Diocles of Carystus
fl. fourth century B.C.
Greek Physician
Diocles of Carystus was a philosopher and pioneer in Greek medicine, acclaimed by the historian Pliny to be second only to Hippocrates (c. 460-c. 377 B.C.) in reputation and ability.
Born in the late fourth century B.C. at Carystus, Euboea, he was the son of Archidamus, a physician. He moved to Athens and became a pupil of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). Although Aristotle was known as a philosopher, he influenced many physicians of his time because of his inquiries into body physiology. His anatomy was adapted by Diocles and three prominent doctors of the Alexandrian school: Herophilus (c. 335-280 B.C.), Erasistratus (c. 304-250 B.C.), andPraxagoras (fl. fourth cent. B.C.). The four raised Greek medicine to its highest point. Another of Aristotle's pupils, Alexander the Great, died in 323 B.C. exclaiming, "I die by the help of too many physicians"—showing there were a number of physicians in his court.
Physicians including Diocles became prominent in the late fourth century B.C., and when Alexander conquered Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria, he set the stage for the advent of the famous Alexandrian School of Medicine. His successor, Ptolemy I, collected a library of 70,000 manuscripts with information on medicine and drugs.
Diocles was a leading proponent of the dogmatic or logical school and sought to combine philosophy with the medical ideas of Hippocrates. While other physicians were engaged in speculation and superstition, Diocles formalized and organized medicine.
A prolific writer, Diocles was the first to use Attic Greek, the polished Greek of Athens, and showed the influence of Aristotle's literary style in writing. (Most physicians of the time wrote in Ionic Greek, a coarse vernacular style.) The subjects addressed were wide and varied. Only a few fragments of his writing are extant. Diocles carefully assembled the writings of Hippocrates. The Roman physician Galen (c. 129-216 A.D.) stated that Diocles was the first to use the term "anatomy." Like Aristotle, Diocles did not distinguish the nerves from veins and believed that the heart, not the brain, was the seat of intelligence.
Empedocles (c. 492-432 B.C.) greatly influenced the Greek physicians, including Diocles. For example, he was interested in reproduction and asserted that both man and woman furnished the seed that became the embryo, which was fully developed in 40 days. The male developed on the warmer, right side of the uterus and grew faster than the female. Menstruation was the same for all females—beginning at age 14 and ending at 60. Empedocles also influenced Diocles's physiology, in that the latter believed in the four basic elements: air, water, fire, and earth. Health was the proper balance of the system. The four humors—blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile—that corresponded to the elements must also be in balance.
Diocles was close to political rulers. He dedicated a work on hygiene to the Macedonian prince Pleistarchus, son of the famous Greek general Antipater. He wrote a letter also on hygiene to King Antigone, a general of Alexander. The letter was preserved by the seventh-century Greek physician Paul of Aegina (c. 625-690 A.D.). A work called Archidamus was dedicated to his father. When the Greek classics were rediscovered in the sixteenth century, translations of the works of Diocles were made into Latin, French, and English. Also, large fragments of his work on diet were preserved by Oribasius (325-403 A.D.), physician to Emperor Julian.
Inspired by Aristotle and his studies of plants, Diocles was the first scientist to write on nutrition and the medical use of plants. He is considered to be the father of pharmacy. Two inventions were credited to Diocles: a bandage for the head and a spoon-like device for scooping arrows out of the flesh.
Diocles was second only to Hippocrates in the annals of Greek medicine. His work influenced many Greek physicians and scientists, such as Theophrastus (c. 372-287 B.C.) and Dioscorides (c. 40-90 A.D.).
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