Greek Medicine

By Sonia Athi
Hippocrates: who was
Hippocrates?
Hippocrates was an ancient Greek
physician who is considered to be
one of the most exceptional
contributors to medicine till date.
Hippocrates influenced Greek
medicine a great deal.
Hippocrates: rejection of
the Gods theory.
Hippocrates preached that the Gods had nothing to
do with illness’s and he completely rejected any
speculation that evil spirits existed or that praying
would heal the human body of illness. Instead, he
had his theory of the four humours which some
people refused to believe as they were fixed in their
ways of believing in God and evil spirits. The theory
was that illnesses were linked to the four seasons,
thus the ‘four humours’.
 The four humours
According to Hippocrates, the four seasons had their
own illness. Which are called the four humours.

Yellow bile – summer Black bile – autumn

Phlegm – winter Vomit – spring

Hippocrates also thought that when a patient was taken

ill it was as a result of the patients unbalanced body
humours. A prescription was given to the patient in
attempt to re balance the humours. Hippocrates would
prescribe a change in diet and exercise intended to
revive the body of it’s balance.
 Hippocratic oath
The Hippocratic oath was formed by Hippocrates
himself. It was an oath to be sworn by doctors
stating that they would keep patient confidentiality
also that they would do everything to their knowledge
to help a patient. This oath has been modified but is
still used in the present day by doctors who also
swear that they will keep patient confidentiality and
the rest of the requirements that the oath involves.
 Clinical observation
Hippocrates thought that keeping a record of your patients state
and symptoms would help in their diagnosis. This was in fact a
very helpful invention as the more patients that Hippocrates
recorded, the familiar he got with the illness’s so he could
sometimes predict the future symptoms of his patients and find
ways of preventing the illness from developing any further.
Clinical observation is still used today in hospitals and
surgeries to monitor a patients state.
Health and Hippocrates
Hippocrates believed in the
importance of exercise; he used to
encourage exercise to his patients
and strangely enough, he had his
own brand of toothpaste! No, not
really, but he did advise people to
wash their mouth with peppermint
which improved the Greeks teeth.