Retrieved from, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Pantry Herbalism for Cold and Flu Support: Free eBook, Making Herbal Preparations 101 Mini Course, Emulsifiers and Preservatives in Botanical Skin Care Products, A cabinet of ancient medical curiosities: Strange tales and surprising facts from the healing arts, The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity. Galen: On the properties of foodstuffs(O. Powell, Trans.). The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Words by Nelly Ekstrmaverage reading time 6 minutes 16 December 2016. The humours would be commonly practiced for 2,500 years and would later be revived by Greek physician and philosopher Galen (130-210 AD), who greatly emphasized their validity in his extensive writings, thus establishing them as a dominant practice well into the Middle Ages (McKeown, 2017). . Thought to be produced in the stomach, phlegm was associated with moisture and with winter. These humours in turn were composed of four qualities (hot, dry, cold and . The four humors, or bodily fluids, thought to impact humans' temperaments, personalities, and health were blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Drawing, c.1793.'. The bodys supply of blood diminishes as you approach the final coldness and dryness of death, so it was seen as a part of life to grow a bit melancholic towards the end of your life (see Henry IV, Shylock and King Lear). (W.H.S. This In the ancient physiological theory still current in the European Middle Ages and later, the four cardinal humours were blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile), and melancholy (black . %%EOF This is an interactive personality test of the "Four Temperaments", an idea from Ancient Greek medicine. Arikha, N. (2007). , the element of air (hot and moist), is the vital force of the body and the very essence of youth and health. There are far fewer phlegmatic leading characters in Shakespeares writing than there are sanguine, melancholic and choleric. As Hippocrates said, Grief and fear, when lingering, provoke melancholia (Hippocrates, 185/1931). The four humors are blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Like many ancient systems of medicine, the humours integrated an understanding of disease, psychology, habits, and personalities, as well as astrological connections. There were four humours. As with the ancient herbalism practices of China and India, the four humours are best understood, not through the lens of tangible modern explanations, but through the combination of recognizing invisible characteristics. These 'humours' were thought to be created in the liver and transported through the body through the blood stream. Falstaff imagined by artist Eduard von Grtzner, 1906. Sanity is humor." In The Taming of the Shrew, for instance, the feisty Katherine displays a choleric temper. They enjoy women, wine, song, gambling and music together and play mischievous tricks. Principles of treatment [Blog Post]. The word is quite rare in Shakespeares writing otherwise: in The Taming of the Shrew, a play without melancholics, the word is only used once. Loeb Classical Library. 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. He changes his character by changing his way of life and transforms into a worthy successor. They were the centerpiece of a medical theory called humorism, proposed by Hippocrates in the fourth century BCE. Words by Nelly EkstrmAverage reading time 4 minutes 11 December 2016 Article You can unsubscribe at any time using links in the emails you receive. A Greek-English lexicon. spacious in the possession of dirt." 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. It could make you prone to solitary study, nightly walks in churchyards and the reading of sad poetry, and the more time you spend alone and feeling this way, the more your excess of black bile will grow. The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. No character in all Shakespeare is more evenly balanced, and no mind more capable of seeing things in all their bearings. In tragedies they may appear in short scenes of comic relief, like the porter inMacbethwho messes things up by being drunk on duty. The choice of words also brings us into this realm of melancholia where Hamlet lives: a world of earth, death, decay and graves. The Theory of the Four Humours was that these four liquids in your body could affect your physical and mental health through imbalance. In Hamlets case the black costume he traditionally wears is also mourning dress: his father the king has recently died. However, everyone hasa natural excess of one of the humours, which is what makes us all look unique and behave differently. As Hippocrates said, Grief and fear, when lingering, provoke melancholia (Hippocrates, 185/1931). of a pun: In nearly all his references to the condition of affairs in Denmark, Hamlet indulges in a grim, satirical humor. Men were thought to be primarily hot and dry, while women were cold and wet. Find out more in the Living with Buildings exhibition. It was thought that these conditions were caused by an imbalance in the humours. 16th-century illustration of the four humors: Flegmat (phlegm), Sanguin (blood), Coleric (yellow bile) and Melanc (black bile). the first skull he says: "It might be the pate of a politician . "but essential to interpreting Elizabethan drama, especially the late-16th century genre known as the "comedy of humours" cf. 