Praxagoras () was a figure of

medicine in ancient Greece Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. The Greek term for medicine was ''iatrikē'' (). Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, inter ...

. He was born on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

island of Kos in about 340 BC. Both his father,

Nicarchus Nicarchus or Nicarch was a Greek poet and writer of the 1st century AD, best known for his epigrams, of which forty-two survive under his name in the ''Greek Anthology'', and his satirical poetry. He was a contemporary of, and influence on, the bet ...

, and his grandfather were physicians. Very little is known of Praxagoras' personal life, and none of his writings have survived.

History

Between the death of

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...

in 375 BC and the founding of the school in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt, Greek medicine became entrenched with speculation, seeing little advances in medicine. During this period four men took up the study of anatomy:

Diocles of Carystus Diocles of Carystus (; ; ; also known by the Latin name Diocles Medicus, i.e. "Diocles the physician"; ) was a well-regarded Greek physician, born in Carystus, a city on Euboea, Greece. His significance was as a major thinker, practitioner, and w ...

(fl. 4th century BC),

Herophilos Herophilos (; ; 335–280 BC), sometimes Latinised Herophilus, was a Greek physician regarded as one of the earliest anatomists. Born in Chalcedon, he spent the majority of his life in Alexandria. He was the first scientist to systematically p ...

(c. 335–280 BC),

Erasistratus Erasistratus (; ; c. 304 – c. 250 BC) was a Greek anatomist and royal physician under Seleucus I Nicator of Syria. Along with fellow physician Herophilus, he founded a school of anatomy in Alexandria, where they carried out anatomical research ...

(c. 304–250 BC), and finally Praxagoras.

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

(AD 129–216), a famous Greek physician, wrote of Praxagoras as this influential figure in Greek medicine and a member of the logical or Dogmatic school. Galen also probably knew of the works of Praxagoras, writing on natural sciences, anatomy, causes and treatment of disease, and on acute diseases. Praxagoras adopted a variation of the

humoral theory Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 17th ce ...

, but instead of the

four humors Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 17th ce ...

(

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

phlegm Phlegm (; , ''phlégma'', "inflammation", "humour caused by heat") is mucus produced by the respiratory system, excluding that produced by the throat nasal passages. It often refers to respiratory mucus expelled by coughing, otherwise known as ...

, yellow

bile Bile (from Latin ''bilis''), also known as gall, is a yellow-green/misty green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is primarily composed of water, is pro ...

, and black bile) that most physicians held, he insisted on eleven. Like the other Greek physicians, he believed health and disease were controlled by the balance or imbalance of these humors. For example, if the proper amount of heat is present in the organism, the process of digestion is natural. Too little or too much heat will cause a rise in the other humors, which then produces certain disease conditions. He considered digestion to be a kind of

putrefaction Putrefaction is the fifth stage of death, following pallor mortis, livor mortis, algor mortis, and rigor mortis. This process references the breaking down of a body of an animal Post-mortem interval, post-mortem. In broad terms, it can be view ...

or decomposition, an idea that was held until the 19th century. Praxagoras was also influential in the

Alexandrian school The Alexandrian school is a collective designation for certain tendencies in literature, philosophy, medicine, and the sciences that developed in the Hellenistic cultural center of Alexandria, Egypt during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Alex ...

in particular. After the death of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

(356–323 BC), Egypt fell to the hands of General

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, who established a modern university with the first great medical school of antiquity. Human dissection was practiced, mostly by Herophilos and Erasistratus; Praxagoras was Herophilos' teacher. Although the university in Alexandria and its massive library was destroyed by bands of conquerors, later Arabic physicians made the efforts to preserve some of the writings. After the fall of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, Greek scholars brought back Greek medicine to the medical schools of the Western

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Praxagoras' theory of circulation

Praxagoras studied

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's (384–322 BC)

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and improved it by distinguishing between

artery An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

and

veins Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and fetal c ...

. He saw arteries as air tubes, similar to the

trachea The trachea (: tracheae or tracheas), also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all animals' lungs. The trachea extends from ...

and

bronchi A bronchus ( ; : bronchi, ) is a passage or airway in the lower respiratory tract that conducts air into the lungs. The first or primary bronchi to branch from the trachea at the carina are the right main bronchus and the left main bronchus. Thes ...

, which carried

pneuma ''Pneuma'' () is an ancient Greek word for "breathing, breath", and in a religious context for "spirit (animating force), spirit". It has various technical meanings for medical writers and philosophers of classical antiquity, particularly in rega ...

, the mystic force of life.Pendergraph, Garland E. (1998) ''Handbook of Phlebotomy and Patient Service and Techniques''. Williams & Wilkins.

Arteries An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

took the breath of life from the

lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

to the left side of the

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

through the

aorta The aorta ( ; : aortas or aortae) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the Ventricle (heart), left ventricle of the heart, branching upwards immediately after, and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits at ...

to the

arteries An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

of the body. He believed the arteries stemmed from the

, but the

came from the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

. Veins carried

, which was created by digested food, to the rest of the body. The combination of blood and pneuma generated heat. As one of the humors, thick, cold phlegm gathered in the

would cause

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

. Also, he believed that

were the channels through which voluntary motion was given to the body, and that the cause of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

was the blocking of the aorta by this same accumulation of

, Diocles, and Praxogoras insisted that the heart was the central organ of intelligence and the seat of thought. Praxagoras differed with the others in that he believed the purpose of respiration was to provide nourishment for the psychic pneuma, rather than to cool the inner heat.

Arteries and pulse

Praxagoras' views on arteries were very influential in the development of physiology. Since the concept of nerves did not exist, Praxagoras explained the movement of arteries to the fact that arteries get smaller and smaller, and then disappear. This disappearance caused movement, a fact now attributed to nerves. However, he speculated about the role of movement and was satisfied that he had found the answer of the center of vitality and energy. His pupil,

, actually discovered both sensory and

motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

nerves. Praxagoras was interested in pulse and was the first to direct attention to the importance of arterial pulse in diagnosis. He insisted that arteries pulsed by themselves and were independent of the heart. Herophilus refuted this doctrine in his treatise "On Pulses." In another area, Galen criticized Praxagoras for displaying too little care in anatomy. He suggested that Praxagoras did not arrive at his theories by dissection. The beliefs of Praxagoras held sway for centuries. For example, for nearly 500 years after his death, many still believed that arteries did not contain blood but pneuma. His most famous pupil,

, was instrumental in establishing the marvelous medical establishment at Alexandria.

References

Vivian Nutton, "Ancient Medicine" New York: Routledge, 2004.

External links

Ancient Greek Medicine
{{Authority control 4th-century BC Greek physicians Ancient Koans Year of death unknown 340s BC births

History

Praxagoras' theory of circulation

Arteries and pulse

See also

References

External links