Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Bra ov • Vol. 6 (51) - 2009 Series 6: Medical Supplement – Proceeding of The IV th Balkan Congress of History of Medicine

HIPPOCRATES’ MEMORIES OF SCYTHIA: STORIES AND FAIRYTALES

1 Α. DIAMANDOPOULOS

Abstract: This presentation will deal with Hippocrates’ journey to Scythia and with medical and general observations on that country and its people. The bulk of this information is derived from his work “On airs, waters and places” which is generally regarded as authentic. It is a comprehensive study of ethno-geography, correlating the medical problems of residents with climate changes, the political situation and the psychological aspects of their personality. We thought that an interesting way to present this would be in the form of a story, both because the country itself was considered legendary, and because its people - men and women – that invaded Greek myths and the descriptions by Greek authors were reminiscent of fairytales. We thus see that Scythia, a faraway country, unknown and charming, had, long before Hippocrates’ visit, penetrated Greek thought through mythology, religion, commerce and art and the descriptions of contemporary travellers, like Herodotus. It should be noted here that certain historians are unconvinced that he travelled to Scythia and believe, instead, that he describes the impressions of another. His work, however, “On airs, waters and places”, is believed to be authentic. It begins with a description of this nation, writing that “What is called the Scythian desert is prairies, rich in meadows, high-lying, and well watered; for the rivers which carry off the water from the plains are large. There live those Scythians which are called Nomades, because they have no houses, but live in wagons. The main diseases they suffer from are infertility and testicular atrophy. The love, admiration and cultural affinity that the locals feel for the are still as pronounced as we suppose and hope it was when Hippocrates visited them to write his “On airs, waters and places”

Key words: Hippocrates, Scythia, Herodotus, Testicular atrophy, Scythian legends

Introduction laudatory statements. Usually, when one speaks of As if he was a meteorite that fell from Hippocrates, at least to his admirers, not the sky and illuminated the hitherto dissenters, he will mention that “ He was superstitious and obscurantist medicine. If the first who separated medicine from the speaker is more educated on the matter, religion and laid the foundations of he will try to mention his intellectual scientific medicine. He is considered as the ancestors, namely the Pre-Socratic Father of Medicine ” and such similar philosophers and scientists. In a more in-

1 Past –President ISHM, . 150 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Bra ov • Vol. 6 (51) - 2009 • Series VI dept analysis, he would comment on the Hippocrates acquired a mythical dimension cultural or political climate during in the public mind soon after his death and, Hippocrates’s era, which allowed his perhaps, even more so today. creative output. Pretty much though, we He competes only with Alexander the will experience an attempt to link the Great who through the century-old popular Father of Medicine in the Golden Age and book Phyllada, became a favourite story in its various exponents, such as Socrates and East and West alike. Plato, Pericles and Pheidias. I will present first, only a few This review approach is rarely extended Illustrations from three beautiful medieval beyond the Greek space. So, we thought manuscripts. that, in this open and productive event of the IV-th Balkan Congress of History of Illustration 1 Medicine and the VII-th National Congress The left side of the first Illustration of History of Medicine we should dare shows the delegation of Queen Saracinthe something quite different. visiting Hippocrates’ grave somewhere in To present the political and cultural Greece. Saracinthe was supposed to have environment of regions we know, with been converted to Christianity by Joseph of certainty or even with some doubts that he Arimathea. visited, outside the Greek territory. The Hippocratic shrine was decorated To proceed, that is, a more international with crosses, which makes sense, as in the description of said environment. Middle Ages the Father of Medicine was considered more or less a Christian. I do Material not know if the finding of the actual tomb This presentation will deal with of Hippocrates in Greece in the early 19th Hippocrates’ journey to Scythia and with century is any less mythical; the upper medical and general observations on that right side of the Illustration shows the country and its people. same scene in another manuscript