Greek Mythology and Modern Medicine Ancient Modern Greece

Greek Mythology and Modern Medicine 醫學系醫學人文教育學科 呂佩穎教授

Ancient Modern Greece

Mt. Olympus Borghese Gallery, Rome

Symbol of Medicine? one serpent or two serpents

Rod of Asclepius is the God of Medicine. Athena gave him a potion made from the blood of the Gorgon. If the blood was taken from the right side of the Gorgon, it was able to bring the dead back to life; otherwise, it was a deadly poison. The main attribute of Asclepius is a physician's rod with a snake wrapped around it, which survives to this day as the symbol of medical profession.

Acropolis Museum

Caduceus The caduseus is a short herald’s staff entwined by two serpents surmounted by wings. This staff first was borne by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It also was called the wand of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, when he superseded Iris in much later myths.

Hermes The gods' messenger and protector of the travelers; son of Zeus and Titan Atlas’ daughter Maia. He was pictured with winged sandals, a winged hat and a magic wand.

Confusion between Rod of Asclepius/ The caduceus • The caduceus is sometimes used as a symbol for medicine, especially in North America, though confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius • Attempts have been made to argue if the caduceus is appropriate as a symbol of medicine.

Confusion between Rod of Asclepius/ The caduceus A 1992 survey of American health organizations found that 62% of professional associations used the rod of Asclepius, whereas in commercial organizations, 76% used the caduceus。 (Friedlander, Walter J. The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus symbol in medicine)

Association of American Medical Colleges KMU hospital The U. S. Army Medical Corps

In fact, the double serpent-entwined staff with wings has a modern origin -- the printer’s mark of a popular 19 th century medical publisher, instead of the ancient caduceus of Hermes. True story is …. This modern caduceus became a popular medical symbol only after its adoption by the U. S. Army Medical Corps at the beginning of the 20 th century.

Which one is more correct ? The misunderstanding of ancient mythology and iconography then led to the inappropriate popularization of the modern caduceus as a medical symbol. (Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 138 Issue p 673 -677, The Symbol of Modern Medicine: Why One Snake Is More Than Two)

Atlas One of the Titans, the personification of endurance. He led the Titans in a rebellion against Zeus and was condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders. He was also said to have been appointed guardian of the pillars that held earth and sky. His name is now used to describe….

Human Atlases the first vertebra of the neck

Greek Mythology and Medical and Psychiatric Terminology • Many terms in modern psychiatry, medicine and related disciplines originate from Greek mythology. • Related disciplines include pathology, schizophrenia, ophthalmology, gynecology, anatomy, pharmacology, biology, hepatology, homeopathy, allopathy, etc.

The Golden Apple

Aphrodite (Venus) • • Sandro Botticelli Uffizi Gallery Goddess of beauty Daughter of Diana and Jupiter Sprang from the foam of the sea at Cyprus Married to Hephaestus and had many affairs

aphrodisiacs an agent (as a food or drug) that arouses or is held to arouse sexual desire venereal diseases a contagious disease that is typically acquired in sexual intercourse Venus de Milo Musée du Louvre, Paris

Syphilis • A shepherd in “Syphilis, or the French Disease”, the work of Girolamo Fracastoro, a poet and medical personality in Verona, Italy • He overturned the altars dedicated to Apollo and worshiped King Alcithoüs • Punished by Apollo as the first to have the disease

Hymen Son of Dionysus and Aphrodite God of marriage

hymen the piece of elastic membrane to the entrance to the vagina

Group work

Can you think of any medical terms that originate from a Greek god/goddess whose Greek name means “Soul”? Type the medical term and the name of the god/goddess it originate from. Give as many answers as you can!

Eros Son of Aphrodite, who had forbidden him to see mortal girls, yet he started seeing Psyche in the dark while not allowing her to see his face or ask his name; when she disobeyed him and lit a lamp, Eros fled away. love in Greek

Erotic - tending to arouse sexual love or desire - strongly affected by sexual desire Erotomania? a psychological disorder marked by the delusional belief that one is the object of another person's love or sexual desire

Psyche ‘Soul’ Soul in Greek A mortal girl; after Eros fled away, she wandered long in search of him, and they eventually united and she became immortal. Cupid and Psyche (Amour et Psyche) Antonio Canova (1757 -1822/Italian) Marble Sculpture Musée du Louvre, Paris

psychiatry a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders psychology the science of mind and behavior

The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche…. Love + Soul

Extremely proud of his beauty and indifferent to the emotions of those who fell in love with him; cursed by a goddess to feel what it is to love and get nothing in return and then fell in love with his own image. Every time he tried to embrace his own image, it disappeared without saying a word; he then died and was turned into a flower.

narcissism extreme self-love based on an idealized self-image

Hermaphroditus Son of Aphrodite The nymph Salmacis fell in love with him and tried to embrace him when he plunged into the lake of Salmacis. Yet he didn’t like it and tried to push her away. She then prayed to gods to cause their bodies never to be separated, which eventually happened.

Hermaphroditus

hermaphrodite an animal or plant having both male and female reproductive organs

Echo She deceived Juno, who then passed a sentence upon her only to be able to repeat the last words of others talking to; fell in love with Narcissus but was unable to express her feelings.

echolalia almost automatic repetition of words or phrases heard echopraxia involuntary mimicking of another’s movements

Phobos ‘Fear’ in Greek Fear Officially the son of Aphrodite and Hephaestus, but was actually the son of Ares, the god of war Phobus, god of fear, Greco-Roman mosaic from Halicarnassus C 4 th A. D. , British Museum

phobias Illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation homophobia ? irrational fear of homosexuality hydrophobia ? fear of water

Mania Personification of madness egomania obsessive preoccupation with the self pyromania an irresistible impulse to start fires

Group work

What other manias or phobias can you think of? Type the terms and their definitions. Give as many answers as you can!

