Mod. 1 Flashcards
History of the use of Greek and Latin in the Medical and Biological contexts
Mycenaen civilization
- When did they exist?
- what was their language
- what do we know about them?
- when did they die out?
- 1400-1100 BC
- Linear B was the language
- Only have commercial records
- Died out in the 1100’s
Dark age?
- What is it?
- What is important about this time period?
1100-800 BC
Had no idea what happened (no surviving text) and thus this was a “dark age”
800 BC
-What happened?
- Rise of Greek City states, sharing language, culture, and religion (but not laws, calendars, coinage, or government)
- Greek script appears around this time
800-500 BC
-What happened?
Colonization period
- many settlements, as far as North Africa, around the Black sea, Italy, Sicily, Iberian peninsula
- we know that they were Greek colonies because they all shared Greek script
Classical Period
- Time period?
- What happened?
5th to 4th century BC
>Persians got hella pissed and wanted to conquer Athens
>think of 300
>Basically Greeks, who were originally separated and quarreling, said “Oh crap, we better do something” and managed to win
>People go crazy after and start developing art and tragedies and comedies
>biggest thing is ppl start thinking
Socrates & Plato
- Who were they
- what did they do
- when did they live
Socrates is master, Plato is follower
Both were philosophers, focusing on the mind
5th century BC
Late 5th century
-What happened?
Peloponnesian war
>basically like Avengers, civil war, with athens and sparta going head to head
>Macedonians, another Greek city state that isn’t affected by the conflict, looks down and says “hey, they’re fighting for years and weak AF, let’s go take over”
>Phillip does, Macedanians in control of everything - actual “empire” of sorts”
>His son is Alex the Great
>Alex says hey why don’t we beat the persians then?
>He does
>Alex spreads Greek wherever he goes
Hellenistic Kingdoms
- WHy do they exist?
- How long did the last for?
- origin of the name?
> Alex died young. Land split among his generals, making the hellenistic kingdoms.
Lasted late 4th century BC to 5th century AD
Hellas - Greek word for themselves (the Greeks)
Euclid
Mathematician living during the Hellenistic kingdoms
Aristotle
- When did he live
- Why is he important
- What makes him different that Socrates and Plato
> 4th century BC
Did “philosophy”, but more of the natural world, or “natural history”
Natural history includes the natural world & early science
In other words, focus on medical and biological studies, i.e. Anatomy
so Socrates and Plato did behaviour unlike Aristotle.
Latin Language
- Where is it today?
- Where did it come from?
We use it in English - literally our alphabet
Language of the Roma city state -> spread as they conquered other city states
Roman republic
- how long did it exist for?
- Ruling system?
- Height of expansion?
- Language?
Lasted from 5th to 1st century BC
>Gradual build of the roman empire during this time
>Democracy at the time, so called a republic
Expands during 3rd & 2nd centuries BCE, till max growth in mid 2 century AD
>contains Hellenistic Greek world as well
>Ruling changes in late 1st century BC, because of civil war. Winner is Caesar Augustus, leading to a line of ~100 emperors and the start of the Roman empire
Linguistic Divide?
- What was it?
- What was the division?
- How did it influence the use of Greek and Latin then, and today?
> Latin “west” and Greek “East”
Greek used for philosophy (includes proto-science) & Medicine
Latin used for Law, and public administration (since Romans were in charge
People would learn each language to study each subject (ex. learning Greek to study philosophy)
System is still somewhat seen today; law in NA uses Latin terms
What happened to Latin after the collapse?
-When was the collapse as well?
Collapse of empire around 500BC >Latin became the "romance" languages; languages derived from Latin. This includes: -French -Spanish -Italian -Portuguese
Latin used for
>Academic writing
>scientific nomenclature (naming of things)
Roman catholic Church
What happened to Greek after the collapse?
What was Greek still used for?
Alphabet was “borrowed” by the cryllic language (Slavic language alphabet based of the ancient Greek alphabet)
Greek transformed into modern Greek.
Greek was used for
- The Christian New Testament (because it was written in Greek)
- Scientific terminology (medicine and biology), but it was transliterated in to Latin
What are historical reasons for using Greek and Latin today?
1) Greek was the 1st language of medicine and biology in Western tradition
2) Many Greek medical & scientific texts were transliterated into Latin at a very early period (so it is accessible to more people)
What are the linguistic reasons for using Greek and Latin Today?
1) Ancient Greek and Latin are static languages, i.e. they don’t change in meaning over time (at least now, so they mean what they meant a 100 years ago, for example)
2) Greek and Latin forms fit easily in to modern European languages, and many other modern languages
3) Greek lends itself to the formation of long but very precise terms (not many other languages can do that; German is another example)
Hippocrates
- When did he live?
- What made him important?
Lived 5th century BC
“Father of Medicine”, first one to write things down
60+ medical texts in his name
Plato
- When did he live?
- What made him important?
Lived 5th century BC, contemporary of Hippocrates
Studied soul & bodies’ relationship
Has influential work on the human soul and body, the “Timaeus”
Note that it was all theoretical, he just thought (and never really tested)
Aristotle
- When did he live?
- What made him important?
4th century BC philosopher-scientist
Did comparative anatomy (couldn’t dissect humans; it was a taboo)
Did empirical investigations & systematic classifications of natural world
Herophilus & Erasistratus
- When did they live?
- What made them important?
3rd Century BC Greek physicians
Anatomists
Did the first systematic human dissections
Worked in Alexandria (in Egypt) were dissection were OK (because Egyptians)
Contributed much to anatomy
Dioscorides
- When did he live?
- What made him important?
1st century AD
Physician & pharmacologist
Wrote a book called “De materia medica”, which was “On Medical Matters”
*Note that the above is the Latin name, translated from the original Greek
Galen
- When did he live?
- What made him important?
2nd century AD >Greek physician >Wrote hundreds of medical texts >important dissection work >built on Hippocrates >Immensely influential in the development of Western Medicine
Soranus
- When did he live?
- What made him important?
2nd century AD Greek physician
Many medical works
Most important was the Gynaecia, the “Medical Care of Women”
