A Comedy of Errors
by Jennifer Iannolo
[Written in conjunction with Marcus Bachler]
The ancient Greeks produced some of the greatest philosophical thinkers in the history of mankind. Their passionate respect for reality and reason emancipated men from the dark ages of muddled thought. They championed rational philosophy and empirical thought over religious mysticism. Aristotle, in particular, was the greatest Greek philosopher of all time, and deserves our utmost admiration and respect.
However, taking into consideration that Aristotle died at the age of 62 of a stomach complaint, has anyone ever wondered what was in his medicine chest? Or even more importantly, what he cooked himself for supper?
Incredibly, even a philosophical genius can sometimes get it wrong. In fact, his thinking on medicine and cuisine was based upon notions handed down to him by the philosophy of Hippocrates. Aristotle was not known for his comedic side when preparing a meal or dressing a wound, but he thought that a person’s body contained four fundamental liquids called "humours."
The four humours were blood, phlegm, yellow bile (a fluid secreted by the liver), and black bile (a fluid secreted by the kidneys and spleen), and each were believed to be responsible for a person’s mood. Blood was associated with a sanguine personality, i.e. a penchant for laughter, a love of music, and a passionate disposition. Someone with a phlegmatic personality was rational and dull, while yellow bile characterized an individual quick to anger. Black bile represented a melancholic personality, "melan" meaning black. According to doctors, any imbalance in these humours would result in a personality problem or illness.
We can’t tell how Aristotle’s stomach was diagnosed, but the treatment was probably not very pleasant or effective.
Unfortunately, absurd ideas can have serious and deadly consequences. Millions of people from the time of the Greeks onward, including famous figures such as Mozart and George Washington, were killed either directly or indirectly through the practice of bloodletting. Doctors bled their patients because blood was considered to have pre-eminence over the other three humours during inflammation and sickness. Bloodletting flourished in Western Europe and America until well into the 18th century, and even local barbers advertised their bloodletting business with a red (for blood) and white (for tourniquet) striped pole.
Given the stomach’s prominence as a determinant of character, dietetic theories embracing the humours were broadly put into practice. By creating dishes that balanced dry against moist and hot against cold, food could then be used as a "prescription" for achieving a perfect balance.
This caused quite a dilemma for the dinner party host, as it was believed that a person’s appetite and palate originated in one’s "sense of humours." It was necessary to ensure that a vast array of dishes was created to appeal to each guest’s individual tastes. And though the implicit philosophy behind the creation of certain combinations of foods may have been forgotten, the dishes themselves remain.
If you are served a "modern" dish of melon, figs, and blackberries to start your meal, for example, that is because a cook at some point during the 17th century was advised the trio had medicinal value. Or if your steak arrives slathered in béarnaise sauce, it may be that a chef was once trying to balance the "dryness" of the juicy meat with the "moisture" of the sauce.
As an experiment, we tried to come up with a combination of foods that would satiate the humour of a rationally passionate person. Such a person falls somewhere in between "blood" (passion) and "black bile" (rational), with a dose of "yellow bile" (anger) thrown in when appropriate. Damned if we could figure it out. If a juicy steak is characterized as "dry," then what qualifies as moist? And if bread simultaneously qualifies as moist, dry, hot, and cold, we could just live on toast and be in a perpetual state of bliss.
Oddly enough, the theory behind the humours still persists today, though it exists in a different form. If one looks at the diet book shelf in the local bookstore, one can see the "Blood Type Diet," the "Body Type Diet," etc. These people are still buying into Ancient Greek theory. Now, if we could only convince them that reality and reason were just as important.
In the end, we say, stick to western medicine and eat whatever you damn well please. Hippocrates and Aristotle were clearly off the mark on this one. So to the ancient Greeks, we are in eternal gratitude for your philosophy of logic and reason, but please keep your noses out of our pantries and medicine chests!
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