Hippocrates on the On the Sacred Disease and Early Jewish Literature

 # **Hippocrates on the On the Sacred Disease and Early Jewish Literature**

## **Introduction**

The Hippocratic corpus provides a fascinating insight into the intersection of medicine, philosophy, and popular beliefs in the ancient world. Among the texts attributed to Hippocrates (460–350 B.C.E.), *On the Sacred Disease* stands out for its critical examination of epilepsy, a condition historically associated with divine or demonic intervention. As noted in the Hippocratic Writings (ed., G. E. R. Lloyd; London: Penguin, 1978), the text challenges the prevailing notion that certain diseases are “sacred” or supernatural in origin, arguing instead for a naturalistic explanation rooted in the functioning of the human body, specifically the brain. This approach highlights the early medical insistence on rational inquiry and observation, in contrast to magical or religious interpretations.

The influence of this perspective extended beyond Greece, affecting Jewish medicine, particularly during the Second Temple period, as seen in texts such as *Sirach* and the writings of Josephus and Philo. These sources exhibit a sophisticated understanding of medicine that integrates divine providence with natural causes, illustrating a nuanced approach to disease, healing, and human responsibility.

## **Critique of Supernatural Explanations in *On the Sacred Disease***

In *On the Sacred Disease*, the author explicitly rejects the interpretation of epilepsy as a divine or sacred affliction:

*"I do not believe that the ‘Sacred Disease’ is any more divine or sacred than any other disease but, on the contrary, has specific characteristics and a definite cause. Nevertheless, because it is completely different from other diseases, it has been regarded as a divine visitation by those who, being only human, view it with ignorance and astonishment. This theory of divine origin, though supported by the difficulty of understanding the malady, is weakened by the simplicity of the cure, consisting merely of ritual purification and incantation."* (On the Sacred Disease 12)

The text critiques practitioners who relied on ritual and invocation of gods rather than evidence-based treatment:

*"It is my opinion that those who first called this disease ‘sacred’ were the sort of people we now call witch-doctors, faith-healers, quacks and charlatans. These are exactly the people who pretend to be very pious and to be particularly wise. By invoking a divine element they were able to screen their own failure to give suitable treatment, and so called this a ‘sacred’ malady to conceal their ignorance of its nature."* (On the Sacred Disease 2)

Hippocrates emphasizes that when treatments are ineffective, the blame is shifted onto the gods, thereby preserving the reputation of the healer regardless of patient outcome. He further highlights the inconsistent remedies prescribed by such practitioners, noting with sarcasm:

*"If contact with or eating of this animal causes and exacerbates the disease while abstinence from it cures the disease, then diet is alone the factor which decides the onset of the disease and its cure."* (On the Sacred Disease 2)

Ultimately, the Hippocratic author concludes that the disease has a natural locus:

*"The brain is the seat of this disease, as it is of other very violent diseases."* (On the Sacred Disease 6)

This insistence on a physical cause, while perhaps primitive by modern standards, represents a foundational commitment to understanding disease through observation and rational analysis rather than mystical interpretation.

## **Naturalistic Approaches in Other Hippocratic Writings**

The emphasis on natural causes is consistent throughout the Hippocratic corpus. For instance, in *On Airs Waters Places*, the writer addresses impotence among the Scythian elite:

*"The Scythians themselves attribute this to a divine visitation...I myself hold that this and all other diseases are equally of divine origin and none more divine nor more earthly than another. Each disease has a natural cause and nothing happens without a natural cause."* (On Airs Waters Places 22)

Similarly, *On the Diseases of Young Girls* addresses apoplexies and terrors experienced by female patients, which they interpreted as encounters with demons. The recommended treatment—bleeding followed by marriage—reflects an early attempt to reconcile physiological and social factors with disease outcomes. These texts collectively demonstrate the Hippocratic commitment to seeking natural explanations for conditions previously ascribed to supernatural forces.

