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Ancient Greece and thehealing artDouglas GuthriePublished online: 27 Feb 2008.

To cite this article: Douglas Guthrie (1940) Ancient Greece and the healing art ,Scottish Geographical Magazine, 56:3, 108-112, DOI: 10.1080/00369224008735163

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00369224008735163

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town of Coca, and Peru has withdrawn all claim to any land westof the meridian of Carrelos, Sarayacu and Puerto Pardo, but sofar it has been impossible to agree on a division or assignment ofthe intervening zone of 150 miles. This is to be left to the arbitraldecision of the President of the United States.

The Ecuador-Peruvian boundary on this new official map,however, is at variance with this. The international frontier runsfrom north-east of Tumbez south to the Chira river, crossing thisat Alamor. Thence it runs more or less east along the Rios Macura,Culvas, Blanco and Canchis, to Todos Santos on the Rio Chinchipe.From here to lat. 30 south the boundary is drawn as a straightline running due south-north, and then continues about twenty-fivemiles east of the main watershed of the Andes, on which are situatedQuito and the important towns of Ecuador, almost as far as Tulcan.Thence the frontier (on the Peruvian map it is now the Peru-Colombia frontier) runs east, and follows the Rio S. Miguel andthe Rio Putumayo as far as Cordova, thence to Atacuari on theAmazon, and along the Amazon to Tabatinga. The Oriente isincluded in a new large province called Loreto.

The final success of the full claims of Peru would confineEcuador to the mountain plateau and the Pacific slope. In areaand importance to the countries concerned, the controversy issecond in South America only to that of the Gran Chaco.

ANCIENT GREECE AND THE HEALING ART*

By DOUGLAS GUTHRIE

THE lovely little island of Delos, in the Cyclades, was originally afloating island, anchored to the bed of the sea to provide a resting-place for the goddess Leto, who there gave birth to the twins Apollo(Phoebus) and Diana (Artemis). Here begins the story of medicine,with ancient Greece as its cradle.

Although Delos, at one time a prosperous city with a famousmarket in which ten thousand slaves were sold in a single day, isnow a mass of ruins, one may still visit, near the summit of MountCynthus, the Grotto of Apollo, a cleft in the rocky hillside, roofedby a double row of huge slabs of stone forming a primitive arch.The famous lions of Delos are of two varieties : the marble sea-lions,believed to be votive offerings, and the more recent mosaic lionon the floor of one of the villas.

At an early age Apollo left for Delphi. High up on the side ofMount Parnassus, approached by a steep and winding road from theport of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, Delphi is a most eerie and

* Adapted from a Lecture delivered by Dr. Douglas Guthrie to the Royal ScottishGeographical Society on 21st February 1940.

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ANCIENT GREECE AND THE HEALING ART 109

awe-inspiring place even to-day, and one can readily understandwhy it occupied the central point in maps of ancient Greece, justas Jerusalem was placed in the centre of Christendom. It was saidthat Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the earth, and,flying towards each other, they met at Delphi. There, therefore,was the centre or navel of the earth, and it was marked by a conicalboulder, the Omphalos, which may still be seen beside the SacredWay, the marble-paved approach to the temple. There is anotheromphalos at the local museum at Kastri, the village which occupiedthe site of Delphi, and which was bodily transplanted half a mileeastwards by the French excavators before they unearthed thetreasures which may now be seen.

But to return to Apollo. On arrival at Delphi his first act wasto slay a python or monster which had rendered the site untenable.Delphi remained for centuries a shrine of worship of Apollo, themost sacred spot in Greece. Its chief claim to fame, however, arosefrom the famous oracle. Beside the Sacred Way there was a chasmor cleft in the rock from which issued intoxicating fumes. Overthis was the tripod on which the priestess sat, chewing laurel leavesand uttering her ravings, which, however incoherent, were cleverlytranscribed into hexameter verse which usually conveyed anambiguous meaning. Apparently the priestess was a sort of medium.Her ego, under the influence of fumes or laurel (the exact cause isvery obscure), became submerged, and a dissociated personalityreplied to enquirers. So numerous and valuable were the gifts toDelphi for professional services rendered, that safe deposits ortreasuries were built, and these, in ruins or partially restored, stilladorn the sacred precinct. One of the finest of the offerings, dis-covered only a few years ago, is the bronze charioteer, completeeven to the painted ivory eyes and bronze eyelashes, so amazinglylifelike.

