What is Phlebotomy? From Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear by Alexander W. Crawford. Arikha, N. (2007). Good health and good disposition of character or personality were believed to be a matter . Boston R.G. Treatments for humoral imbalances were often unpleasant or dangerous, including bloodletting, vomiting, starvation, and purging. balance of his humors: blood and phlegm noted as "judgment." He goes on to talk about how a . Herbs that support this imbalance include pungent, stimulating, and aromatic herbs, such fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), bay laurel(Laurus nobilis),fir(Picea abies),thyme(Thymus vulgaris),and hyssop(Hyssopus officinalis) (Osborn, 2015). 16th-century illustration of the four humors: Flegmat (phlegm), Sanguin (blood), Coleric (yellow bile) and Melanc (black bile). squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again. Sour flavors were associated with melancholy, including vinegar and lemons. | Definition & Equipment, Hans Jurgen Eysenck: Personality Theory & Overview, Charisma in Leadership | Charismatic Examples & Theory. The black bile would weigh on you, and make you passive, sad, dull and indecisive. His works contains a lot of information on the contemporary medical practices of the time, but they also show the social history of medicine: how medicine formed a part of peoples lives and thoughts. Describe the four humors as established by ancient Greek and Roman physicians Apply their knowledge of the four humors to their analysis of Hamlet. Hippocrates - Greek physician (c460BC - 370BC). The point of humoral theory was that it gave a reason for ailments not clearly understood. Hamlet is a play. He believed that a humoral imbalance could result in illness. Similarly, the four humours loosely correspond to the wheel of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This is an interactive personality test of the "Four Temperaments", an idea from Ancient Greek medicine. Principles of treatment [Blog Post]. . The Herbal Academy makes neither medical claim, nor intends to diagnose or treat medical conditions. Choler was primarily associated with summer. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. ii. is caustic and satirical. All rights reserved. It was the dominant medical theory of the Medieval period. The Norway (Fortinbras) Subplot Besides that, the typical melancholic would have very little else to offer the world. 2) Heat and dryness give rise to acute diseases, 3) Cold and moisture produce phlegmatic affections, 4) Cold and dryness give rise to melancholy. Poor Hamlet, too much humor had'st thou for this harsh world!" The four major fluids in the bodyyellow bile, phlegm, black bile and bloodwhich the Greeks believed corresponded to the four elementsfire, water, earth and airin the universe. , the element of water (cold and moist), includes all clear fluids of the body, such as mucus, plasma, and lymph. The four "humours" were bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) and . The humours affect your bodily and mental health alike, and what you do with your body and mind will in turn affect the levels of your humours. Jack Falstaff is fat, lazy, cowardly, dishonest and sentimental, but the audience loved him despite all his faults. Melancholy could also be treated through purging, which generally involved the use of laxatives. , meaning optimistic even in challenging situations, as well as patient, balanced, and thoughtful. What he should be doing is trying to restore the balance by switching to a warming and drying diet and engaging in warming and drying activities. One play really stands out when it comes to the subject of humours. Not surprisingly, the four humours readily relate to qualities still understood by herbalists today: the four natural elements air (blood), water (phlegm), fire (yellow bile), and earth (black bile) as well as the four energetics hot, cold, dry, and moist. The theory of the four humours was central to the teachings of Aristotle, Hippocrates and Galen. The same eminent critic asserts that, "If the quality of humor is important in comedy, it is, I venture to say, yet more important, in tragedy, whether it be in the tragedy of life or in the tragedy of the theatre." Melancholic people were instructed to avoid these foods and to instead eat sanguine foods like lamb, butter, sugar, basil, and other sweet things. This explains the Hippocratic . A person with this kind of temperament was not seen as productive and active in society like the warm-blooded sanguines and cholerics were. Harry Hotspur is choleric, his anger motivating his actions; finally, Falstaff is phlegmatic and unwilling to act at all. Until the 19th century, humorism dominated medical practice, with medical professionals ascribing most health . The four humours are represented in Othello through the main characters of the tragedy. We use a third party provider, dotdigital, to deliver our newsletters. Hamlet's Silence In other words, no drinking, no heavy fatty foods and more exercise what any doctor today would recommend. Hamlet, the melancholic Prince of Denmark Hamlet is arguably the most famous literary melancholic, demonstrating an excess of black bile - one of the four humours thought to govern bodies in Shakespeare's time. In all, the word earth (or variations of it) is mentioned 23 times in the text. Poor Hamlet, too much humor had'st thou for this harsh world!" 4. Loeb Classical Library. Blood was hot and wet, and related to spring and air. