Galen of Pergamum Apex of Greek Medical Tradition

Claudius Galenus, better known as Galen, hailed from an old Greek city by the name of Pergamum. Pergamum was a Greek center for learning and medicine where he, born into wealth, had ample time to study. After his father died he went to study in Smyrna (located in present day Izmir, Turkey) and then Alexandria to finish his medical studies. His first position as a physician was in service to gladiators in Pergamum, where he honed his skills in anatomy and surgery. When he traveled to Rome, news of his physiological prowess had traveled to the very Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome, thus he became Aurelius’ personal physician (Osborn, 2007). However, physiology was not Galen’s only interest.

Contrary to conventional logic at the time, Galen’s treatise titled That the best Doctor is also a Philosophy gave an unanticipated ethical reason for physicians to study philosophy. Galen claimed that seeking wealth is incompatible with serious medical practice. He thought that physicians should despise money and accused colleagues of greed. Galen downplayed the degree to which wealth was a motivation to become a physician (Klein, 2009). But, beyond the realm of motivations, Galen’s philosophic ideals honed his reasoning and observations.

To understand where Galen gleaned his philosophical ideals, one must understand the philosophies of the Hellenistic schools of medicine. According to Michael Boylan of Marymount University, through the end of the fourth century BCE and all through the third century BCE, major advances in medicine revolved around the prolific physicians and philosophyers: Diocles, Praxagoras, Herophilus, and Erasistratus. It was in this era that debates were centered on the role in which both theory and observati...

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...iments opened the flood gates for anatomical and physiological observation. And his observations in regards to blood were so close to uncovering the true nature of circulation that William Harvey wondered how Galen himself did not arrive at the conclusion (Klein, 2009). Galen set an important foundation for future physicians.

Works Cited

Boylan, M. (2002, August 12). Galen [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/galen/

Klein, J. E. (2009). Galen | www.hsl.virginia.edu. Claude Moore Health Sciences Library | www.hsl.virginia.edu. Retrieved from http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/artifacts/antiqua/galen.cfm

Osborn, D. K. (2007). Greek Medicine: Galen. Greek Medicine: Welcome to Greek Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.greekmedicine.net/whos_who/Galen.html