2. Classical Views of Disease: Hippocrates, Galen, and Humoralism

Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600 (HIST 234) The form of medicine that arose in fifth-century Greece, associated with the name of Hippocrates and later popularized by Galen, marked a major innovation in the treatment of disease. Unlike supernatural theories of disease, Hippocrates’ method involved seeking the causes of illness in natural factors. This method rested upon an analogy between the order of the universe and the composition of the body’s “humors.“ Health, on this view, was a matter of achieving equilibrium between competing humoral forces. Although Hippocratic theory would later be challenged for a number of different reasons, notably including the experience of epidemic diseases, it persists today in various traditions of holistic medicine. 00:00 - Chapter 1. Diseases as Supernatural 13:50 - Chapter 2. Humoralism 30:14 - Chapter 3. Galen as Interpreter of Hippocratic Medicine 42:32 - Chapter 4. Ascelpius Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: This course was recorded in Spring 2010.