Simply Ask Aromatherapy
Simply Ask Aromatherapy
History of Essential Oils - Greece
History of Essential Oils - Greece
The Greeks absorbed the medicinal wisdom of the Egyptians through trade and cultural exchanges. They took the knowledge of plants and plant essences and combined it with their own native plants. Having visited the Nile Valley, known as the Cradle of Medicine, in 500B.C. they returned to their homeland, and established a medical school on the Island of Cos. Here, the combined knowledge of Greek and Egyptian experience was indexed and classified and a variety of influential works served to promote and further the uses for aromatic substances.
The school’s most famous graduate and most well-known physician of that time - Hippocrates (c.460 - 377 BC) was a firm believer of treating the patient holistically and included aromatherapy massage as a treatment. Hippocrates, commonly called the "father of medicine" practiced fumigations for both aromatic and medicinal benefit having attended the school of Cos. He wrote an analysis of herbal medicine that described the effects of over 300 plants on the human body. He recommended a daily bath and massage with essential oils as the basis for a sound health regime.
Another Greek physician, Megallus, formulated an aromatic remedy to which he gave the subtle name Megaleon from cinnamon, myrrh and charred frankincense were soaked in ‘Oil of Balanos’ This quickly gained fame for healing wounds and reducing inflammation.
Theophrastus 370 – 285 BC succeeded Aristotle as head of the peripateic school. He wrote ten books on Enquiry into plants and eight books on causes of plants. In “Concerning Odours” he discussed how aromatics were processed and linked to thought and emotions.
In 77 AD Dioscordes, a Greek army physician, wrote De Materia Medica referencing over 500 medicinal plants. (e.g. Myrrh: doth strengthen the teeth and gummes and is soporific. Marjoram: soporific, Juniper: is diuretical and if anointed about the genetall before conjunction it doth sterilitie). This puts juniper as the oldest and first spermicidal in the World. It is also reported that Dioscorides studied distillation. Distillation during this period, however, focused on extracting aromatic floral waters and not essential oils. De Materia Medica was later translated into a variety of languages and went on to influence the herbalist Claudius Galen (130 – 193 A.D.) who wrote the Western world’s standard medical reference for more than 1,500 years.
The Greek civilization also had a direct influence from traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine.
The Greeks absorbed the medicinal wisdom of the Egyptians through trade and cultural exchanges. They took the knowledge of plants and plant essences and combined it with their own native plants. Having visited the Nile Valley, known as the Cradle of Medicine, in 500B.C. they returned to their homeland, and established a medical school on the Island of Cos. Here, the combined knowledge of Greek and Egyptian experience was indexed and classified and a variety of influential works served to promote and further the uses for aromatic substances.
The school’s most famous graduate and most well-known physician of that time - Hippocrates (c.460 - 377 BC) was a firm believer of treating the patient holistically and included aromatherapy massage as a treatment. Hippocrates, commonly called the "father of medicine" practiced fumigations for both aromatic and medicinal benefit having attended the school of Cos. He wrote an analysis of herbal medicine that described the effects of over 300 plants on the human body. He recommended a daily bath and massage with essential oils as the basis for a sound health regime.
Another Greek physician, Megallus, formulated an aromatic remedy to which he gave the subtle name Megaleon from cinnamon, myrrh and charred frankincense were soaked in ‘Oil of Balanos’ This quickly gained fame for healing wounds and reducing inflammation.
Theophrastus 370 – 285 BC succeeded Aristotle as head of the peripateic school. He wrote ten books on Enquiry into plants and eight books on causes of plants. In “Concerning Odours” he discussed how aromatics were processed and linked to thought and emotions.
In 77 AD Dioscordes, a Greek army physician, wrote De Materia Medica referencing over 500 medicinal plants. (e.g. Myrrh: doth strengthen the teeth and gummes and is soporific. Marjoram: soporific, Juniper: is diuretical and if anointed about the genetall before conjunction it doth sterilitie). This puts juniper as the oldest and first spermicidal in the World. It is also reported that Dioscorides studied distillation. Distillation during this period, however, focused on extracting aromatic floral waters and not essential oils. De Materia Medica was later translated into a variety of languages and went on to influence the herbalist Claudius Galen (130 – 193 A.D.) who wrote the Western world’s standard medical reference for more than 1,500 years.
The Greek civilization also had a direct influence from traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine.
Greek Aromatic Oil Jar
Greek Aromatic Oil Jar