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CL228 - The History of Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome > Midterm #1 > Flashcards

Midterm #1 Flashcards

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1
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: spring water

A

rock springs: too hard, too many minerals
–> best is from high ground, flowing down from the hills
–> best also if facing the east winds

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2
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: variations in age

A

–> children were more susceptible because of thinner blood vessels, more easily clogged
–> elderly less susceptible because of less blood (dries out over time), so phlegm has nothing to block
——> note: in winter, the elderly being too cold could be more dangerous, as phlegm would become more sticky

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3
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: pneumonia

A

pain on both sides of the body, lungs
–> different from modern pneumonia
–> excess of blood, phlegm

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4
Q

Ebers Papyrus

A

Egyptian, c. 1534 BCE (New Kingdom); largest surviving Egyptian medical papyrus
–> collection of ~1000 texts, over 110 pages, including spells, hymns, prescriptions, and stories
–> both diagnostic and prognostic; detailed, temporally aware

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5
Q

“The Oath”: controversies

A

–> authorship: unknown
–> contradictions with mainstream Hippocratic practices (no euthanasia, no abortions, no surgery) and other treatises

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6
Q

why seasonal mortality?

A

travel, military campaigns, and time spent as a community in summer meant a greater spread of infectious diseases and introduction to new pathogens
–> population was not as interconnected as today

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7
Q

phren (pl. phrenes)

A

chest / lungs / diaphragm; pl. specifically means lungs
–> psychic function: deliberation, reflection, thinking

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8
Q

foci of Ebers Papyrus

A

–> less reliance on divine intervention, more on anatomical processes & specificity
–> consideration of passageways / “flow”; illness is a blockage
–> recipes with ratios of animal ingredients, especially those local
–> spells, similar to Babylon

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9
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: phrenitis

A

“brain fever”: inflammation of the head, associated with heat and manic episodes (mental illness)
–> excess of bile

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10
Q

population of Rome

A

at least 1-2 million in city in 1st century CE (30% enslaved); upwards of 55-65 million across empire in 14 CE

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11
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: mixed water sources

A

powers governed by whichever is mostly prominent, or is the majority of the composition

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12
Q

“The Nature of Man”: single-substance theories

A

author argues against Presocratic single-substance theories, saying thinkers are too absorbed
–> argument from pain: pain is from separation, so how could we feel pain if we were all the same?
–> argument from generation: reproduction requires two separate beings
–> argument for doctors: how are diagnoses supposed to be made if everything is the same?
–> health is a balance of multiple substances with individual properties; a proportional balance must be held between them, and pain is from an imbalance

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13
Q

Empedocles

A

Presocratic, mid 5th century BCE; considered the strangest and most spectacular
–> nonbeing is impossible: “nothing” does not exist, even after death
–> everything is in a constant state of change
–> everything is made of a different mixture of the six basic entities: elements (air, fire, water, earth) and forces (love –> bring together, strife –> tear apart)
–> body as part of nature, so disease as well? and health as a mixture of causes?

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14
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: pleurisy

A

pain on one side of the body, lungs
–> empyema (excess of pus, pl. empyemata)
–> excess of blood and phlegm

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15
Q

“The Nature of Man”: humors in later thought

A

–> influential in future world cultures
–> power of symmetry: humors lasted probably because of the number 4, like the 4 seasons; 4 gospels; 4 stages of life
–> later changes: Christian period would adopt belief that some people naturally possessed humoral imbalances, contributing to personality

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16
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: the brain

A

the brain regarded as the seat of comprehension, rather than the heart
–> movement from cardiocentric to encephalocentric medical theory
–> epilepsy as a loss of consciousness because of phlegm in the brain
–> compare to phrenes: lungs, diaphragm no longer able to possess the function of thought

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17
Q

“Asclepiad”

A

term used by doctors who traced lineage through Podalirius, Machaon to the legendary healer
–> anyone who “perform[s] the medical art”

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18
Q

Thales

A

Presocratic; everything is made of water
–> supposedly able to predict eclipses
–> died by falling into a well, so consumed in thought

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19
Q

divination

A

process of understanding the will of the gods through signs
–> e.g. lightning, dice, patterns of oil on water, smoke patterns
–> splotched / pockmarked animal livers would indicate what message was being delivered by which god to some patient
–> did divination give birth to modern diagnostic medicine (looking at the body for signs?)

