The Greeks and Romans contributed greatly to the field of medicine, advancing it substantially from a magic-based process to one involving regimens, like diet and exercise, and observation, diagnosis, and more. Although the main contributions come from real, dead men, the Greeks and Romans credited some less believable figures with discovering and teaching medicine. Here are some of the names you will encounter in connection with Greek and Roman medicine.
Asclepius
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Asclepius is the son of Apollo and the healing god. His children include a daughter named Hygeia, the Greek personification of health. Asclepius was killed by Zeus for using his potions to bring the dead back to life.
Chiron
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Chiron was a centaur who taught many of the heroes. Achilles learned the rudiments of healing from the centaur.
Hippocrates
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Hippocrates of Cos is known as the father of medicine. He is thought to have traveled through Greece and Asia Minor as an itinerant physician before founding a school. A large body of medical treatises is attributed to Hippocrates. It is known as the Hippocratic corpus. The Hippocratic Oath is named for him. Hippocrates thought the body had to be in balance for health.
Aristotle
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The son of Macedonian king Philip II's court physician, the encyclopedic philosopher Aristotle was probably trained in medicine. He classified plants and animals and made valuable contributions to physiology and anatomy, as well as heredity. He rejected theories when observation proved them wrong. Some of his ideas were wrong, but he made some impressive deductions.
Soranus
Soranus of Ephesus (A.D. 98–138) studied at Alexandria before reaching Rome where he practiced medicine. He wrote on a variety of topics, including medicine. His most valuable contribution was his work on gynecology.Galen
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Galen of Pergamum (A.D. 129–199) studied at the local temple of Asclepius before becoming physician to gladiators. Galen went to Rome in 161 where he became physician to Emperor Marcus Aurelius. His writings on medicine were based on experiment, observation, amd the humoral theory, as well as incorporating the material of earlier writers on medicine. He too believed in maintaining a balance in the body for health.
