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CHAPTER II.

EARLY GREEK MEDICINE.

Apollo Esculapius-Temples-Serpents-Gods of Health

-

-Melampus - Homer-Machaon-Podalarius-Temples
of Esculapius-Methods of Treatment-Gymnasia -
Classification of Renouard-Pythagoras - Democedes-
Greek Philosophers.

THE history of healing begins in the Hellenic mythology with Apollo, the god of light and the promoter of health. In the "Iliad" he is hailed as the disperser of epidemics, and, in this respect, the ancients were well informed in attributing destruction of infection to the sun's rays. Chiron, the Centaur, it was believed, was taught by Apollo and Artemis, and was the teacher, in turn, of Esculapius, who probably lived in the thirteenth century before Christ and was ultimately deified as the Greek god of medicine. Pindar relates of

him :

"On some the force of charmed strains he tried,

To some the medicated draught applied;

Some limbs he placed the amulets around,

Some from the trunk he cut, and made the patient
sound."1

Esculapius was too successful in his art, for his death was attributed to Zeus, who killed him by a

1 Wheelwright's translation of "Pindar."

flash of lightning, or to Pluto, both of whom were thought to have feared that Esculapius might by his skill gain the mastery over death.

Amid much that is mythological in the history of Esculapius, there is a groundwork of facts. Splendid temples were built to him in lovely and healthy places, usually on a hill or near a spring; they were visited by the sick, and the priests of the temples not only attended to the worship of Esculapius, but took pains to acquire knowledge of the healing art. The chief temple was at Epidaurus, and here the patients were well provided with amusements, for close to the temple was a theatre capable of seating 12,000 people, and a stadium built to accommodate 20,000 spectators.

A serpent entwined round a knotted staff is the symbol of Esculapius. A humorist of the present day has suggested that the knots on the staff indicate the numerous "knotty" questions which a doctor is asked to solve! Tradition states that when Esculapius was in the house of his patient, Glaucus, and deep in thought, a serpent coiled itself around his staff. Esculapius killed it, and then another serpent appeared with a herb leaf in its mouth, and restored the dead reptile to life. It seems probable that disease was looked upon as a poison. Serpents produced poison, and had a reputation in the most ancient times for wisdom, and for the power of renovation, and it was thought