Encyclopedia of Homeopathy

12 •THEORY & PRACTICEHISTORY OFHOMEOPATHYThe theories and principles of homeopathy have their originsin medicinal traditions established thousands of years agoin ancient Greece and Rome.CLASSICAL ORIGINS OF HOMEOPATHY This Greek votiverelief, dating to the early 4th century BCE, illustrates themedicinal traditions of ancient Greece, on which bothhomeopathy and conventional Western medicine are based.In the 5th century BCE the Greek physician Hippocrates(?460–?377 BCE) clearly established the idea that diseasewas the result of natural forces rather than divineintervention, and that patients’ own powers of healingshould be encouraged (see page 19). Contemporary medicaltheories were based upon the Law of Contraries, whichadvocated treating an illness by prescribing a substancethat produced opposite or contrary symptoms. Diarrhea,for example, could be treated by a substance that causedconstipation, such as aluminum hydroxide.In contrast, Hippocrates developed the use of theLaw of Similars, based on the principle that “like cureslike” (see page 18). This theory proposed that substancescapable of causing symptoms of illness in healthy people could also be used to treatsimilar symptoms during illness. For example, Veratrum album (white hellebore), whichwas considered effective against cholera, caused violent purging that led to severedehydration if administered in large doses—symptoms exactly like those of choleraitself. Between the 1st and 5th centuries CE the Romans made further developments inmedicine. They introduced more herbs into the pharmacopeias, improved publichygiene, and observed the structure and function of the human body, although this waslimited by social taboo, which prevented the dissection of bodies. Existing medicalknowledge was codified and rationalized by Galen (?130–?200 CE), a Roman physician,anatomist, and physiologist. He adopted many ancient Greek principles, including theAristotelian theory of the “four humors,” which claimed that the human body was madeup of four humors—blood, choler (yellow bile), melancholy (black bile), and phlegm—that must be kept in balance to ensure vitality and health.After the decline of the Roman empire, little progress was made for centuriesin the field of European medicine. A combination of herbal folklore, religiousinfluences, and Galenic theory provided the basis for understanding and treating