that we The bulk of this information is derived will analyse later. from his work “ On airs, waters and The tale culminates with the fabled places ” which is generally regarded as discovery in Hippocrates’s tomb of an authentic. ivory box, containing the work “The Book It is a comprehensive study of ethno- of Prognostics”, which was in fact written geography, correlating the medical seven hundred years after Hippocrates’s problems of residents with climate death, a predictive text on dermatological changes, the political situation and the lesions. psychological aspects of their personality. In the centre of the Illustration, we see I thought that an interesting way to an Arabic copy of the work from the 13th present this would be in the form of a century. story, both because the country itself was considered legendary, and because its Illustration 2 people - men and women – that invaded The tale becomes extravagant, when, Greek myths and the descriptions by Greek the same manuscript, from the Circle of the authors were reminiscent of fairytales. And “Holy Grail”, shows Hippocrates treating even perhaps because we were often the nephew of Emperor Augustus (who narrated the life and works of Hippocrates lived half a millennium later). as a tale. The good doctor then stayed at in I will not delve into the general Rome, got involved in a love affair and hid Α. DIAMANDOPOULOS: Hippocrates’ memories of Scythia: Stories and Fairytales 151 in a hanging basket to visit his illicit lover, produced vast quantities of gold, guarded as shown on the right side of the image. by the mythical sphinxes, creatures with a Given that such fictitious follies on a female body, a lion’s head and griffin fully documented historical person were wings. From the 4th BC century, we can largely credible, particularly in the West, talk about two different groups, those who we can see the room for the fantastic that live in northern Scythia and continue their folk tales about distant and unknown traditional lifestyles and those of the countries, like Scythia, allowed. South, who are somehow Hellenised. Let us try to understand this place. From the culture of the first group, we Starting from the land, this is a fabulous present in the next Illustration, an 8th area with dark woods, mist, dragons and century bronze buckle and a gold Panther, fairies. But let us define it geographically. while, from South Scythia a golden comb It is a huge land, north of the Black Sea. with Greek influences. Scythia’s location and size varied over This influence is most obvious in works time, from the Altai Mountains where from the Greek commercial cities of the Mongolia, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan North Black Sea, as shown by the meet, along southern Ukraine to the area of comparison between leaden bull head from the lower section of the , Bulgaria their religious worship centre near Olvia of and Georgia. The Chinese called the Sake Scythia and similar relief heads from the (Asian Scythians) Sai. Scythia was noted base of a marble column in the sanctuary for its large rivers like the Don, which of Delos. formed its main communication routes, As time goes by, the Greek influence and its many high snow-capped mountains, becomes more striking, as shown by A which were responsible for the ever-lasting Scythian coin of the 1st century BC, which cold in the country. Its people, the brings to mind Cavafy’s poem on Scythians were tribes of undefined origin. Orophernes, son of Ariarathus. They were first referred to in Assyrian Before applied art however, religion codes of the 7 th century BC. had introduced Scythia in the cultural After many adventures, they left for the subconscious as a distant country that above areas where they lived as nomads raised gods or as a place of exile imposed, for centuries. again by the gods. Both men and women were excellent From the time lost in the mists of myth equestrians and warriors. More about these it was said that the father of Uranus, that is fearless women will be said in the body of the great-grandfather of Zeus, was born in speech on Hippocrates’ medical Scythia. Uranus’ father was Acmon of information. Later, the Scythians come in Scythia. That was where the northernmost contact with the Greek colonies of the gods were born. Black Sea; have extensive commercial, The son of Hercules, Scythis, became political and cultural contact with them and king of Scythia. Prometheus was exiled to are partly urbanised. Scythia, where Iphigenia was also taken, in Typical cultural elements of the specific to Tauris, when the goddess Scythian civilisation include abundant Artemis took her in a cloud from Aulis to scattered mined tombs containing spare her from being sacrificed. impressive gold jewellery. It fact, it was in In his tragedy “Iphigenia in Tauris”, the broader area of Scythia that the Euripides beautifully describes the moment Argonauts found the Golden Fleece, when Orestes recognizes his sister at the where, according to Pausanias, the land sanctuary: “ During the preparatory ritual, 152 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Bra ov • Vol. 6 (51) - 2009 • Series VI

