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

2. Modern Greece
Ancient Greece

3. Mt. Olympus
Borghese Gallery, Rome

4. Symbol of Medicine?
one serpent or
two serpents

5. Rod of Asclepius
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.

6. 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 It also was called the wand of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, when he superseded Iris in much later myths.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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)

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

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

12. 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 , The Symbol of Modern Medicine: Why One Snake Is More Than Two)

13. 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 which held earth and sky. His name is now used to describe….

14. Human Atlases
the first vertebra of the neck

15. 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.

16. The Golden Apple

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

18. aphrodisiacs venereal diseases
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

19. Son of Dionysus and Aphrodite
Hymen
Son of Dionysus and Aphrodite
God of marriage

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

21. Eros love in Greek 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

22. Erotic Erotomania? - 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

23. Psyche
‘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 ( /Italian)
Marble Sculpture Musée du Louvre, Paris

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

25. The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche….
Love + Soul

26. Narcissus
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.

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

28. 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.

29. Hermaphroditus

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

31. 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.

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

33. Phobos
‘Fear’ in Greek
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 C4th A.D., British Museum

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

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

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

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

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

39. satyriasis
obsessive insatiable desire for sexual
gratification

40. 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

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

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

43. priapism
an abnormal often painful persistent
erection of the penis

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

45. lesbianism; sapphism
female homosexuality

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

47. Hypnus ‘Sleep’ in Greek
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

48. hypnosis hypnagogic phenomena 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

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

50. geriatric medicine a branch of medicine that deals with
the problems and diseases of old age
and aging people

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

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

53. Lethe
‘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

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

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

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

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

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

59. Death of Achilles- Achilles’ heel
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.

60. Achilles tendon

62. 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.

63. 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.

64. 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

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

66. 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 410s BC. It is unclear whether it was written before or after Sophocles’
version.
Sophocles
Euripides

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

68. Greek Mythology
&
Modern Medicine

69. Prometheus The Greek God whose immortal liver was feasted on day after
day by Zeus’ eagle
because he stole fire
from Zeus.

70. 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

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

72. To be continued in the TBL Learning…

73. 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)

74. The story….
Milky Way

75. Thank You