Greek Med.

Sophocles, Ajax

• Main Story: Ajax goes mad (caused by Athena), attacks cattle thinking they're Greek leaders, then commits suicide from shame

• Characters: Ajax (strong warrior), Athena (punishing goddess), Odysseus (rival who respects Ajax)

• Main Themes: Honor, divine punishment, proper burial rites, hubris

Plato, Symposium

• Main Story: Different speakers give speeches about love at a drinking party

• Key Ideas: Aristophanes' myth of divided beings searching for their other half; Socrates' "Ladder of Love" (physical beauty → spiritual beauty)

• Important Concept: Eros as a spirit between gods and humans

Lucretius: On the Nature of Things

• Book 1: Atomism 

• Book 3: Fear of Death is Irrational 

• Book 6: Disease is Warfare metaphor, the plague

Cicero, On Old Age

• Main Idea: Old age isn’t bad—it brings wisdom and freedom.

• Key Characters: Cato the Elder (main speaker)

• Summary: Cato tells his younger friends that aging doesn't mean weakness or misery. He says old age can be respected and peaceful

Seneca, Letters to a Stoic & Consolation to Marcia

• Main Idea: Stoic advice for living well and handling grief.

• Key Characters: Seneca (author), Lucilius (in the Letters), Marcia (mourning her son, in Consolation)

• Summary: Seneca advises Lucilius to live with virtue. He tells Marcia that grief should be controlled with reason and acceptance.

Celsus, Preface to De Medicina

• Main Idea: Overview of ancient medicine.

• Key Characters: Celsus (author), Mentions of earlier medical thinkers (e.g., Hippocrates)

• Summary: Celsus explains the history and methods of medicine, and says both theory and practice are important.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History (Book 7)

• Main Idea: Facts and wonders about humans.

• Key Characters: Pliny the Elder (author), Various historical figures (used as examples)

• Summary: Pliny shares amazing human traits and records—like long lives, strange births, and famous achievements.

Soranus, Gynecology

• Main Idea: Ancient women’s health and childbirth guide.

• Key Characters: Soranus (author), Midwives and women (audience and patients)

• Summary: Soranus explains pregnancy, childbirth, and baby care, with advice for midwives and doctors.

Lucian, Alexander the False Prophet

• Main Idea: Exposing a fake religious leader.

• Key Characters: Alexander of Abonoteichus (the false prophet), Glycon (the fake snake-god), Lucian (narrator and critic)

• Summary: Lucian tells how Alexander fooled people with a fake god and fake miracles to gain power and money.

Galen, The Pulse

• Main Idea: Using the pulse to diagnose illness.

• Key Characters: Galen (physician and author)

• Summary: Galen explains how different pulse types reveal illness, showing his organized approach to medicine.

William Harvey, On the Motion of the Heart

• Main Idea: Blood circulates through the body.

• Key Characters: William Harvey (doctor and scientist)

• Summary: Harvey proves that blood is pumped by the heart in a cycle, replacing old ideas about how the body works.

Epicurean Philosophy

• Rejects traditional myths and afterlife

• Gods exist but don't interfere with humans

• Everything is made of atoms, not divine creation

• Death is natural, not punishment

Stoic Philosophy

• Divine reason (logos) runs through everything

• Focus on virtue rather than pleasing gods

• Accept fate as cosmic order

• Humans share in divine reason

Galen and Ancient Medicine

• Tension between religious healing (Asclepius) and rational medicine

• Debate: Is disease divine punishment or natural?

Pliny's Natural History

• Nature as powerful force rather than gods

• Humans as mentally superior but physically weak

• Death viewed as natural, not mythological transition

Major Themes Across Works

1. Gods and Humans: How gods interact with humans (or don't)

2. Death and Heroism: Different views on mortality and heroic behavior

3. Love and Desire: Physical vs. spiritual concepts of love

4. Mind and Body: Different understandings of madness, soul, and health

Key Figures Timeline

• 5th century BCE: Sophocles (Ajax)

• 4th century BCE: Plato (Symposium)

• 3rd century BCE: Epicurus (founder of Epicureanism)

• 1st century BCE: Lucretius (Roman Epicurean)

• 1st century CE: Seneca (Stoic), Pliny the Elder (Natural History)

• 2nd century CE: Marcus Aurelius (Stoic Emperor), Galen (physician)

Important Concepts to Know

• Aidos (αἰδώς): Shame/honor code central to Ajax

• Aiein aristeuein (ἀεὶ ἀριστεύειν): "Always be the best" heroic code

• Ataraxia: Freedom from disturbance (Epicurean goal)

• Logos: Divine reason in Stoicism

• Memento mori: "Remember death" (Stoic practice)