Hippocrates Hellenistic Medicine Hippocratic Medicine u

Hippocrates & Hellenistic Medicine

Hippocratic Medicine u c. 450 – 370 BCE u Hippocratic Corpus – 60 or so texts attributed to him – Range of subjects – He didn’t write all of them

– Written over ~70 years by several individuals – Collected in Alexandria, Egypt around 420 – 350 BCE u Hippocrates more of a legend – “malleable cultural artifact”

u Corpus does provide insights into Greek medicine u Hippocratic Oath – Insights into two aspects of Hippocratic medicine u Social context u Medical science

u Social context – Plurality of healers – Social status

u Scientific basis – Not anatomical – Highly speculative u Based on humoural theory

u Disease u In an imbalance community: epidemic – Environmental u In humans – internal

u Imbalance humours related to one of the 4 – Blood – Phlegm – Yellow bile – Black bile

Social Context u 4 th century BCE u Alexander empire u Rise the Great & the Greek of philosophy, reason, science

u Plato u Socrates u Aristotle u Linkages between 4 elements theory & four humours theory

Plato, Aristotle & The Body Plato (427 -347 BCE) u Brain: Reason u Heart: Spirit u Liver: Appetite Based on speculation Aristotle (384 -322 BCE) u Brain: giant cooling system u Heart: seat of all vital functions u 2 types of blood vessels Based on dissection of animals

Alexander the Great (d. 323 BCE) & His Empire

Hippocratic Medicine u Hippocratic medicine did not believe that it was important to know about anatomy u Structure had little to do with theories of health & illness u Physiology more important

Hellenistic Medicine u Hellenistic medicine knew far more about anatomy u Rise of Alexandria (in Egypt) as centre of medical and scientific learning

Herophilus (ca. 330– 260 BCE) u Delineation of nerves u Realization they were connected to the brain u Brain responsible for transmission of information to the body u Brain replaced heart as centre of body functioning

u Distinguished between arteries & veins u Arteries originated in heart u Distributed blood and pneuma

u Veins arose from liver u Distributed nutrients to the body

u Responding to anatomical findings on dissection – Liver (large organ) – Connected to heart by inferior vena cava – Heart (large organ) – Aorta leaves heart, all other arteries traceable to it – Brain (large organ) – All nerves traceable to it

Continuities from Plato u Brain: Reason u Heart: Spirit u Liver: Appetite Herophilus u Brain: Body Reg. u Heart: Pneuma u Liver: Nutrition u

Erasistratus (ca. 330 -255 BCE) u Arteries blood only contained pneuma; no

Learned Medicine in the Roman Empire u Greek empire fragmented after death of Alexander u Coincided with Rome’s rise to power u First Greek physicians arrived in Rome around 219 BCE u Athens sacked by Roman Army around 80 BCE

Roman Empire

Roman Attitudes to Greek Medicine u Ambivalence u Roman culture more pragmatic u Some believed doctors were harmful u Low social status of the physician u Roman citizenship

Roman Contributions to Public Health u Acquaducts u Sewage systems u Public baths u Architectural knowledge re: healthy locations u Development of health care institutions (valetudinaria)

u Military medicine