Did the ancient Greeks only use natural approaches to medicine?

Answer 1

The Ancient Greeks had a balanced medical system.

They believed that the gods made you ill, but they also believed in more logical medicines is well.

The main one is the Theory Of The Four Humours, Phlegm, Black Bile Yellow Bile and Blood.

When you became Ill, it meant that one of your four humours was out of balance, so you either had too much phlegm or too much yellow bile.

If you had a a fever it was down to too much yellow bile- this would be treated with its opposite, phlegm, so the doctor would prescribe cold baths.

A cold- too much phlegm, this is treated with opposites too, so the doctor would prescribe warm beds and wine.

As you can see this was an incorrect, yet logical way of thinking.

However they did also believe that the gods made you ill.

Asclepios was the god of medicine.

If you were ill, say you had flu then you would be sent to an asclepius temple where you would stay until you were healed.

It is said that while staying there in a vision Asclepios (the god) and his two daughters (Panacea and Hygieia) would visit them in the night, they would bring with them snakes that would crawl all over you. Once awakening the patient would be cured.

People who stayed there, engraved in to slabs of stone their story of how they got better. They all believe it was the work of Asclepios.

However many historians now believe that it was because of the fresh air and exercise that came with the stay at Asclepios's temple.

Answer 2

Depending on the era they used mostly basic strategies like cleaning the wound, or putting wet cloths on sick patients heads. There might have been more ceremony the richer the person, with special oils and herbs, but the actual work was done by common sense.

Also, post 1116 B.C.E the Greeks used special rituals that had surprisingly astounding effectiveness. This was one of the first forms of Old Magic, to which the Greeks didn't monopolize on quite unlike the Romans, who later picked up the practice and enchanted certain rocks to make them into iron ore, to which they would make swords and shields out of. Some of the more promising could actually melt sand, and, with the right incantations, make clear, but fragile, rock. This started the early beginnings of Magic Glass, far different from our glass today, in that it is exactly the same.

Answer 3

Medicine in the form of folk remedies has been around almost as long as there have been people. Much of medicine was also bound up with superstition and religion. Ancient China, India, Babylonia, and other cultures also made strides in medicine. If Greek medicine was different, it was because the Greeks began to systematize medicine in a rational way, observing systems, taking the patient's history, and prescribing specific treatments for specific ailments. Yet it must be said that some medicos in other cultures did so as well. What the Geeks did was to set up schools and libraries to systematize the the learning, so that the available knowledge was not limited to one person's experience.

Answer 4

The Greeks used alcohol and probably marijuana as painkillers. There is a strong argument that the Nepenthe of Homer's Odyssey is actually marijuana.

Answer 5

The ancient Greeks were advanced in medicine, this is apparent from the Hippocratic writings. They used natural herbs and remedies as well as surgeries to cure people.

Answer 6

needles and threads

Answer 7

yes the anicent did use natural