Orestes started talking with Iphigenia in The Scythians, as I said, take some of Greek; to their great joy, they quickly this hemp-seed, and, creeping under the discovered who they were. felt coverings, throw it upon the red-hot When she learned of the purpose of his stones; immediately it smokes, and gives mission, she immediately pulled down the out such a vapour as no Grecian vapour- statue from its pedestal so that Orestes bath can exceed; the Scythians, delighted, could take it... According to this version, shout for joy”. the ship finally moored in Vravrona, where The History of Herodotus was Iphigenia placed the statue and, while the confirmed by archaeological findings, temple was being built, followed Orestes to when, in 1292, Professor SI Rudenko Delphi. At the sanctuary of Delphi she met unearthed, in a tomb in Pazryk, in the Electra, brought her back to and Western Altai area, a device for its use and wed her to Pylades ” (9). cannabis seeds. A similar description exists in the third Herodotus also mentions the story of hymn of Callimachus. Anacharsis, a young noble Scythian who The area was also visited by Herodotus, travels to many countries, including who provides us with extensive Greece, is impressed by its customs and descriptions of its geography, inhabitants tries, in vain, to introduce them to Scythia, and diseases that complement the picture where he is murdered. In his Panegyricus, that emerges from the work of Isocrates (436-338 BC) states that the Hippocrates. Scythians are the most powerful and His work is believed to have been majestic people. (Panegyricus 67, 08 -5) written around the same time with We thus see that Scythia, a faraway Hippocrates’ “ On airs, waters and places ”, country, unknown and charming, had, long although it seems that neither of the two before Hippocrates’ visit, penetrated Greek authors knew of the other’s book. thought through mythology, religion, At the end of his “Histories”, the Father commerce and art and the descriptions of of History attributes the self-indulgence of contemporary travellers, like Herodotus. Asians to the stable climate, while, Although still regarded as semi- regarding the Scythians, he is mainly barbarous, contacts with Greece constantly concerned with the relationship between increased. Therefore, it was not surprising the local geologic and climatic conditions that Hippocrates travel there, nor that he and their war tactics, than with their did not be feeling alienated or treated as a ordinary diseases. curiosity. It should be noted here that A similar method was later used by the certain historians are unconvinced that he Romans to explain the martial arts of travelled to Scythia and believe, instead, Germans living in similar conditions with that he describes the impressions of the Scythians. another. An early description by Herodotus of His work, however, “ On airs, waters the use of cannabis by the Scythians is of and places ”, is believed to be authentic. It particular interest to the history of begins with a description of this nation, medicine. writing that “What is called the Scythian According to many linguists, the word desert is prairies, rich in meadows, high- cannabis itself is of Scythian origin. In lying, and well watered; for the rivers book four of his “Histories”, Herodotus which carry off the water from the plains describes the ritual use of cannabis after a are large. There live those Scythians which funeral “[...] are called Nomades, because they have no Α. DIAMANDOPOULOS: Hippocrates’ memories of Scythia: Stories and Fairytales 153 houses, but live in wagons. […] In these women, he assumes that their infertility is wagons the women live, but the men are due to their obesity, which prevents the carried about on horses, and the sheep, sperm from reaching the vagina oxen, and horses accompany them; […]. unobstructed. Hippocrates brings as proof They eat boiled meat, and drink the milk of the fact that the female slaves of the mares, and also eat hippace, which is Scythians who are thinner and more agile cheese prepared from the milk of the mare. because of their constant activity, and bear […] the Scythian race, like the Egyptian, children immediately when they come into have a uniformity of resemblance, different contact with another man. from all other