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20
Q

Cnidus

A

town on Turkish peninsula, close to Cos; home of rival school of medicine to Hippocratic

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21
Q

Gula

A

Babylon; ancient goddess to whom medical spells were addressed
–> given votive objects, often in the shape of dogs, as a sign of thanks
–> why dogs? cleanliness from licking themselves?

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22
Q

the Hippocratic Corpus

A

group of ~60 treatises attributed to the school of Cos, though not Hippocrates himself
–> enormous variety in type (aphorisms, letters, instructions, ideas), opinion (do not agree), authorship
–> preserves competitive nature of rival groups of doctors, almost all from Classical Athens

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23
Q

Hippocratic doctors & drugs

A

wariness; using medicine before identifying a disease, or before necessary, would inhibit the ability to study and learn from course of disease

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24
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: respiration

A

blood vessels carry blood and pneuma throughout the body
–> motion, consciousness depend on constant movement of pneuma
–> respiratory theory: pneuma enters body through mouth and nose, then flows to (slightly) brain, stomach, lungs, and blood vessels, through body, and back up to brain

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25
Q

chronic

A

disease that unfolds over time

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26
Q

Republican Rome

A

c. 3rd - 1st century BCE

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27
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: treatment

A

anything that is heating, drying in the diet could be applied
–> then onto surgery, vomiting (maybe barley-gruel?)
–> doctors would not need to use magic spells if they only understood diaita

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28
Q

“The Canon”: What makes a good medical student?

A

similar to a plant: must have the correct characteristics and circumstances (talent, teaching, and environment in which to learn)
–> exclusionary; preservation of medicine as a techne, only for the few

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29
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: environmental determinism of Asians

A

Asia (actually the Middle East, approx. Turkey/Iran): problem is in not experiencing enough variation, so not building toughness / resilience
–> people have no presuffering, no war-like qualities; more likely to be subjugated to a monarchy

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30
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: The 4 Acute Diseases

A

phrenitis, causus fever, pleurisy, and pneumonia

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31
Q

“The Oath”

A

themes: religion, medical education, behavioral guidelines
–> swear by gods to always use “powers of healing” as best as possible
–> medical teaching must be free, but only given to sons of your teacher, yourself, or other initiates

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32
Q

Late Antiquity / “Christian” Era

A

c. 4th - 6th century CE

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33
Q

sympathy

A

basis of ancient magic; Greek, “things are experienced together”
–> experience of something in microcosm reflects to macrocosm
–> manipulation of small to treat large (e.g. voodoo dolls)

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34
Q

“The Nature of Man”: blood vessels

A

–> quickest, most efficient way to relieve excess humors is through bloodletting, usually until unconsciousness
–> vessels were “phlebes” (tubes), through which substances slowly oozed

four pairs of phlebes, moving downwards from head:
1. head –> feet
2. head –> penis –> feet
3. head –> lungs
4. head –> arms –> hands
blood created by consumption of food, conversion in liver; circulated, then absorbed at the end of the canal

–> one model among many, probably as part of competition; shows significance of understanding flow

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35
Q

acute

A

disease with a “quick crisis”

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36
Q

thumos

A

vital energy inside of a person, which escapes upon death
–> emotive and psychic power; not quite “soul”, but animating force

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37
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: diaita for acute diseases

A

barley-gruel used to ease patient between stages of regimen change
–> could be thick or thin, somewhere between a drink and a food
–> both cooling and thirst-quenching, although could soak up too much moisture if taken in excess
–> might increase sputum because of density; could cause “cold feet” (death)

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38
Q

Democritus

A

Presocratic; everything is made of atoms (Gr., “uncuttable things”)

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39
Q

cultural opinion on regime

A

although medicine was not respected, diaita was in high fashion
–> emphasis on individual
–> social empowerment: one can heal oneself through understanding diaita
–> possibility of avoiding doctors, medicine entirely if optimal diaita maintained

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40
Q

personality: excess of phlegm

A

calm, forgetful

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41
Q

life expectancy

A

difficult to estimate, but known to be short (~28 years)
–> attributed to high infant mortality rates (~30%)

