Pleistonikos

Pleistonikos ( ancient Greek Πλειστόνικος ) was around 270 BC. A doctor of the dogmatic school .

Live and act

Pleistonikos was a student of the Praxagoras of Kos . Along with Hippocrates of Kos , Diocles of Karystos , Mnesitheos of Athens and Praxagoras of Kos, he is counted among the most respected doctors of antiquity. His place of activity was, like that of his master Praxagoras, above all the island of Kos .

The following details are known about the teaching of Pleistonikos: The basis of his physiology is the teaching of the juices . In this he followed the Hippocratic tradition. Like all Hippocrats, he also endeavored to perfect the theory of humours. However, whether he differentiated eleven juices (like Praxagoras), including the 'glassy' (‚αλώδης) and the 'gluey' (κολλώδης), cannot be said with certainty.

He was of the opinion that not only the diseased part, but also its surroundings, even the whole body, had to be taken into account in therapy , a principle that he shared with the other old doctors. With these he was far away from the theory of Koinonten (κοινόντες) as the methodologists Thessalos set up later. The bloodletting knew and appreciated Pleistonikos as other dogmatists. When making the prognosis, he took into account the patient's strengths, the severity of the disease and the occurrence of the climax (ἀκμή) in order to conclude whether the disease had a favorable or unfavorable outcome.

Pleistonikus considered the fever to be an abnormal increase in the implanted warmth. If in melancholics a flatulent pneuma (πνεῦμα φυσῶδες) accumulated in the hypochondrion, Pleistonikos (with Diocles and Aristotle) called such ailments pneumatosis (πνευματώδη) and hypochondria (ὑποχονδδριακά).

He used the hellebore (ἐλλέβορος) therapeutically in various forms. In this he seems to have been original in that, in order to induce vomiting, he processed the hellebore in the form of a suppository and introduced it into the intestine or let the patient smell hellebore mixed with ox bile. Radish (ῥάφανος) prescribed Pleistonikos for stomach ailments, while he seems to have given basil (ocimum, ὤκιμον) for constipation and obesity. In general, he may have contributed much to the promotion of pharmacology . In the field of dietetics he took the view that water was more digestible than wine (Diocles and Praxagoras taught similar things).

Pleistonikos was probably not an outstanding personality among the doctors of his time, but lived in the shadow of Diocles and Praxagoras. Although he is listed several times among the best of doctors (δοκιμώτατοι τῶν ἰατρῶν), he owes this honor primarily to the fact that his teachings essentially coincided with those of the luminaries of the time and that he also belonged to a generation of doctors that was still very much in the Spirit of Hippocratic tradition worked.

Individual evidence

↑ Vivian Nutton : Pleistonikos. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 15/2, Metzler, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-476-01488-6 , Sp. 1131 ( doi : 10.1163 / 1574-9347_dnp_e927980 ).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kurt Bardong : Pleistonikos . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XXI, 1, Stuttgart 1951, Col. 210-212.

personal data
SURNAME	Pleistonikos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Πλειστόνικος (ancient Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Greek medic
DATE OF BIRTH	4th century BC BC or 3rd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	3rd century BC Chr.

[1] Vivian Nutton : Pleistonikos. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 15/2, Metzler, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-476-01488-6 , Sp. 1131 ( doi : 10.1163 / 1574-9347_dnp_e927980 ).

[Bardong-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kurt Bardong : Pleistonikos . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XXI, 1, Stuttgart 1951, Col. 210-212.