make up your own sentences with words:

1. Healthy lifestyle,
2.  new ideas,
3. medical practice,
4. several treatments,
5. dissimilar from,
6.  looking at the symptoms