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42
Q

process of mummification

A

helped expand anatomical knowledge
1. purify in water with dissolved natron (crystallized chemical)
2. remove brain, fill skull with sawdust / dust / resin
3. incision in lower stomach; remove all organs, except for heart
4. stuff body to absorb moisture
5. soak body in natron for ~40 days
6. put body in resin, bandages; body will have shrunk to ~45% of original size

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43
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: metabole

A

Gr., “change”; specifically those external
–> harmful if in excess in either direction
–> fits with other contemporary texts (e.g. political change - too fast would be harmful)

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44
Q

“The Regimen for Health”: losing weight

A
  1. take only one meal
  2. go without baths
  3. sleep on a hard bed (make the body harder)
  4. wear fewer clothes
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45
Q

epileipsis

A

Gr., “epilepsy”; focus point of “The Sacred Disease”
–> different from our modern perception of the disease
–> literally “attack”, from the verb “to grab hold of”; being seized by some god or demon
–> any medical condition where one may lose consciousness (seizure)

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46
Q

Cos vs. Cnidus

A

Euryphon: to Cnidus was Hippocrates was to Cos
–> all writings from Cnidan school have been lost, and only Coan refutes remain
–> in “Regimen for Acute Diseases”, it seems that doctors in Cnidus were more collaborative

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47
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: types of madness

A

excess of phlegm: quiet, sad, depression (melancholy)
excess of bile: manic, anger, volume
excess of blood: nightmares, bloodshot eyes

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48
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: rain water

A

healthy if fresh, not healthy if still

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49
Q

“The Sacred Disease”

A

text considering how epilepsy, the “sacred disease”, was actually of natural origin (like all others)

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50
Q

images for diaita

A
  1. “molding the body”, like a sculptor, to the desired appearance, such as through regime and athletics
  2. “pre-suffering”, or no-pain no-gain; regime requires some unpleasantness to be balanced, and more unpleasantness if imbalance is extreme
  3. “guarding” or “protecting” body from illness, like some sort of self-amulet
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51
Q

personality: excess of blood

A

friendly, rose-tinted

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52
Q

“The Regimen for Health”

A

authorship not known, but possibly also Polybus (mentions of seasonal variation, style of “speaking to public”)

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53
Q

“The Regimen for Health”: exceptions

A

infants: naturally warm and moist, but recommendations are also warm and wet because bodies are not yet ready for rapid change
women: naturally colder, wetter than men, so regimens should be prescribed accordingly
–> male body treated as norm, female as either a mirror or a lacking-version

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54
Q

“The Nature of Man”: yellow bile

A

xanthē chloē: Gr., “yellow bile”
–> hot and dry; excess in summer
–> probably pus, or some other secretion

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55
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”

A

also called “Against the Cnidans” or “In Praise of Barley-Gruel”
–> treatise written for other doctors: lots of technical language, recommendations, and mentions of organs
–> rejection of ideas by Cnidans

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56
Q

pneuma

A

Gr., “air”, pron. “pah-neigh-oo-ma”
–> “life function”: that which gives us spirit
–> cool, so helps establish balance in the warm body

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57
Q

treatise

A

piece of medical writing/hypothesis

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58
Q

How can we determine the size of ancient populations?

A

census records; cemeteries; skeletal evidence; archaeological remains (houses, housing density); literary records, comparisons b/w cities

59
Q

Classical Athens

A

c. 5th - 4th century BCE

60
Q

“The Canon”: How can reputation be protected?

A

–> no government legislation means anyone can practice (bad)
–> need for initiation into service and education, almost clan-like in nature

61
Q

Babylon

A

present-day Iraq, ~53 miles south of Baghdad
–> massive impression left because of quantity of documents written on clay, many still unread

62
Q

“The Canon”

A

Gr., “law”
Asks the questions:
1. What makes a good doctor?
2. What makes a good medical student?
3. How can doctors protect reputation?