Although the problems submitted to the oracle were mostlypolitical and strategic, many were domestic and personal, and therecan be no doubt that an opinion was sought in cases of serious illness.The enquirer did not always ask for treatment, still less did hedemand a diagnosis. A prognosis, a life or death verdict, was whathe most desired. The importance of prognosis was emphasised byHippocrates, and even to-day it is a fear of the future which impelsmany a patient to consult his doctor. It is only a step from theDelphian Oracle to the cult of Aesculapius. Indeed, it was atDelphi that Aesculapius, about 1250 B.C., ventured to use his artto restore the dead to life. Zeus punished this presumption byslaying Aesculapius, who then became a god, and was worshippedin hundreds of temples, or Asklepieia. One of the most famouswas at Epidaurus ; there were others at Cos, Pergamos, Athens,and many other places. To the Asklepieia came many sick personsfor the healing ritual known as temple sleep, or " incubation."After such preliminaries as bathing and offering of sacrifice, the

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patient lay down to sleep in the " abaton," a long colonnade, opento the air at each side. During the night Aesculapius appeared ina dream and gave advice, or even performed an operation, whichresulted in a cure. Sometimes the harmless snakes of the templeassisted in the treatment by licking the eyes or sores of the patient.The part played by the priests also varied widely according to thecase. Our knowledge of" incubation is derived from local inscrip-tions describing the cases, from the satirical account by Aristophanesin his Ploutos, and from the sacred orations of Aristides, who washimself a patient, and obviously a hypochondriac. One of theinscriptions at Epidaurus tells of a paralytic who was ordered tobring into the abaton as large a stone as he could find. He did so,and there the stone may still be seen.

No doubt incubation was a very effective form of psychotherapy.Although as a rule the cure was completed, as by a miracle, in asingle night, the patient sometimes remained for days or weeks,taking the waters and baths, and following a routine of diet andexercise as at any modern spa. The temples of Aesculapius were inhealthy places with natural springs and fine scenery. Even in itspresent ruined state Epidaurus is a lovely spot, and on the occasionof our visit its beauty was enhanced by the abundant anemonesand other spring flowers.

The theatre, excavated only a few years ago, is one of the finestin Greece, seating about 20,000 spectators. One may also visit thesports ground or stadium, and may use the massive stone seatswhich were originally available for patients.

Incubation was practised in the eighth century B.C., and con-tinued till paganism gave way to Christianity ; even to-day tracesof the ancient cult still remain. In certain churches of Greece andItaly, on certain days in the year, sick pilgrims pass the night, andcures are reported.

The next phase takes us from priestcraft to prescribing, fromAesculapius to Hippocrates, from Epidaurus to Cos. In the islandof Cos, the home of Hippocrates, there was a great Asklepieiondiscovered in 1903, the reconstruction of which was undertaken byItalians. The association of the Father of Medicine with the templehas been argued and questioned. Certainly the Hippocraticprinciples were directly opposed to magic and ritual, but the influxof patients to the Asklepieion may have created a demand for healersother than those who held office as priests. We know little of thelife of Hippocrates, save that he was descended from Aesculapius,who had two daughters, Hygeia and Panacea.

Born in Cos in 460 B.C., Hippocrates lived a long life, and it maybe true that he taught his students under the huge oriental planetree which is still a prominent landmark in the town, and whichmeasures 36 feet in circumference. He first separated medicinefrom philosophy, and disproved the idea that disease was a punish-ment sent by the gods.

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Although we know little about the man, a study of the booksknown as the Hippocratic Collection, which were inspired, if notentirely written, by Hippocrates, reveals his high standard of ethics,his accuracy of case-recording, and his insistence upon prognosis.The Aphorisms, Prognostics and Oath are certainly the work ofHippocrates. The ethical code, or Hippocratic Oath, has beenadopted as a pattern by medical men throughout the ages. Hisgenius for exact observation is shown in many of his writings,notably in the terse aphorisms, the first of which is well known," Life is short, the art long, the opportunity fleeting, experimentfallacious, judgment difficult," and he goes on to advise the doctorto do the right thing at the right time. He discusses the age incidenceand the seasonal incidence of various diseases, and in studying thepatient he notes the facial appearance, the position in bed, themovement of the hands, the extent of sleep, and many other signswhich we are apt to overlook in these days of instrumental andchemical methods. His critics have said that he paid more attentionto causes and prognosis than to diagnosis and treatment. It is truethat many of his patients died, but that simply indicates his honestyin recording all he saw, so different from the records of Asklepieiawhich seem to consist of a series of miraculous cures.