In *On the Sacred Disease*, the author catalogues the attribution of epileptic symptoms to specific gods:

*"They make a different god responsible for each of the different forms of the complaint. If the sufferer acts like a goat, and if he roars, or has convulsions involving the right side, they say the Mother of the gods is responsible. If he utters a higher-pitched and louder cry, they say he is like a horse and blame Poseidon. If the sufferer should be incontinent of faeces, as sometimes happens under the stress of an attack, Enodia is the name. If the stools are more frequent and thin like those of birds, it is Apollo Nomius; if he foams at the mouth and kicks out with his feet, Ares is to blame. If he suffers at night from fear and panic, from attacks of insanity, or if he jumps out of bed and runs outside, they talk of attacks of Hecate and the assaults of the heroes."* (On the Sacred Disease 4)

Here, Hippocrates illustrates the popular tendency to assign supernatural responsibility, contrasting it with his naturalistic framework. The reference to “the heroes” as causative agents is particularly notable, as Plutarch and Plato later describe such figures as transformed into spirits or demons, revealing a complex interplay between myth, religion, and medicine.

## **Hippocratic Influence in Jewish Medical Literature**

The Hippocratic tradition influenced Jewish medical thought, as seen in *Sirach* (Ecclesiasticus, circa 2nd century B.C.E.):

*"Honor the physician with the honor due him, according to your need of him, for the Lord created him; for healing comes from the Most High, and he will receive a gift from the king. The skill of the physician lifts up his head, and in the presence of great men he is admired. The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible man will not despise them...By them he heals and takes away pain; the pharmacist makes of them a compound...My son, when you are sick do not be negligent, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you. Give up your faults and direct your hands aright, and cleanse your heart from all sin. Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of fine flour, and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford. And give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; let him not leave you, for there is need of him. There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians, for they too will pray to the Lord that he should grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life."* (Sirach 38:1-15)

This passage demonstrates a sophisticated integration of divine providence with reliance on human skill and natural remedies, reflecting Hippocratic influence. Similarly, Josephus records that the Essenes studied medicinal plants and stones for treating disease:

*"They also take great pains in studying the writings of the ancients, and choose out of them what is most for the advantage of their soul and body; and they inquire after such roots and medicinal stones as may cure distempers."* (War 2.135; cf. Antiquities 8.136)

Philo, too, praises the therapeutic practices of the Therapeutae:

*"…they possess an art of medicine more excellent than that in general use in the cities (for that only heals bodies, but the other heals souls which are under the mastery of terrible and almost incurable diseases, which pleasures and appetites, fears and griefs, and covetousness, and follies, and injustice, and all the rest of the innumerable multitude of other passions and vices, have inflicted upon them)…"* (On the Contemplative Life 2)

These accounts indicate a strong intellectual tradition linking natural medicine, ethical living, and spiritual care, consistent with the rationalist ethos found in the Hippocratic corpus.

## **Greek, Jewish, and Early Christian Contexts**

The rejection of supernatural causation for disease persisted in later medical writings, such as those of Celsus and Galen, who note that divine wrath and demonic possession were considered outdated explanations. As one scholar observes:

*"The idea that human disease is the consequence of divine wrath does not appear in Greek medicine; Galen mentions it only to add that so few believe. Similarly rejected is the concept…which probably originated with the Persians, and which strongly influenced Judaism in the post-exilic period as well as early Christianity, that sickness is the consequence of demonic possession."*

This background clarifies how the New Testament’s references to demon possession should be understood. Rather than implying literal spiritual entities, the term likely denotes physical and mental illnesses, reflecting the influence of rationalist medical thought.

## **Conclusion**

The Hippocratic corpus, particularly *On the Sacred Disease*, demonstrates a rigorous attempt to explain epilepsy and other disorders in naturalistic terms, critiquing the magical and religious interpretations prevalent in the ancient world. This tradition influenced Jewish medical texts such as *Sirach*, the writings of the Essenes, and Philo’s accounts of the Therapeutae, all of which integrate natural remedies, prayer, and ethical living in the treatment of disease.

By understanding these sources, we gain insight into how physical and mental illnesses were conceptualized in antiquity, providing context for interpreting New Testament descriptions of “demon possession” as references to illness rather than supernatural causation. The Hippocratic approach underscores the enduring value of empirical observation, natural causation, and rational treatment in medicine, revealing a sophisticated continuity of thought from Greek to Jewish and early Christian contexts.

This perspective reinforces that references to demons in ancient texts, including the New Testament, should be understood within a medical framework, emphasizing the physical and psychological dimensions of human suffering rather than supernatural agency.

---