63
Q

The Hippocratic Tree

A

tree under which Hippocrates taught on the island of Cos
–> strips now taken, planted at medical schools to convey prestige and knowledge

64
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: cause of disease

A

Why seizures? –> phlegm blocks passage of pneuma to body, cutting off “life force”
–> phlegm, bile, and blood mentioned, but never referred to as humors
–> overcome by having natural warmth of blood dislodge, dispense the phlegm and restore balance

65
Q

amulets

A

necklaces worn to protect against disease
–> lamella, or thin strips of lead, would have prayers / curses / thoughts written on them –> would be wrapped and worn
–> evidence of continuance in turning to magical, religious means to protect against illness

66
Q

techne

A

a skill, science, or art; a body of knowledge that is rational
–> evolution of medicine as a trade, not rooted in divine intervention

67
Q

“The Canon”: response to contemporary issues

A

consideration of how knowledge should be protected, because no formal regulation existed for medicine
–> anyone could be a doctor; many “actors” brought scorn upon the trade

68
Q

the Presocratics

A

modern category of philosophers (really thinkers, as philosophy yet to exist) who worked before / contemporary to Socrates
–> thinker was “master of universe”, had to consider big questions of origin with showmanship and style
–> themes: physis (Gr., “nature”, pron. “phoo-sis”)
–> Thales, Democritus, Empedocles

69
Q

Cos

A

island, known for Hippocratic school of medicine
–> close to Turkey and peninsula of Cnidus

70
Q

prognosis

A

state in the future (what is going to happen?)

71
Q

making of Hippocratic Corpus

A
  1. loose grouping of people, texts circulating a variety of ideas
  2. process of compilation, criticism (i.e. at Library of Alexandria)
  3. printing (~1500 CE, after invention of printing press)
72
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: winds

A

south: illnesses associated with flow - asthma, diarrhea, dysentery, heavy menstruation, miscarriages, pus-related
north: illness associated wtih dryness, hardness - constipation, infertility, bile-related
east: temperate, spring-like, healthy
west: damp, autumn-like, sickly
–> exception: a disease occurring in the wrong location must be extra strong

73
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: asthma

A

excess of phlegm in the heart, lungs
–> “strangulation” (same as today)

74
Q

opening medicine

A

practice mentioned in “Regimen in Acute Diseases”, used by Cnidan doctors
–> milk administered at the onset of any disease
–> frowned upon by Coan doctors, as it would not allow for progress of disease to be followed

75
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: snow water

A

always unhealthy
–> freezing = loss of the “lightest” part of water, and melting to drink heavy water is unhealthy

76
Q

health and balance

A

health is found as a balance of qualities - not too hot or too cold, too fat or too skinny

77
Q

“The Nature of Man”: the humors

A

humor: constituent substance of the body; “moisture”
–> exists in many interpretations in the Corpus and beyond; this version “wins” because Galen adopts it in the 2nd century CE, bringing it into later Arabic and Western cultures
–> the four humors: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm

78
Q

“The Nature of Man”: blood

A

haima: Gr., “blood”
–> hot and wet; excess in spring
–> also used to describe the transportation method for other humors

79
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: environmental determinism of Scythians

A

Scythians: nomads in Central Asia –> too moist, too cold, and so suffering from massive infertility (men do not have enough heat)
–> Samromatae: the Amazons (primarily matriarchic society, or at least one where women had power) - a group of unnatural Scythians
–> men were infertile because they rode horses too often, getting vascular veins in the feet; these veins were removed by bloodletting behind the ear, which also leaked out semen

80
Q

“The Canon”: What makes a good doctor?

A

someone with knowledge (techne), not just opinions

81
Q

Podalirius and Machaon

A

doctors in the Iliad
–> more respected, higher in hierarchy than Babylonian asû, but also had to serve as soldiers (not an independent profession)
–> sons of Asclepius, the son of Apollo and healer taught by Chiron
–> brothers, so medicinal knowledge was still familial

82
Q

“The Regimen for Health”: clothing

A

olive oil should be put on the clothes (before / after washing) in summer
–> addition of moisture?