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: the Four Humors (A) Main idea: Hamlet is not mad. Quotations from Hamlet (with commentary) The philosopher and physician Hippocrates wrote about the Greek humors, and Hippocrates' four humors became the theory most recognized today. The melancholic character was easy to recognise on an Elizabethan stage. This is how Laertes prepares to revenge his fathers murder in a duel with Hamlet: I will dot./And for that purpose Ill anoint my sword./I bought an unction of a mountebank,/So mortal that, but dip a knife in it,/Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare,/Collected from all simples that have virtue/Under the moon, can save the thing from death/That is but scratched withal. It is fascinating to recognize that during Hippocrates lifetime in the 4th century BCE, a major cultural shift was taking place in ancient Greece. Hamlet's stubbornness is one of the survival tactics he has developed to counter his own reluctance to kill Claudius. The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity. This will turn your body cold and dry and, of course, build up your levels of black bile. THE THEORY OF THE FOUR HUMOURS The theory of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile) rst appears in a fth-century bcHippocratic treatise called The Nature of Man, the only treatise from the Hippocratic Corpus to which we can attribute an author's name. Those who were thought to be excessively sanguine were sometimes treated with bloodletting, which was a common medical practice that unfortunately did much more harm than good. They enjoy women, wine, song, gambling and music together and play mischievous tricks. Lived on the island of Kos (Cos) and his . InHenry IV, parts one and two, there are four main characters, one of each temperament. Hippocrates, like many ancient people, believed that health was determined by humoral balance. 1. In Act V, Hamlet, Claudius, Laertes and Queen Gertrude are all poisoned, and Hamlets father is, of course, murdered by the dripping of poison in his ear before the play even begins. Badger, 1916. Theres rosemary, thats for remembrance. Words by Nelly Ekstrmaverage reading time 4 minutes 11 December 2016. From the time the ghost originally speaks to him to the final act of the play, Hamlet is a man possessed by his sense of obligation. Galen taught Elizabethan doctors about fire, water, earth, and air. A Greek-English lexicon. The four types of. Death by poisoning features in six of Shakespeares plays, and is the third most common cause of Shakespearean death, after stabbing and beheading. Yellow bile, supposedly produced in the liver, was also called ''choler.'' The Elder Hamlet: The Kingship of Hamlet's Father ", With Osric he gives way to a bantering and jeering humor very similar to that with Polonius. [2] [3] Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types where an individual's personality types overlap and they share two or more temperaments. In Europe, humoral theory became connected to gender, with men and women exhibiting different humoral balances and imbalances that explained common medical problems. , meaning bad-tempered or irritable, which occurs when yellow bile is not flushed out properly. Yellow bile. Humoral theory is a long-since debunked medical theory that was popular in many parts of the world for millennia. English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) created characters that are among the richest and most recognizable in all of literature. Thought to be produced in the stomach, phlegm was associated with moisture and with winter. ", Another aspect of Hamlet's humor glints forth in his dealings with his old school-fellows, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. %PDF-1.7 % 2. Information offered on Herbal Academy websites is for educational purposes only. . Regarded by many as the father of Western (and some say Islamic) medicine. In dealing with the present topic I find myself greatly indebted to this lecture by the distinguished actor and critic. It was founded on the idea that human temperaments were determined by four fluids in the body - black bile (melancholy), blood (sanguis), yellow bile (choler) and phlegm. endstream endobj 110 0 obj <>>> endobj 111 0 obj <. Osborn, D. (2015). Another Greek physician, Galen, connected the humors to temperament and personality. Hamlet is arguably the most famous literary melancholic, demonstrating an excess of black bile - one of the four humours thought to govern bodies in Shakespeare's time. Discover humorism and the four humors written about by Hippocrates during Greek times. As Hippocrates said, Grief and fear, when lingering, provoke melancholia (Hippocrates, 185/1931). Choleric people were quick to anger and highly irritable. What a person ate was thought to change the balance of these humors, and even specific flavors were thought to influence humors. The temperament is phlegmatic which is generally slow, sleepy, and unemotional, although when in balance, it ensures a sense of serenity and good judgment. Blood was thought to be generated in the heart and was primarily associated with the spring, as well as with heat and wetness. Principles of treatment [Blog Post]. Equally important is understanding and recognizing the contributions of ancient Greek herbalism, namely the four humours. Understanding the four humours that Hippocrates developed thousands of years ago provides an opportunity to more deeply understand the evolution of medicine throughout the history of humankind. Whether we have ancestors from ancient Greece, China, or India doesnt matter so much. Learn what the four humors of the body are along with the humoral theory. Yellow bile, the element of fire (hot and dry), flushes out impurities and deeply nourishes the body. Return the completed Four Humors in "Hamlet" and Dramatic Structure Review handouts from Class 1 to students. Jones, Trans.). Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. These humors represented different aspects of a human, connected to the four elements (wind, air, earth and fire) and the four seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter). ), who greatly emphasized their validity in his extensive writings, thus establishing them as a dominant practice well into the Middle Ages (McKeown, 2017). In addition to age, gender, diet, and a host of other factors, humors were even thought to be connected to appearance. 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