Hygeia ‘Health’ in Greek Health Daughter of the famous physician Asclepius, god of medicine

hygiene science of establishment and maintenance of health hygienic (adj. )

Satyrs Half men and half goats, infamous for their lasciviousness and sexual appetite.

satyriasis obsessive insatiable desire for sexual gratification

Syrinx (middle) A beautiful nymph turned into a tuft of reeds when the satyr Pan tried to rape her; he then made the reed into a flute

syringe a device used to inject fluids into or withdraw them from something syringitis (ˌsɪrɪnˈdʒaɪtɪs) inflammation of the auditory tube

Priapus God of reproductive power and fertility and was later regarded as the chief deity of lasciviousness

priapism an abnormal often painful persistent erection of the penis

Sappho A poetess in 6 th BC who wrote lyrical poems about sex and love, probably between women; lived on the island of Lesbos, Lesbos a Greek Island located in the northeastern Aegean sea.

lesbianism; sapphism female homosexuality

Family Tree of Nyx (Night) … Hypnus (Sleep) Geras (Old Age) Thanatos (Death) Morpheus

Hypnus ‘Sleep’ in Greek Sleep Probably the son of Nyx (Night) and Erebus and twin brother of Thanatos (Death); resided in Erebos, the land of eternal darkness, beyond the gates of the rising sun.

hypnosis A mental state that resembles sleep induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject hypnagogic phenomena Episodes of seeing and hearing things as one is falling asleep

Geras God of old age; son of Nyx (Night); may be seen at the entrance of the underworld

geriatric medicine A branch of medicine that deals with the problems and diseases of old age and aging people

Morpheus Son of the Hypnus, the God of sleep; able to take any human’s form and appear in dreams (bottom left)

morphine a kind of drug extracted from opium: used in medicine as an analgesic and sedative, although repeated use causes addiction

Lethe ‘Oblivion’ Oblivion in Greek; a nymph of a river in the underworld whose water causes forgetfulness; souls on their way to live again in the world above must all drink it. Daughter of Eris

lethargy - abnormal drowsiness - the quality or state of being lazy, sluggish, or indifferent lethargic (adj. )

Which word originates from Thanatos, and is a controversial topic on selfautonomy of quality of life nowadays? Hypnos (left) and Thanatos (right) carrying dead Sarpedon, while Hermes watches.

Mnemosyne A Titaness, daughter of Uranus and Gaia ; the personification of memory

amnesia loss of memory due usually to brain injury, shock, fatigue, repression, or illness amnestic (adj. )

Hebe (middle) ‘Adolescence’ in Adolescence Greek Daughter of goddess Hera, wife of Heracles and personification of youth

hebephrenia a type of schizophrenia characterized by shallow affect, giggling, and silly, regressive behavior

• Greek Literature

Death of Achilles - Achilles’ heel Illiad • Achilles’ mother, Thetis, hold onto the infant Achilles by his heel and dipped him in the river, so he became invulnerable where the water touched him. In the Trojan War, Achilles died from a wound on his heel shot by Paris with an arrow.

Achilles tendon

Oedipus His father, King Laius of Thebes ordered to put him to death following an oracle that Oedipus will killed him. Oedipus survived and years later met, had an argument with and killed his father without knowing his identity. He then solved the riddle of Sphinx and married his mother Jocasta.

Oedipus When he found out what happened, he put out his eyes. Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King) is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles, which was first performed in 429 BC.

Oedipus complex • Sigmund Freud named his famous complex after Oedipus • The positive libidinal feelings of a child toward the parent of the opposite sex and hostile or jealous feelings toward the parent of the same sex that may be a source of adult personality disorder when unresolved

Electra Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Electra persuaded her brother Orestes to kill their mother and her lover Aegisthus, who had previously killed Agamemnon.

Electra She is the main character in the Greek tragedy Electra. Both Sophocles and Euripides (two of the three great Greek tragedians, the other one being Aeschylus) had dramas for Electra’s story. Euripides’ version was probably written in the mid 410 s BC. It is unclear whether it Sophocles was written before or after Sophocles’ version. Euripides

Electra complex A psychoanalytic term used to describe a girl’s romantic feelings toward her father and anger towards her mother

Greek Mythology & Modern Medicine

Prometheus • The Greek God whose immortal liver was feasted on day after day by Zeus’ eagle because he stole fire from Zeus. • pro- : before • metheus:

Countless lectures and articles about regenerative medicine begin with a reference to this myth before turning into more scientific matters. Babylonian clay model of a sheep’s liver

Did the ancient Greeks know about the liver’s amazing capacity for self-repair?

To be continued in the TBL Learning…

Greek mythology and medical and psychiatric terminology • • • • • • Aphrodite / Venus (aphrodisiacs / venereal diseases) Echo (echolalia, echopraxia) Electra (electra complex) Eros (erotomania. . etc) Geras (geriatric medicine) Hebe (hebephrenic) Hermaphroditus (hermaphrodite) Hygeia (hygiene, hygienic) Hypnus (hypnosis…etc) Lethe (lethargy, lethargic) Mania Mnemosyne (amnesia, amnestic, etc) Morpheus (morphine) Narcissus (narcissism) Oedipus the King (Oedipus complex) Priapus (priapism) Psyche (psychology. . etc) Phobos (phobia) Sappho (sapphism) Satyrs (satyriasis) Syrinx (syringe)

The story…. Milky Way British National Gallery