83
Q

trends in Hippocratic medicine

A

–> body as part of nature, not just divine
–> health as a balance of mixtures
–> timing and rhythm used to diagnose, treat, give advice
–> regime (diaita)
–> defense of medicine as a techne

84
Q

anatomy in ancient Egypt

A

massive quantity of written, physical evidence preserved
–> more complex understanding than in Babylon, shown through hieroglyphs actually in shape of the body part

85
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: water

A

one of the only mentions of water in the Hippocratic Corpus –> default drink was wine, so why care?
–> author may have been traveling to regions without constant access to wine, so had to consider “powers” of what was accessible
–> “powers”: hot/cold, clear/cloudy, thin/thick, soft (low mineral)/hard, odorless/smelly, fresh/salty
–> sick man would need to take the principle of opposition into account when drinking (healthy could do as he pleased)

86
Q

Diagnostic Handbook

A

Babylonian, ~11th century BCE; 40 tablets containing about 3,000 phrases
–> some parts diagnostic, some prognostic; sometimes written in code
–> not individualized; basic guide for asû, who could only identify illness superficially (using senses, excretions)
–> assumption that humans operate on same universal laws

87
Q

diet

A

mostly bread, grains (wheat), vegetables, diluted wine
–> little meat (preferred to sacrifice to gods)

88
Q

“Aphorisms”

A

aphorism: “quotable quote”, or a piece of wisdom set apart from the rest
–> collection of wise sayings from doctors of the period
–> Hippocratic hierarchy: change diet > medication > surgery > cauterization
–> emphasis on regime, health as a balance, and the sense of timing; preferable circumstances necessary for good healing to occur
–> “Life is short, science is long”

89
Q

landscape pockets

A

“Airs, Waters, Places”; Greece composed of many different areas, with many different climate conditions –> each would have its own characteristic diseases

90
Q

prescriptions

A

recipes of natural ingredients, usually prepared by the asû or a specifically designated group of women
–> not personalized
–> recipes often “traveling”, or found in different regions at different times - probably associated with traders and migration patterns

91
Q

asû

A

Babylonian; mix of doctor (healing powers) and exorcist (magic powers)

92
Q

Hellenistic Greece

A

c. 3rd - 2nd century BCE

93
Q

Code of Hammurabi

A

set of 282 laws detailing medical responsibilities
–> named after King in ~1900 BCE
–> malpractice: asû punished if his surgery causes harm, especially on an enslaved
–> regulation of fees: protection of both asû from cheating and patients from overcharge
–> responsibility taken by individual who causes an injury (respect to gods)
–> early mention of veterinary medicine

94
Q

cuneiform

A

script language of ancient Babylon
–> logo/syllabic
–> named for “wedge-like” incisions in tablets

95
Q

Homer

A

c. 8th - 9th century BCE; author of the Iliad and Odyssey

96
Q

cardiocentric hypothesis

A

Egyptian; “all comes to the heart”
–> in contrast with encephalocentric cultures of the past

97
Q

impact of nutrition on menstruation

A

delayed onset because of malnutrition (~14/15 years)
–> contributed to high infant mortality rate, as “peak” birthing years would occur later than when young women were married and socially expected to have children

98
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: why some people, and not others?

A

Disease could be hereditary - a bad seed given to a bad child - or because something went wrong in the in-utero or post-birth cleansing process
–> insufficient cleansing (too little) would leave behind too much phlegm
–> overcleansing would leave behind too little phlegm to balance health

99
Q

pushback against diaita

A

diaita was so fashionable as a concept that it received philosophical objections
–> Socrates: too much focus on the body, not enough focus on the mind
–> Plato: inaccessibility, socioeconomically, for some people to change their routines frequently

100
Q

met (pl. metu)

A

Egyptian; concept of channels in the body, used to transport substances
–> non-specific: vessels, tendons, muscles, nerves, all transporting a variety of things
–> example of early interest in vascular system; metu meet at the heart

101
Q

authorship of Hippocratic Corpus

A

authors are never named, and most treatises are by different people
–> only one known is Polybus, of “The Nature of Man”
–> some pieces, like Aphorisms, could have many authors put together
–> some works display signs of being of the same author (similar style, ideas)

102
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: variations in winds

A

southerly wind, from Africa: “flow wind”, accelerating flow in body and causing seizures
northerly wind, from Europe: dry, cold, bitter, so not related to flow
–> any quick change in winds could cause a seizure

103
Q

“The Nature of Man”: black bile

A

melaina chloē: Gr., “black bile”
–> cold and dry; excess in autumn
–> fabricated by author, although reason is unknown; could be clotted blood? growths on body (melanoma)? “black” as representation of evil?