nations. […] The changes of However, the indigenous population the seasons, too, are not great nor violent, attributes this testicular atrophy and for, in fact, they change gradually; and accompanying eunuch-like conduct to a therefore their figures resemble one divine curse. For this , after they fail another, […]. two or three times to impregnate a woman, For these reasons their shapes are gross they believe that their goddess cursed and fleshy, with ill-marked joints, of a them, wear women’s clothing and engage humid temperament, […] I will give you a in womanly occupations. strong proof of the humidity of their Hippocrates however believes that the . You will find the greater part true cause is the phlebotomy of the of the Scythians, and all the Nomades, posterior auricular vein, which they often with marks of the cautery on their perform. He believes that this vein is shoulders, arms, wrists, breasts, hip-joints, responsible for the creation of sperm. and loins, and that for no other reason but Hippocrates’ description of a feature the humidity and flabbiness of their unique to the race of the Scythians is also , for they can neither strain very interesting. That is, that their women with their bows, nor launch the javelin ride and fight like men. In infancy, they from their shoulder owing to their cauterise their right breast so that they may humidity and atony: […] and as to the be able to shoot comfortably with their women, it is amazing how flabby and arrows. They do not marry without first sluggish they are. The Scythian race are killing three enemies. These were the tawny from the cold, and not from the legendary Amazons, of we know much intense heat of the sun, for the whiteness of mainly through the mythological cycle of the skin is parched by the cold, and Theseus. becomes tawny”. The main diseases they suffer from are Illustration 3 infertility and testicular atrophy. In the third Illustrations we see first a Hippocrates attributes the first to the scene from a vessel, with the battle years thee spend horse-riding, which between the Athenians under Theseus and hardens the outer genitalia and the heavy the Amazons under Hippolyta, while in the clothes they wear because of cold that next illustration we see a classical display prevent even the palpation of the male of a wounded Amazon and, for genitalia and therefore their sexual comparison, a corresponding painting of stimulation. 1904, but in the next, militancy has been Relating to the above is an incised replaced by the love of Theseus for the decoration in an amber vase from the Amazon Antiope. On the side however, Kul’Oba region, now in the Hermitage Hercules continues his labours. Museum in St. Petersburg. Regarding the Summing up the work of Hippocrates 154 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Bra ov • Vol. 6 (51) - 2009 • Series VI on the nosology of the Scythians, and more these people, based mainly on reports of generally on the influence of climate on Greek and Roman historians, were health, it should be noted that despite his considered synonymous with brutality. A many insightful comments, he did not book that published ten years ago attempts entirely avoid ambiguities and generalities to collect all the European myths whose that raised controversy from a very early core originates from corresponding point. Already, his most ardent admirer, Scythian stories. Galen, six centuries later, tried to reconcile In his King Lear, Shakespeare presents the statements of his idol with his own the Scythian as a cannibal who eats his knowledge. children. Old English writers, who wanted To this end, he wrote “ Comments On to prove the superiority of their race over airs, waters and places” , which was the Irish, held them as descendants of the unfortunately lost. It exists only in a Scythians based on a rumour that they translation from Syrian by Hunayn ibn drank human blood and were nomads. Ishaq (809-873 AD) Not surprisingly, the other Celtic race Rather than end with the classic of the British Isles, the Scots, also claimed fairytale ending “ they lived happily ever a Scythian origin. As far back as 1320, the after ”, I will present a brief overview of famous Declaration of Arbroath, signed by events after Hippocrates’ visit there and all the Scottish nobles and sent to the Pope, the exchange of cultural with Greek the proudly advocates their Scythian origin, area. In the early Christian era, it is said concluding that for this reason that they that St. Andrews visited Asia Minor, cannot tolerate an English king. Byzantium and Scythia, where he preached Through a complex alleged genealogy Christianity in Kiev. tree, even the French kings of the From the later Byzantine period, we Carolingian Dynasty