The 4 Humours

Greek doctors adopted a theory of healing, based on the idea that matter was made up of four elements: fire, earth, water and air. They believed that the body was composed of four humours (liquids): blood, phlegm, yellow bile (vomit) and black bile (excrement). Disease and sickness occurred when the humours became unbalanced.

In winter, for instance, if a person became cold and wet (see diagram below), his body would produce too much phlegm and he would catch a cold.

Using this theory of the four humours, Greek doctors developed a system of natural healing using opposites. So to treat a cold, they would keep the patient warm and dry to balance out the humours.

for a more detailed diagram click here