The Concept of Health in Ancient Greek Medicine.

The purpose of this article is to summarize the views on Health in Ancient Greek Medicine. We studied mainly the Hippocratic and Galenic Corpus as well as the views of contemporary scholars on the subject. Important aspects on human health include the “four humors theory”, the strict connection of human physiology with the laws of Nature and the interconnection between the functions of human body and the way of life and habits of the patient. The humoral theories provided the basis for treatment strategies in Hippocratic medicine which was strictly individualized and case restricted. Hippocrates, on the basis of those theories, also suggested a set of rules for everyday life in his “Regimen” suggesting a direct association between health and life style. In all aspects of human life, the golden mean is considered to be the optimum way, according to the writer of the Hippocratic texts, in order to restore the balance between opposing powers that tend to disturb the homeostasis of human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]