CLASSICS 2902 ANCIENT MEDICINE APPROVED TEST EXAM 3 WITH CORRECT VERIFIED ANSWERS
2026
Timeline - Answers - 4th century BCE (399-300 BCE/BC) to 2nd century CE (100-199 CE/AD)
Problems with the sources when studying ancient medicine - Answers - only a fraction of sources
exists from ancient day (need to look be critical and may need to consider other timelines)
- complication with Greek society (only elite member were literate)
- experiential medicine and oral tradition (many medical theories/procedures were observed first
hand, never written down, and was passed down orally)
- throughout time, sources like texts simply destroyed
- biases of scribes: copying/recording: things published based on interest
- general public may not be interested in them
Types of sources - Answers Written texts, Art, Physical evidence
Examples of written texts - Answers - letters, poetry, inscriptions, papyri, treaties
Examples of Art - Answers - vase, paintings, statues, relics, etc.
Examples of Physical Evidence - Answers - human remains, artifacts, tools, archeological
sites/buildings
What affects Transmission of sources - Answers - Natural disasters, warfare (destroys sources)
- Monasteries picking what is transcribed (some works lost or forgotten)
- Latin medical texts before 350 AD lost
- Books translated to codex (codex more accessible/easy access, books may contain contents that is
difficult to format in codex, so they are simply left out and eventually forgotten)
- In 850 AD/CE: changes in handwriting made in difficult for people to make sense of what is written
(more abbreviation in language/writing)
How were some medical works saved? - Answers - Galenism: Gale, well respected by people, whose
words are valued. Gale valued medicine and had a show on ancient medicine, so people followed it as
well.
- Printing press: helped preserved ancient texts
- In 1499, Greek medical record were printed.
- Opening of libraries
How does lost of sources affect us? - Answers - We can't make general/definitive statements,
meaning we don't have the full picture
- We need to use other sources to aid the picture: legal, historical, poetic, plays, etc.
- texts assume a level of knowledge
Problems on studying of ancient medicine - Answers - isolationist view (many only focus on very
specific topics rather than important problems at hand)
- cultural view of Hippocrates as founder/father of medicine (so anything before his time are ignored)
- people have limited interest in medicine
- rational medicine vs magic/superstition/religion
T/F, rational and "magic/supernatural" approaches go side by side - Answers True
Causation Ideologies - Answers - seeks single entity casing disease (germ gene)
- if you know the cause, you can make a treatment
Reduction Ideologies - Answers - separate pathogen from patent
- problem bacteria/virus not the patient
- primary focus: disease agent
- secondary: patient
Problems with these approach.. - Answers - solely focused on root of problem, and ignores patients
(for instance the pain they'll feel)
Anthropological approach - Answers - relationship between disease, patient, and healer
Do's and Don'ts in A. approach - Answers - do's: wider, integrated perspective on human interaction
and culture
- don'ts: narrow, natural world POV
Health: Anthropological definition - Answers balance between people, nature, and supernatural
Health: Generalization - Answers - absence of disease
Health: Modern definition - Answers - cultural norm
- fitting into a specific statistic
2026
Timeline - Answers - 4th century BCE (399-300 BCE/BC) to 2nd century CE (100-199 CE/AD)
Problems with the sources when studying ancient medicine - Answers - only a fraction of sources
exists from ancient day (need to look be critical and may need to consider other timelines)
- complication with Greek society (only elite member were literate)
- experiential medicine and oral tradition (many medical theories/procedures were observed first
hand, never written down, and was passed down orally)
- throughout time, sources like texts simply destroyed
- biases of scribes: copying/recording: things published based on interest
- general public may not be interested in them
Types of sources - Answers Written texts, Art, Physical evidence
Examples of written texts - Answers - letters, poetry, inscriptions, papyri, treaties
Examples of Art - Answers - vase, paintings, statues, relics, etc.
Examples of Physical Evidence - Answers - human remains, artifacts, tools, archeological
sites/buildings
What affects Transmission of sources - Answers - Natural disasters, warfare (destroys sources)
- Monasteries picking what is transcribed (some works lost or forgotten)
- Latin medical texts before 350 AD lost
- Books translated to codex (codex more accessible/easy access, books may contain contents that is
difficult to format in codex, so they are simply left out and eventually forgotten)
- In 850 AD/CE: changes in handwriting made in difficult for people to make sense of what is written
(more abbreviation in language/writing)
How were some medical works saved? - Answers - Galenism: Gale, well respected by people, whose
words are valued. Gale valued medicine and had a show on ancient medicine, so people followed it as
well.
- Printing press: helped preserved ancient texts
- In 1499, Greek medical record were printed.
- Opening of libraries
How does lost of sources affect us? - Answers - We can't make general/definitive statements,
meaning we don't have the full picture
- We need to use other sources to aid the picture: legal, historical, poetic, plays, etc.
- texts assume a level of knowledge
Problems on studying of ancient medicine - Answers - isolationist view (many only focus on very
specific topics rather than important problems at hand)
- cultural view of Hippocrates as founder/father of medicine (so anything before his time are ignored)
- people have limited interest in medicine
- rational medicine vs magic/superstition/religion
T/F, rational and "magic/supernatural" approaches go side by side - Answers True
Causation Ideologies - Answers - seeks single entity casing disease (germ gene)
- if you know the cause, you can make a treatment
Reduction Ideologies - Answers - separate pathogen from patent
- problem bacteria/virus not the patient
- primary focus: disease agent
- secondary: patient
Problems with these approach.. - Answers - solely focused on root of problem, and ignores patients
(for instance the pain they'll feel)
Anthropological approach - Answers - relationship between disease, patient, and healer
Do's and Don'ts in A. approach - Answers - do's: wider, integrated perspective on human interaction
and culture
- don'ts: narrow, natural world POV
Health: Anthropological definition - Answers balance between people, nature, and supernatural
Health: Generalization - Answers - absence of disease
Health: Modern definition - Answers - cultural norm
- fitting into a specific statistic
