The Origin and Causes of Schizophrenia and Madness in Greek Culture
By Jorge Tomás García
The Journal of Humanistic Psychiatry, Vol. 2:1 (2014)
Salmoneus wielding a sword and a thunderbolt-like thingy. He just broke the chains that contained him, the madman, and acts like Zeus. To his left is Iris, to the right his astonished wife. Attic red-figure column crater, first half of the 5th century BC. Now in the Chicago, Art Institute 1889.
Introduction: Ancient Greek medicine was a complex practice perceived as something between myth and reality, as an expression of a magical divinatory, and an empirical technical practice. Consequently, ancient medicine is linked with ancient mythology. Some authors assert that schizophrenia as it is known now existed in the Graeco-Roman world. Others argue schizophrenia may have changed its manifestation, even within the last 50 years, and that different cultures exhibit symptoms which vary so markedly it is questionable whether they all refer to the same condition. Medicine, as the science aimed at treating pain and illness, has always represented a core aspect of all societies. While among most ancient civilizations no difference occurred between medicine, mythology, and religion, a separation of these entities seems to be a contemporary concept. A characteristic feature of Hippocratic medicine is the notion that healthy and pathological processes in the human body are the result of natural conditions, and that diseases should be treated by rational means. The Hippocratic physician considers the patient an equal partner, whose dignity is to be protected in all respects. The ethical principles of Hippocratic medicine remain relevant even today.
The word “schizophrenia” is derived from two Greek words: “schizo,” which means to tear or to split, and “phren,” which means “the intellect” or “the mind,” and was sometimes used to refer to emotional functions. Thus, the word schizophrenia is defined as the splitting or tearing of the mind and emotional stability of the patient. According to Greek mythology, the experience of hysteria was at the base of the birth of psychiatry. The portrayal of psychotic illness in ancient Roman and Greek texts has been cited to support a range of epidemiological and phenomenological theories.
For example, Roccatagliata reports substantial similarities in descriptions of schizophrenia in the Graeco-Roman times vs. modern times, and an apparent stability in prevalence of schizophrenia over time. Rosen believed that the explanations for mental derangement, divine intervention, and natural causes that disturb psychic activity represented, respectively, the popular and the medical attitudes towards mental abnormality prevalent in Graeco-Roman culture. The humoral theory ordained that mental disorders and physical diseases were influenced by the humors. When internal or external factors disturbed the balance of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, or black bile in the body, the imbalance led to insanity.
The Origin and Causes of Schizophrenia and Madness in Greek Culture
By Jorge Tomás García
The Journal of Humanistic Psychiatry, Vol. 2:1 (2014)
Introduction: Ancient Greek medicine was a complex practice perceived as something between myth and reality, as an expression of a magical divinatory, and an empirical technical practice. Consequently, ancient medicine is linked with ancient mythology. Some authors assert that schizophrenia as it is known now existed in the Graeco-Roman world. Others argue schizophrenia may have changed its manifestation, even within the last 50 years, and that different cultures exhibit symptoms which vary so markedly it is questionable whether they all refer to the same condition. Medicine, as the science aimed at treating pain and illness, has always represented a core aspect of all societies. While among most ancient civilizations no difference occurred between medicine, mythology, and religion, a separation of these entities seems to be a contemporary concept. A characteristic feature of Hippocratic medicine is the notion that healthy and pathological processes in the human body are the result of natural conditions, and that diseases should be treated by rational means. The Hippocratic physician considers the patient an equal partner, whose dignity is to be protected in all respects. The ethical principles of Hippocratic medicine remain relevant even today.
The word “schizophrenia” is derived from two Greek words: “schizo,” which means to tear or to split, and “phren,” which means “the intellect” or “the mind,” and was sometimes used to refer to emotional functions. Thus, the word schizophrenia is defined as the splitting or tearing of the mind and emotional stability of the patient. According to Greek mythology, the experience of hysteria was at the base of the birth of psychiatry. The portrayal of psychotic illness in ancient Roman and Greek texts has been cited to support a range of epidemiological and phenomenological theories.
For example, Roccatagliata reports substantial similarities in descriptions of schizophrenia in the Graeco-Roman times vs. modern times, and an apparent stability in prevalence of schizophrenia over time. Rosen believed that the explanations for mental derangement, divine intervention, and natural causes that disturb psychic activity represented, respectively, the popular and the medical attitudes towards mental abnormality prevalent in Graeco-Roman culture. The humoral theory ordained that mental disorders and physical diseases were influenced by the humors. When internal or external factors disturbed the balance of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, or black bile in the body, the imbalance led to insanity.
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