Start Date
4-28-2016 12:45 PM
End Date
4-28-2016 2:15 PM
Disciplines
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity | European History | History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Subjects
Ancient medicine -- Greece -- History, Hippocrates -- Influence, Greek and Roman medicine -- Philosophy, Body fluids -- Symbolic aspects
Abstract
Prior to the birth of Hippocrates of Cos in 460 BCE, medicine in ancient Greece revolved around the gods and magic. During Hippocrates lifetime, he remastered an old practice called the humoral theory: an idea stating that every individual person has a unique balance of substances called humors in their body. The balance of these humors is what keeps a man healthy, and if a specific amount is disturbed, sickness sets in. This theory allowed physicians in ancient Greece to move away from dominantly using magic to treat illness and start using the humoral theory instead.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/17137
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, European History Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons
What’s Your Temperament: the Humoral Theory’s Influence on Medicine in Ancient Greece
Prior to the birth of Hippocrates of Cos in 460 BCE, medicine in ancient Greece revolved around the gods and magic. During Hippocrates lifetime, he remastered an old practice called the humoral theory: an idea stating that every individual person has a unique balance of substances called humors in their body. The balance of these humors is what keeps a man healthy, and if a specific amount is disturbed, sickness sets in. This theory allowed physicians in ancient Greece to move away from dominantly using magic to treat illness and start using the humoral theory instead.