104
Q

Homeric Greece

A

c. 9th - 8th century BCE

105
Q

Iliad: shooting of Menelaos

A

first incidence of a distinction between a mortal and non-mortal wound
- sucking of wound: why?
–> removal of poison
–> cleansing (like dogs licking themselves)
–> bloodletting, to remove excess blood
–> saliva theory: idea taken from ancient Egypt, where spit had healing powers (think also, spit of Jesus)
–> doctor Machaon was “a man godlike” (not fully of his own techne)

106
Q

cribra orbitalia

A

evidence of massive malnutrition; sponge-like appearance of tissue cavities around the eyes, caused by iron deficiency
–> “eye socket sieves”
–> appears in at least 85% of juveniles, 40% of males, 55% of females

107
Q

major diseases in ancient Greece / Rome

A

–> lung diseases / respiratory problems (phthisis, tuberculosis)
–> malaria (“bad air”)
–> typhoid (contaminated water, then food)

108
Q

seasonal mortality

A

fluctuations in frequency of deaths depending on season
–> modern day: stable
–> ancient world: peak in late summer / early autumn (Sep / Oct)

109
Q

“The Regimen for Health”: seasonal variation

A

winter: regimen should be hot and dry (wine not diluted, bread, roasted meats, few vegetables, quick walks, fewer baths)
summer: regimen should be cold and wet (wine diluted, barley cake instead of bread, boiled meats, many vegetables, slow walks, many baths)
spring and fall: transitional periods, so regimen should also be transitional

110
Q

Babylonian, Egyptian influence on Greek medicine

A

controversial debate: is it possible for Greece to not have been influenced?
–> racism in lack of due credit?
–> recipes probably traveled during period, spreading unintentionally
–> argument against: Greeks often refused to read other languages; huge misconceptions in other writings about Babylonian culture, which they would not have made if interacting
–> argument for: connectivity through trade routes must have led to some communication; stories passed through mixed families?

111
Q

diagnosis

A

state in the present (what do you have?)

112
Q

the “Homeric Question”

A

was Homer real, or even one person?
–> Iliad, Odyssey rather compilations of generations of storytelling

113
Q

Hippocrates of Cos

A

so-called “father of medicine”, also written as Hippokrates
–> “Hippocrates the Asclepiad”, literally ‘descendent of Asclepius’ (doctors would trace back ancestry)
–> c. 460 - 370 BCE (Classical Athens)
–> son-in-law Polybus, who is the only attributed author in Corpus
–> mentioned by Plato, Aristotle as a prominent Athenian doctor
–> legend: refused offer to serve as royal doctor to king of Persia, on grounds of loyalty to Greece

114
Q

diaita

A

the way you live your life
–> diet, regime, exercise, bathing, etc.

115
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: against superstition

A

–> cheating people out of money for false services (knowledge was pure and should not cost money)
–> treatments by actors were insensible, ineffectual
–> theological argument: impious to suggest that a human healer could overpower the spirit of a god
–> theological argument: gods were purer than human beings, so how could their spirits pollute an individual?

116
Q

Iliad

A

epic poem, telling story of the final year of the war between Greece and Troy (modern-day Turkey)
–> origin of disease as both natural and divine (“was it a long sickness, or did Artemis of the arrows…”)

117
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: difference between religion and superstition

A

the text is not atheist; rather, the author wants to preserve the sanctity of religion
–> division between the natural and divine view of disease; division between piety and fear of the gods
–> liberating text for people who fell ill: disease detached from being culturally damning

118
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: concept of race

A

not the same as today - certain categories, like black vs. white, didn’t exist, but stereotypes against certain ethnos (Gr., “peoples”) did help determine who was better than who
–> link of personality, politics to geography; more North = more civilized
–> adopted to serve future eras of colonialism

119
Q

prescriptions - ingredient code names

A

some ingredients given “code names” to conceal identity, maintain the trade as a secret techne for its practitioners

120
Q

“The Oath”: ancient vs. modern

A

similarities: idea of an “oath” (with punishment), medicine as a techne, intent for initiation, idea of secrecy
differences: no mention of abortion/euthanasia/surgery, lack of religious context, no mention of chastity/purity, no hereditary knowledge, knowledge now has a cost

–> religious inclusivity; generalization of “do not harm”; secrecy held to protect patient privacy, not medical knowledge as a whole