proudly claimed that know of the wartime relations of the they descended from the Scythians. The Byzantines with the Scythians. The famous romantic spirit of the 19th century miniature of Hippocrates donning identified the wild Scythian warriors with Byzantine clothes, from the work of incorruptible democratic fighters, Ioannes Actuarius was dedicated to his something like Cavafy’s barbarians, who patron, the Grand Duke Alexios would save mankind through the Apokaukos, who is shown the next destruction of Rome. Tellingly, the French miniature. He was given this as a medical work of the Cycle of the Enlightenment handbook to accompany him on his “Voyage Du Jeune Anacharsis” written by expedition against the Scythians. In an Jean Jacques Barthelemy (1715-1795), ironic twist of history, his daughter which repeated the Scythian’s ancient eventually married the brother of the admiration for the democratic structures of Scythians’ ruler, Theodore. Classical Greece, was translated into Greek Being nomads and warriors, in by Rigas Feraios. Similar claims are made subsequent centuries, the Scythians spread in modern times by the Serbs, Croats and out in many directions so the effect of the Lithuanians. Even the website of the the Scythians on European civilisation is much Australian Skopjans, who advance the idea more pronounced than generally believed. of an Aegean Macedonia, features a map Most blue-eyed blond Europeans have, at showing the supposed origin of all the some point in their history, attempted to peoples of the southeastern from prove their Scythian origin. the Scythians; the Skopjans see themselves This seems surprising at first, since are their legitimate successors. It was Α. DIAMANDOPOULOS: Hippocrates’ memories of Scythia: Stories and Fairytales 155 natural for the Jews believe Scythians as their compatriots. They are supposed to References: originate from prisoners of the ten tribes of [1]. Antiquities of the Jews, 11 .5.2, from Israel who fled to the North Black Sea The Works of Josephus, translated by after the occupation of Babylon Aeschylus, Whiston, W., Hendrickson Herodotus (Book 4, chapters 24, 46) and Publishers, 1987, 13th Edition. p.294 Strabo (Book 8, chapters 3, 7), and even [2]. Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 170 Keating’s Irish history in 1723, “prove” ff (trans. Mair) that the Scythians were smart, excellent [3]. Ernest Abel, 1980, Shaffer Library of traders using a multitude of translators, Drugs Policy, Marihuana, the First honest and did not eat pork, “thus” Jews. 12,000 Years. Art provides objects that could be used as [4]. Esther Jacobson, The Art of the “evidence”. It is with this contribution of Scythians: The Interpenetration of art in the understanding of the spread of Cultures at the Edge of the Hellenic the relationships of love and prejudice World (Handbook of Oriental between Europeans and the Scythians that Studies, Vol 2. I will conclude. [5]. Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris, Translation G. Ioannou, Kedros Publ. Illustration 4 House, 1969, Athens I present a series of illustrations of [6]. Federico Borca, Luoghi, Corpi, Sphinxes from various eras starting with a Costumi. Determinismo ambientale Classic Greek krater from Eretria showing ed etnografia antica. Roma: Edizioni a Sphinx and proceeding with a pre- di storia e letteratura, 2003. Pp. 161. classical fresco from northern Iran, which ISBN 88 -84 98-1 shows a Scythian horseman behind a [7]. Galen’s Commentary on Hippocrates’ surprisingly similar Sphinx. Then a plate “On airs, waters and places ”, Prof. with the scene of Oedipus and the Sphinx Gotthard Strohmaier, and finally, we jump to the 19 th century, www.manuscriptcenter.org/history/R presenting, on the one hand a French gold esearches/Gotthard_Strohmaier.doc and enamel buckle with the Sphinx and on [8]. Herodotus, Histories, 4.74 the other a set of cast-iron railings from a [9]. Herodotus, Histories, 9, 122, 3-4, 19 th century mansion of Patras, now part of [10]. Hippocrates, Law on art, “On airs, my personal collection. Please forgive me waters and places ”, Translation: for finishing with an even more personal Pournaropoulos G., Publisher: testimony: A photo of me from my visit to Papyros, Athens current Scythia, in Ukraine. I arrived at the [11]. http://www.apaclassics.org/AnnualM city of Nizna, headquarters of the national eeting/08mtg/abstracts/Romm.pdf benefactors Zosimades brothers, and, at the [12]. 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15th edition - Micropaedia on [18]. www.cannabisculture.com/.../jul95/s «Scythian», 10:576 cythians.html [17]. The Riddle of Edmund Spenser’s A view of the Present State of Ireland (c.15 96)’, in: History Ireland (Summer 1996).