The ancient Greek theory of the four humors, which believed overall health depended on the balance of blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, persisted until the 19th century. Although dismissed in medicine, the four personality types associated with the humors are still used in modern psychology. Medical treatments in the past attempted to rebalance the humors, and the system underlies current food and wine classifications. The four temperaments associated with moods are still considered useful in psychology.
The four humors are the basis of ancient medicine. Basically, according to the four humors model, it is believed that overall health depends on the balance of the four main body fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. The concept arose in ancient Greece, but persisted well into the 19th century. Although the idea of the four humors and their effect on general health and temperament has been dismissed in medicine, many modern theories of psychology are based on the four personality types associated with the four humors.
Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers and physicians theorized that physical and mental ailments were the result of an imbalance in one of the four humors. An excess of any of the four was thought to correspond to a certain temperament in the patient. A large amount of blood made the patient sanguine or cheerful, perhaps with too much energy. Too much phlegm made him phlegmatic, or cold and apathetic. An excess of black bile, also called spleen or melancholy and thought to be excreted by the spleen, would make a person melancholic or depressive. Finally, too much yellow bile, or choler, created an angry or easily irritated temper.
Medical treatments in the past were often attempts to rebalance the four humors. Bloodletting was common in the medieval era, and in the Elizabethan period, certain foods were thought to resolve ailments caused by an excess or deficiency of certain humours. Each of the four humors was believed to be hot or cold and dry or wet, so that each corresponded to one of four possible combinations of these attributes. To cure an excess of phlegm, therefore, considered hot and humid, foods considered cold and dry were administered to the patient. This system underlies current food and wine classifications that use these terms, such as a “hot” pepper or a “dry” white wine.
The four humor system has become a thing of the past with a more modern and accurate understanding of human physiology. For example, it is now known that there is no such thing as “black bile” secreted by the spleen. However, the four temperaments associated with moods are still considered useful in psychology, where the four basic categories of human personality are considered and personality disorders are grouped according to them.
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