Ancient Medicine Exam 2

Homer

(Archaic) ‘author’ or group of authors who wrote the Odyssey and Iliad, you see individuals practicing practical battlefield medicine and gods raining down plagues

Hesiod

Archaic) example of illness caused by the divine for human disruptions in community

Pythagoras

(archaic) founded an esoteric school, believed in reincarnation, metaphysics of Number, forms, symmetry, and harmony; contributed to the later belief that harmony was equivalent to health – harmony of the 4 humors, and the 4 elements

Esoteric School

(Archaic)- inspired by Orphic initiations, had guidelines for daily life, founded by Pythagoras

Democratus

(archaic) came up with the atomic theory

Microcosm

(Archaic) containing all the powers of the universe, functions as a mini universe

Macrocosm

(Archaic) the whole of a complex structure, especially the world or the universe, contrasted with a small or representative part of it. 

Empedocles

(Archaic) Poet, philosopher, scientist, magician, theorist of the four elements and of philia and Neikos

Four elements theory

(Archaic) concept that everything is made up of some combination of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, and finding balance between those elements (or ratios) can tell us important things about the function and characteristics of an object or person (or person’s health)

Neikos and Philia

(Archaic) Empedocles’ theory of love and strife, concept of attraction and repulsion

Pneuma

 (Archaic, early thinkers originated of Pneuma originated then) air like substance sometimes considered to be vital to human life, like a soul; two kinds – vita spirit formed in the heart from air and breath, the cause of life. Animal spirit, formed in the brain from the vital spirit, cause of motion

Pneumatists

(Archaic through Hellenistic periods) emphasis on the flow of pneuma, believed too much blood could inhibit the flow of pneuma, atomic understanding of the body

Hygieia

Greek goddess of health, statues usually found within Asclepius’ sanctuaries, also the greek word for health

Aristotle

(Classical) Contributed to medicine through applicable philosophy, The student of Plato in Athens, did a lot of animal dissection to see how bodies work, contributed heavily to the basics of logic and observation later used by medical schools of thought, pioneer of hylomorphism and apodeixis.

Hylomorphism

(classical) idea that properties of matter are inextricably tied to their form; structure explains what things are and what they are able to do, so exploring structure is important. 

Apodeixis

(Classical) combination of syllogistic logic and worldly observations to prove something to be true through observation.

Euryphon of Cnidus

 (Classical) all about gut health, very focused on diet, very pro cabbage

four humors theory

(Classical) 4 humors and 4 qualities (hot, wet, cold, dry), treated allopathically

Yellow Bile

(Classical) Choleric, associated with Fire, Summer, and Youth, Dry and Hot

Black Bile

(Classical) Melancholic, associated with Earth, Autumn, and Adulthood, Dry and Cold

Blood

(Classical) Sanguine, associated with Air, Spring, and Childhood, Wet and Hot

Phlegm

(Classical) Phlegmatic, associated with Water, Winter, and Old Age, Cold and Wet

Hippocratic Environment

(Classical) different environments produce different types of people, more variation in climate (seasons) creates more variation in people and instability of the 4 humors

Animal Dissection

(Classical, Aristotle did a lot of this, Galen did even more in Roman Imperial) cutting open and observing animals insides in order to make observations and theories on the functions of body parts and organs and hypothesize how they might apply directly or indirectly to people

Techne

(Classical) Means that there is a specific way for approaching a particular “system”. As in how medicine is both a science (theoretical framework) and an art (a skilled physical activity)

Tyche

(Classical) chance, something that the hippocratic author argued medicine was not, also used it to argue that medicine was a techne and true because people could stumble upon it by chance

Hygiene Regimens

(Classical) became popular as a form of preventive medicine, a good regimen was based on specific people and their internal balance (4 humors, etc) and was thought to keep people in a state of health

Nature (Physis)

(Classical) idea of Nature as divine, where natural laws become divine laws

Plato

 (Classical) the mentor of Aristotle, active in Athens, thought philosophically about the nature of the universe and of people, a proponent of the 4 elements theory and a leader in abstract medical thought

Hippocratic Corpus

 (Classical) collection of medical texts attributed to Hippocrates, his relatives, students, and Hippocratic thinkers, pays attention to disease etiology and humors

Hippocratic Epidemics

(Classical) (1-7) - 7 works attributed to Hippocrates, but like not really him, case notes of physicians, concern with illness outbreaks in communities during different times of year

Medical Racism

(Still today, origins of it can be seen in Airs, Waters, Places which is Classical, but it could be traced even further back) systemic and structural biases within healthcare that result in racial and ethnic minorities receiving lower quality medical care, leading to disparities in health outcomes.

