Athens was the center of ancient Greek civilization. This culture’s accomplishments are amazing considering the contributions to architecture, philosophy, and health arising from this city of 50K. To give you some perspective, Carrollton is a little under half the size of Athens, Greece. Corinthian columns of the South’s beloved antebellum homes have their roots in Greek architecture. Philosophy spewed fourth from Plato and Socrates is still studied at modern-day universities. The origins of Preventative Medicine, Biological Medicine, and Nutritional Biochemistry find their roots in ancient Greece.

From ancient Greece two schools of health predominated. They were the school of Hygeia and the school of Aesclepius. The essence of natural health teachings can be traced back 3000 years to these schools of thought.

Hygeia is the Greek goddess of health. Her sidekick is Athena, the wife of Zeus (king of all Greek gods). Hygeia is personified as a lovely young maiden with a kind and caring nature. She symbolizes the belief that man/woman can be healthy and remain healthy as long as he/she lives according to natural law, or natural hygiene.

In the school of Hygeia, there were no physicians, only doctors. To the Greeks, physicians gave a remedy (drug, plant, herb), or performed a spinal manipulation. Basically, a physician would administer some sort of care. Doctor, on the other hand, meant teacher.

The hygienic doctor believed health and disease emanated from two reasons. The first reason was one’s predisposition (today known as modern genetics). This predisposition gave rise to one’s biochemical individuality, or what affects you may not affect me. The second reason was environmental factors. Environmental factors encompassed diet, air, water, toxins, radiation and exercise levels. Many factors we can control. The school of Hygeia taught the combination of these two ideas gave rise to either health or disease.

Opposing Hygeia was the school of Aesclepius. Aesclepius is considered to be the first physician. According to Greek legend, he administered treatments by surgery, plant remedies, spinal manipulations, or various other methods. A patient’s heath was dependent on the care of the physician. Aesclepius had a side kick too, a goddess named Panakeia. Panakeia was famous for her knowledge of plants and drugs, the panacea, or the magic bullet.

To those ascribing to the reason of Hygeia, health flows from following natural laws. The doctor’s role was to teach natural hygienic law and help man/woman learn how to maintain a healthy mind and body. The school of Hygeia constructed a program to correct and improve the patient’s health. After the patient had gone through the supervised program, the patient was taught how to maintain health with out future doctor dependency. Patients were encouraged to take control of their own health through education. The school of Aesclepius produced patients with a life-long dependency on certain treatments or modalities of the physician. The school of Aesclepian took the responsibility of health away from the patient and placed it solely on the physician. The Aesclepian Orientation of health predominates in the United States.

In standard Medical practice, the majority of doctors are of Aesclepian Orientation. In the standard Chiropractic practice, there is a mixture of these two, depending on the individual practitioner. True doctors of Preventive Medicine have an almost entire hygienic orientation. Their goal is to reduce dependency, help the patient understand their situation, and educate them on how to stay well for a lifetime.

So now we know why they made Socrates drink the poisonous hemlock.

Paul A. Goldberg, M.P.H., D.C., Certified Natural Hygiene Practitioner

To obtain a copy, call Life University, Marietta GA and ask for the Nutrition Department, (770) 426 - 2741