Medical Malpractice

Ancient India had hospitals Greece had temples devoted to healing do the hospitals/temples about india/greece?

The people of ancient India had hospitals; the people of ancient Greece had temples devoted to healing divinities and cults. What, if anything, do the hospitals and temples say about the two societies in which they were found? To what extent can medicine be social, and in what ways must it be individualistic? And what about the early development of hospitals in Roman culture?

Public Comments

1. The Greeks also had a guild of doctors known as the Asclepiades. These functioned outside the temples of Asclepius, and they provided herbal remedies and surgery. The Asclepiums (temples of Asclepius) were sanitoriums. The priests interpreted the dreams of visitors in deciding a cure. Naturally, they had some medical knowledge, and the "dream-interpretations" were in line with this. The fact that the medicine was the province of a particular god merely reflects Greek culture. Every craftsman and profession had its god -- gymnasiums were dedicated to Hermes, smithies to Hephaestus, carpenters and potters belonged to Athena, seers to Apollo, judges to Zeus, house matrons to Hestia etc. Religious rites were incorporated into everyday life and everyday jobs. There was nothing special about the Asclepius cult, it was simply the medical guild of ancient Greece given the usual divine facade.