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. Medical practitioners in Shakespeare's England generally accepted the ancient belief that four body fluids called humors (British spelling: humours) governed the emotional and physical health of a person. Air was the most important humor because it corresponded with blood. - Definition & Examples, Public Broadcast Service (PBS): Definition, Origin & Funding, Satellite Television: Definition & History, Microcasting: Definition, Example & Impact, Communications Act of 1934: Purpose & Impact, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. Centaury. Although these concepts are no longer mainstream theories, they continue to provide an underlying foundation to modern medical and herbal practices. Water was thought to be cold and wet, so it was associated with phlegm. The theory of the four humours informed many of Shakespeare's best-known characters, including the phlegmatic Falstaff. Deception in Hamlet The four elements, which constituted the fundamental building blocks of the 'macrocosm' or 'greater world' of the sublunar sphere, corresponded closely to the four humours of the 'microcosm' or 'lesser world' of the human body.. Each of the humours originated in a different bodily organ.The harmonious balance of these four humours produced health in the body: illness resulted when this balance . And they all have roughlythe same number of lines. Choler was primarily associated with summer. Regarded by many as the father of Western (and some say Islamic) medicine. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. They are associated with sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic temperaments respectively. Hippocrates (460-370 BCE), known as the father of modern medicine and whose Hippocratic Oath continues to bind modern-day physicians to first do no harm, continues to serve as an iconic figure to the medical practitioner. 3. Prince Hamlet is probably the most famous melancholic in literature. In an ideal situation, each of the humors was properly balanced. The humours would be commonly practiced for 2,500 years and would later be revived by Greek physician and philosopher Galen (130-210. The Death of Polonius and its Impact on Hamlet's Character Belief in humoral theory was not limited to ancient Greece. %PDF-1.7 % For information about how we handle your data, please read our privacy notice. Suitable for use with AQA GCSE History: Health and the People: c1000 to the Present DayThis video explores the importance of Galen's Theory of the Four Humo. We use a third party provider, dotdigital, to deliver our newsletters. The philosopher and physician Hippocrates wrote about the Greek humors, and Hippocrates' four humors became the theory most recognized today. Share Cite. Analysis: To be, or not to be (3.1.64-98) 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. Carried by the bloodstream, the four humors bred the core passions of anger, grief, hope, and fearthe emotions conveyed so powerfully in Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies. Actor John Philip Kemble depicted as Hamlet, a role he first played in 1783. English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) created characters that are among the richest and most recognizable in all of literature. Each humor is a bodily fluid, an excess of which was thought to cause certain illnesses and personality traits. From Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear by Alexander W. Crawford. The four main characters of the two plays each represent one of the four temperaments. The melancholic character was easy to recognise on an Elizabethan stage. Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet I feel like its a lifeline. Humor and madness do not travel the same road. The Elder Hamlet: The Kingship of Hamlet's Father the old fellow, making him say that "yonder cloud," first, is "like a camel," then, "like a weasel," and, finally, "like a whale." Shakespeare knew the use and meaning of plants as well as anyone and his writing contains a great number of references to plants, flowers, herbs and spices. Herbalism is an ancient practice with thousands of years of historical applications. For black bile was a medical concept, one of the four bodily humours or fluids that coursed through the organism and determined its constitution, and . Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. In early accounts of human physiology, a person's physical and mental disposition was thought to be governed by a combination of fluids, or humours, within the body.Four humours were recognized: blood, phlegm, choler (also called yellow bile), and melancholy (also called black bile or black choler).The notion transferred readily into a range of senses to do with temperament, mood, inclination . or bodily fluid, helped ancient healers effectively explain disease and help those seeking medical treatment with appropriate recommendations, becoming a practice that would survive well into the Middle Ages (Galen, 165-175/2003). Sasha Blakeley has a Bachelor's in English Literature from McGill University and a TEFL certification. Sickness was no longer the result of a mortal transgression but was the result of imbalances in the body from a variety of factors, including diet, social class, environmental cleanliness, and the state of ones mental health. Because humoral theory was the prevailing medical treatment for a number of conditions throughout Europe for centuries, it is no surprise that humors made their way into the literature and entertainment of the day. The story of the king who was so fat that he tried to extract his fat using leeches. 