Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: classics

  • Anatomical descriptions in the Iliad

    Maria ChiccoAylesbury, UK The descriptions of battles and duels in the Iliad confer an epic character to its narration. However, beyond dramatic effect, the detailed descriptions of wounds and injuries have attracted the attention and curiosity of generations of readers, especially those with a medical background. Some of the anatomical descriptions appear surprisingly elaborate and…

  • Blood, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm: An inseparable balance?

    John Graham-PoleClydesdale, NS, Canada Life blood: Humor and health In 1960, I entered St. Bartholomew’s Medical School on a full classics scholarship. I was a devotee of Hippocrates, with high hopes of embarking on a path of uniting medical science with the healing arts. “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” was…