To Hippocrates prognosis was all-important. Perhaps his ownlong life was conducive to his study of prognosis. As Sir JamesMackenzie remarked, " No doctor lives long enough to write areliable book on prognosis." Prognosis is not merely a forecast ofhow disease will progress. It is, to quote Dr. Singer, " knowingthings about a patient before you are told them." Hippocratesviewed disease as a natural phenomenon. " Every disease," hewrites, " has its own nature, and arises from external causes, fromcold, from the sun, from changing winds, from occupation." Inshowing that there was, in most diseases, a tendency to a naturalcure, he formulated the great principle of Vix Medicatrix Naturae." Our natures are the physicians of our diseases." " Do not disturba patient during or after a crisis, and try no experiments with drugsor instruments, but leave him alone." Hippocrates used few drugs,but his advice regarding diet, exercise and mode of life is oftensurprisingly modern.

These are some of his hints on professional deportment : " Thedoctor should keep himself clean and be respectably dressed, andshould make use of ointments spreading an agreeable but notsuspicious aroma." " On entering the sickroom he should sit down,should not speak much, nor let himself become embarrassed." Andhere are some maxims for the surgeon : " He must use both handswith equal celerity, and it is a favourable circumstance if the thumbis in good apposition to the forefinger." " The nails should notproject beyond the finger tips, and yet not be too short."

In point of time Hippocrates was closely followed by Aristotle,the great biologist and comparative anatomist, whose work was of

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inestimable value to medicine. Then the scene shifts to Egypt,where there was a famous medical school at Alexandria, and thento Rome, where Celsus wrote his voluminous work.

The greatest exponent of Greek medicine after Hippocrates wasGalen, who was born at Pergamos in A.D. 130. Pergamos, orBergamum, is in Asia Minor, fifty miles north of Smyrna (Izmir),and it may be visited by those who are prepared to negotiate inspringless motor-cars one of the roughest roads in Asia. The siteof the Asklepieion is magnificent. There is a huge theatre, but thetemple, with its wonderful sculptures, has been removed andreconstructed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, and is one of thefinest art treasures of Germany. That Galen was a hard workeris shown by the number of his writings. He dissected many animals,described many of the muscles, traced the cranial nerves, noted theeffect of section of the spinal cord, and of the recurrent laryngealnerve. He was the first to show that the arteries contained bloodand not air, and he very nearly discovered the circulation of theblood. All these discoveries and those of his predecessors wererecorded by Galen in a number of works which were destined toremain the standard text-books of medicine for more than a thousandyears.

Throughout the dull-witted period of the Middle Ages, no onethought of questioning the authority of Galen. Then came theRenaissance, when Paracelsus prefaced his Lectures by publiclyburning the works of Galen, when Vesalius showed that much of theGalenic anatomy was false, as it had been based on animal dis-sections, and when Ambroise Paré introduced simple dressingsinstead of boiling oil. Nevertheless their criticism does not detractfrom the value of the medicine of Ancient Greece. Nor is Greekmedicine a matter of mere historic interest. Even to-day it is usefulto recall the Hippocratic tradition, " our natures are the physiciansof our diseases." Therefore the physician, and the specialist,whatever his field, should study the entire patient and his environ-ment, and view disease with the eye of a naturalist. After all, hecan only assist Nature.

OLD GLASGOW PLACE-NAMES AND OTHERS

By JAMES MEIKLE, B.D., F.S.A.Scot.

IN our boyhood we learnt from Edgar Allan Poe's Tales that adangerous letter was best hid from secret searchers by being putopenly in the most obvious spot in the house, where, if noticed atall, it might naturally be mistaken for any ordinary letter or circularand hastily passed over. In much the same way a place-name,really belonging to a language long extinct in its region, may have

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