13 chapters | In the graveyard over the skulls he is sardonic and pathetic, and over Yorick's he is melancholy. Heat stimulated action, cold depressed it. It was classified among other types of mental illness of its time, like mania, phrenitis, frenzy, lunacy and demoniacal possession. Madness does not lie this way. A natural excess of black bile could make you cautious and analytical. which is generally slow, sleepy, and unemotional, although when in balance, it ensures a sense of serenity and good judgment. Melancholic people were instructed to avoid these foods and to instead eat sanguine foods like lamb, butter, sugar, basil, and other sweet things. The temperament is melancholy from / melas, black and / khol, bile, or the feeling of pensive sadness (Liddell et al., 1940). As I mentioned in the previous episode of this blog series, the humoral theory is a holistic approach to medicine and the body. Poor Hamlet, too much humor had'st thou for this harsh world!" 4. Describe the four humors as established by ancient Greek and Roman physicians Apply their knowledge of the four humors to their analysis of Hamlet. Jones, Trans.). Here is the humor of tragedy with a vengeance. You can unsubscribe at any time using links in the emails you receive. An error occurred trying to load this video. The temperament is sanguine, meaning optimistic even in challenging situations, as well as patient, balanced, and thoughtful. The Herbal Academy makes neither medical claim, nor intends to diagnose or treat medical conditions. These humours were thought to be connected to different organs inside the body; to the four elements of earth, water, fire and air; and even to the movements of the stars in the sky. Hamlet addresses frailty as though speaking to a human being. Sanguine: optimistic even in difficult circumstances, characterizations of conditions and temperaments resemble the Ayurvedic doshas of p, , which some scholars suggest were influenced by the theory of humours. succeed. 83-99. Representation of the melancholic temperament; an old man reading a book and holding a bag of earth, with a mourning dove sitting on his head. Passions and tempers: A history of the humours. Specifically, the Four Humors were: black bile, while was associated with the Melancholic person; yellow bile, which was associated with the Choleric person; blood, which was associated with the Sanguine person; and phlegm, which was associated with the phlegmatic person. Phlegmatic people were apathetic, sluggish, and dull, lacking the will and energy for excitement. Choleric. In all, the word earth (or variations of it) is mentioned 23 times in the text. calls him a "water-fly," then "a chough . He is working on his PhD. This explains the Hippocratic . He has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, from the playful to the sardonic. If you have just a little too much of any of the humours, the positive aspects will shape your temperament, but if you have far too much then the bad sides will take over. x-axis (vertical): Introversion - Extraversion scale. ), who greatly emphasized their validity in his extensive writings, thus establishing them as a dominant practice well into the Middle Ages (McKeown, 2017). Curator Gail Kern Paster explains "The four humors were an early typology for human personality. It reflects the principle of digestion and transformation. By now its probably clear that melancholia was the least valued of the four temperaments. . , the element of fire (hot and dry), flushes out impurities and deeply nourishes the body. Sour flavors were associated with melancholy, including vinegar and lemons. Hippocrates - Greek physician (c460BC - 370BC). Shakespeare was too Those unions result in the four humors: 1) melancholic. hb``f``: AXw@bA73ptt0tt4EbH"?~%G?2bfa10%rsH_x4:1V2cBqbi4x D1` O]b |H^aHs10g`Z & mock your grinning? Hamlet's Antic Disposition: Is Hamlet's Madness Real? According to humoralism, four bodily fluidsblood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegmdetermined a person's temperament and an imbalance led to certain sicknesses dependent upon which humors were in excess or deficit. The way doctors would rid you of your excess humours would probably not be recommended today though: enemas, vomiting and especially bloodletting were common treatments for a wide range of conditions. Plants could, like everything else around us, be divided into the four categories according to their qualities and effects on the human body: heating, chilling, drying or moisturising. After being refused by Ophelia, Polonius explains that Hamlet: Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, even though there are, and must be pages on anatomy and physiology. Choler, or yellow bile, was considered hot and dry, and related to summer and fire. Find out whats on, read our latest stories and get involved. Melancholics are often depicted dressed in black, the colour (unsurprisingly) connected to black bile. This is how Prince Hal greets him early on: Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sac, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. Humoral theory meant that the effect of an imbalance of the humors would cause predictable changes in a person's behavior and health. Badger, 1916. ), "Even in dying," as Sir Herbert Tree says, "he breaks into a sweet irony of humor, in meeting the 'fell serjeant death.' Many plants also represented something beyond their practical application and were used as symbols. The Herbal Academy supports trusted organizations with the use of affiliate links. 136 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<45BA525245714C0FB00ABAFBFE87BD54><2FD0B201639DA9429A165B25360D9915>]/Index[109 51]/Info 108 0 R/Length 124/Prev 176169/Root 110 0 R/Size 160/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, It ensures a sense of serenity and good judgment benefit to mankind: medical! To summer and fire ( O. Powell, Trans. ) Shakespeares writing than there are fewer... Of historical applications I mentioned in the graveyard over the skulls he is melancholy also represented something beyond practical. 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