Asclepius

(Classical) Deity of healing, deified mortal son of Apollo, had a following who called themselves the Asclepiads and practiced medicine that was both physical and metaphysical

vivisection

(Hellenistic) dissection done on alive subjects (animal or human)

Human Dissection

 (Hellenistic) Briefly practiced in the Museion of Alexandria, done on criminals with permission from the king

Rationalists

(Hellenistic) Emphasis on causality, to know the cure you need to understand the cause, discover hidden causes  through anatomy, indication, and logical theory (grounded in analogic thinking; however this school of thought can be too certain, take too long, and require a lot of training. Pro human dissection during the time it was allowed, because they thought that it would increase understanding of human anatomy and thus the causes of disease (sacrifice of the few for the many)

Empiricists

(Hellenistic) Emphasis on efficacy, causes are irrelevant, what matters is what worked in the past. Believed heavily in observation, and transmitted lists of remedies, making a metabasis by similarity, drawing analogies back to past cases to see what cure to use. Did not really have long term care or treatment of underlying causes, no room for individual variation between parents, but had on the job training and fast treatment. Against human dissection during the time it was allowed, because they believed that the insides of a person was different once cut open and so any data was irrelevant, they also thought that you could gather the same data by trying to heal grievous battle field wounds rather than ‘cruelly slaughtering a person’

Krisis

(To judge or decide) a decisive turning point in the course of an illness where the patient gets better, gets significantly worse, or dies.

Critical Days

The theory that there were ‘critical days’ of an illness where specific symptoms dramatically changed, and the analysis of these time based changes for the overall recovery (or not) of the patient

Erasistratus

(Hellenistic) focus on physiology, dissected criminals in the museion of Alexandria

Herophilus

(Hellenistic) focus on anatomy and pulse, dissected criminals in the museion of Alexandria

Hippocratic Author

(Classical through Hellenistic, multiple Authors) wrote the hippocratic corpus, believed in four humors, didn’t always agree on each other about specifics but shared the same school of thought

The Museion

(Hellenistic) place where public and private dissections in alexandria happened, also where the library of alexandria was, a hub of compiled and ongoing research (medical and nonmedical)

Methodists

 (Roman Imperial) emphasis on identifying the ‘community’, flux, constriction, or mixed status of a person's body. Treat allopathically; if it's too loose, tighten it; if it's too tight, loosen it. Fast and simple technique, can learn a system in 6 months or less. Galen hated them.

Antonine Plague

(Roman Imperial) First pandemic of the Roman empire, possibly smallpox (based on description of symptoms), Romans tended to blame it on the destruction of a temple in Seleucia in the military campaign against the Parthians

Civic Amulets

During the Antonine Plague (Roman Imperial Period) many inscriptions and monuments were erected in order to appease the gods that were causing the plague in accordance to the wisdom given by the oracle of Apollo in Claros. These worked as amulets that were meant to heal and protect entire cities and towns through civic piety

Balnae

(Roman Imperial) Privately owned bathhouses that had fees and were smaller

Thermae

(Roman Imperial) owned by the current emperor, open to public, very large

Apodyterium

Roman Imperial) changing room in a bathhouse

Tepidarium

(Roman Imperial) warm room in a bathhouse

Caldarium

 (Roman Imperial) hot pool and sauna area in a bathhouse

Frigidarium

 (Roman Imperial) cold pool in a bathhouse

Gymnasium

(Roman Imperial) exercise facility in a bathhouse

Galen of Pergamon

(Roman Imperial) has an expensive and expansive travelling education, was a physician for gladiators and later to many Roman emperors, an eclectic thinker who borrows from plato, aristotle, the hippocratic corpus, rationalists, and empiricists, advocated for combining logical reasoning with observational experience and offering formal demonstrations of results. (did a lot of animal dissection, particularly on monkeys)

Celsus

(Roman Imperial) the only latin source, describes rationists and empiricists

Paul of Aegina

 (Late Antiquity) wrote about earlier medical developments compiling earlier texts and ideas into compendiums

Ritual Healing

the practice of going to metaphysical healers like those who follow Asclepius, magicians, or prophets (like during the antonine plague) etc.

Epidemic

Something that is happening upon the people (ancient greek definition based on Greek roots)

Daemon

a supernatural being somewhere between gods and humans, often believed to cause and or heal disease