121
Q

gastrointestinal issues in ancient Egypt

A

–> schistosomiasis: snail-fever; blood in urine, pain
–> parasitic worms
–> dracunculiasis: guinea-worm

122
Q

major themes of the course

A
  1. What is a disease?
    –> How does the qualification of a disease change throughout history?
    –> How does the understanding of the origin of disease change throughout history?
  2. Medicine as a techne
  3. Nature of scientific progress
    –> change is not linear; ideas shift, sometimes falling out of fashion even when correct, until rediscovery
123
Q

personality: excess of black bile

A

melancholy

124
Q

Imperial Rome

A

c. 1st - 4th century CE

125
Q

“On the Powers of Foods”

A

encyclopedic text by Galen during the Roman era; explains humor-related qualities of certain foods
–> comment on absences in “Regimen”: no theories about the relationship between the humors and food
–> idea had developed in intermediary period that humors arise from food, and so that humors can be adjusted by eating different things
–> example: watermelon is cooling and moist, cleansing and diuretic, but can produce “bad juices” via vomiting

126
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”: evaporation

A

lightest parts of water are taken up by the sun, leaving the heavy parts behind
–> boiling always makes water sweeter (contrary to idea of heavy vs. light)

127
Q

“The Sacred Disease”: the vascular system

A

large number of tenuous, minor veins, and two major veins running through body
–> vena cava: “hollow vein”, transporting blood and pneuma
–> flow goes upward through body; major veins hit the liver and spleen

128
Q

population of Athens

A

~30,000 in 508 BCE; ~27,000 in 400s BCE
–> citizens were only adult free males

129
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: causus fever

A

“burning” bodily fever
–> excess of bile

130
Q

“The Nature of Man”: external causes of disease

A

if outside of its related season, a disease caused by a certain humor could be because of problems with:
–> the individual “manner of life” (diaita)
–> the population air

131
Q

showmanship in ancient medicine

A

part of income for doctors was from how illustrative their treatments would be
–> healing, spells likely performative; many read as symbolic songs or chants (repetition, wordplay)

132
Q

Hippocratic “revolution”

A

the doctor must understand the individual situation and the timing, location, and season in order to make a proper diagnosis

133
Q

“The Nature of Man”: phlegm

A

phlegma: Gr., “phlegm”
–> cold and wet; excess in winter

134
Q

“Airs, Waters, Places”

A

–> authorship: possibly same as “The Sacred Disease”, or someone within that intellectual circle
–> written for traveling physicians (someone who needed to understand health in a geographical context)

135
Q

“The Oath”: theories of origin

A

breakaway group of religious doctors, maybe of some minority or “mystery religion” (worshipping some other primary god than Zeus)
–> had to swear Oath to join sect, as it is similar to religious incantations
–> would fit with lack of surgery, as touching blood was religiously impure
–> theories in Oath fit with future religions (e.g. Christianity), so it persisted

136
Q

Iliad: the body

A

“soma” (Gr., body) only applied to the dead; the living were more so a “collection of parts”

137
Q

“The Nature of Man”

A

transcription of a lecture for a general audience, attributed to Polybus
–> author clearly influenced by Empedocles, in the sense of four elements being part of nature
–> arguments against single-substance theories; arguments for humoral composition and change

138
Q

sources for ancient medicine

A
  1. oral/practical knowledge (lost to time)
  2. treatises (e.g. Hippocratic Corpus, Galen)
  3. encyclopedias (Late Antiquity)
  4. archaeological evidence (funerary monuments, surgical devices)
  5. inscriptions and papyrii (tombstones, Egyptian writings)
139
Q

“Regimen in Acute Diseases”: the problem of change

A

a doctor must change a patient’s diaita to treat them, but a change made too suddenly will introduce more health problems than it cures

140
Q

“The Nature of Man”: the Principle of Opposition

A

basic Hippocratic principle of treating some illness with a regime of the opposite qualities; re-obtaining balance by introducing new factors

141
Q

personality: excess of yellow bile

A

daring, bitter

142
Q

average ancient body dimensions

A

smaller, shorter than today
–> men: ~ 5’6”
–> women: ~5’2”

143
Q

contrast of ancient and contemporary diet culture

A

ancient: you would not want to be too much of anything –> so neither too fat nor too thin

CL228 - The History of Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome (2 decks)

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