Deity, love, punishment, rage, and mythonyms from head to toes. A brief history of some medical terms
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Revista Română de Medicină de Laborator Vol. 29, Nr. 3, Iulie, 2021 327
Course notes
DOI:10.2478/rrlm-2021-0023
Deity, love, punishment, rage, and mythonyms from head
to toes. A brief history of some medical terms
Adrian Naznean*
Department 1 of Science and Letters, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy,
Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania
Abstract
Although it is undoubtful that today’s Medical English is rooted in Greek and Latin, it is particularly interesting
that figures from Greek mythology are the roots of words to describe conditions, body parts, feelings, substances,
etc. While there are numerous medical terms that are derived from the names of Greek mythological figures, this
paper will only investigate words ranging from A to H and will try to justify the relationship between the concepts
and the choice of terminology.
Keywords: deity, gods, goddesses, Greek mythology, medical mythonymy
Received: 25th June 2021; Accepted: 7th July 2021; Published: 9th July 2021
Introduction mythological elements is brought about by their
visual interpretation on various objects such as
Storytelling is an important part of every cul- amphorae, sculptures, statues, etc. While the sto-
ture. It functions as lessons and examples to ries depict imaginary situations and events, what
be followed, it instils various moral and ethical is particularly intriguing is the impact they had
values within a community. But because these on language.
lessons are handed down by word of mouth,
they oftentimes become embellished, distorted, Mythonyms rooted in Greek mythology
or augmented by many details. Whenever one
turns to Greek myths, they will get the eternal Achilles, the greatest warrior of all Greek myth
and endlessly entertaining feeling of the stories. and the son of Thetis and Peleus, was named
The world of Greek mythology brings onto page such by Chiron because the child had never been
hundreds of characters: immortals, heroes, vil- breastfed. Etymologically, the name of Achilles
lains, mortals, titans, or hideous creatures come is the combination of the privative a- and chei-
to life in the stories of Homer or Hesiod. An los, meaning lips, thus, the one without lips (1).
additional value which ensures the survival of His mother, the sea nymph Thetis, wanting to
*
Corresponding author: Adrian Naznean, Department 1 of Science and Letters, George Emil Palade University of Medicine,
Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania. E-mail: adrian.naznean@umfst.ro328 Revista Română de Medicină de Laborator Vol. 29, Nr. 3, Iulie, 2021 make her son immortal, dipped him into the river cord that lies between the dura mater and the Styx. The heel from which the mother held him pia mater. Undoubtedly, her name is the root for was the only vulnerable point of his body, and other words as well such as: arachnid, arachnid- the target of Paris’s poisoned arrow which killed ium, arachnoiditis, arachnology, Arachnomor- him. The name of the mythological figure is as- phae, arachnophobia, to name a few. sociated with several anatomical parts and con- The Titan Atlas, the brother of Prometheus ditions: Achille’s heel, Achille’s tendon, Achille’s among others, was the son of Iapetus and Cly- rupture, Achille’s region, Achille’s tendinitis, or mene (3). He was a second-generation Titan and Achille’s tendinopathy. one of the generals in the war against the Olym- Aphrodite, one of the most famous goddesses pians which the Titans lost. Consequently, Atlas of Greek mythology, was renowned for her un- was punished to stand at the western end of the matched beauty and her ability to arouse sexual Earth and hold up the sky. In his attempt to get desire. She was born from foam when the sev- the golden apples form the Hesperides, Heracles, ered genitals of Ouranus (Uranus) fell into the who was cautioned not to pick the apples him- sea. According to some legends, she arrived at self, relied on the help of Atlas convincing him Cythera, but floated on to reach Cyprus. Ac- to hold the sky while Atlas would pick the apple. cording to Homer, Aphrodite was the daughter After getting the apple, Atlas was reluctant to re- of Zeus and Dione. In Plato’s view, there were turn to his duty as the holder of the sky, but Her- two Aphrodites, a heavenly one, the one born acles fooled him once more pretending to place from the sea, and an earthly one, the daughter a cushion on his shoulders to ease the burden and of Zeus and Dione. Nevertheless, the goddess of making his getaway. It may be due to the posi- love and the embodiment of desire, had multiple tion of the sky resting on the back of the Titan’s love affairs with both gods and Anchises. Proba- neck that atlas came to mean the first vertebra bly it is no surprise that her name is the root for of the neck. It may or may not be hazardous that aphrodisiac to denote a food or drug that arouses the same term atlas denotes a collection of maps sexual instinct and increases pleasure. The word or a male figure used like a caryatid as a support- has an antonym, that is anaphrodisiac. The veil ing column or pilaster to symbolise the heavy of Aphrodite is the superficial membrane on the burden of holding the upper, and probably, most anterolateral surface of the prostate gland (2). important part. Moreover, Aphrodite is also responsible for the Chimera was a monstrous-looking beast with the term hermaphrodite which will be detailed later head and body of a goat, the legs of a lion, and on. had a snake as the tail. The beast wreaked havoc Although not a goddess, Arachne was the daugh- in Lycia, Asia Minor, and King Iobates sought a ter of Idmon of Colophon. She was an expert hero to destroy the monster. Bellerophon, the son weaver who committed suicide following the of Glaucus, king of Corinth, was very skilled with competition with Athena because the goddess of weaponry and was commissioned by Iobates to war and many crafts and skills tore her perfect kill the monster. In order to help him, Poseidon, tapestry refusing to admit to Arachne’s superior- who was rumoured to be Bellerophon’s actual ity and to lose. Athena changed Arachne’s rope father, offered his winged-horse, Pegasus. The into a cobweb and Arachne into a spider, an in- lead arrow that the handsome and brave warrior sect which the goddess despised. Arachne is rep- shot in the mouth of the beast was melted by the resented in medical terminology as arachnoid to flaming breath of Chimera and burnt the body refer to a thin membrane of the brain and spinal of the monster (4). While in common language
Revista Română de Medicină de Laborator Vol. 29, Nr. 3, Iulie, 2021 329 the adjective chimeric, or chimerical, means vi- sion of the father. The concept can be put down sionary, fantastic, unreal, or wildly improbable, to mythological events. Clytemnestra was the in medical terminology it refers to an organism sister of Helen, daughter of Zeus, and the wom- composed of cells from two or more different an Leda, a princess of Sparta before she married zygotes. (5, 6). It is also used in phrases such as Agamemnon, and queen of Mycenae. Clytem- chimeric antigen-receptor-modified T cells, chi- nestra and Agamemnon had three children: Ip- meric mouse, or chimeric antibody. higenia, Orestes, and Electra (4). According to While few medical professionals wound wonder some other accounts, the two had four children, about the origin of a word they use on a daily ba- Chrysothemis being another daughter (1). At a sis, the adjective chronic is rooted in mythology. relatively young age Iphigenia was sacrificed by Cronus (Kronos) was the Titan who emasculated Agamemnon. Following the Trojan War, Agam- his father (7), Ouranos (Uranus), and was also emnon returned with a woman as his slave, Cas- notorious for swallowing his own children with sandra, princess of Troy. During Agamemnon’s Rhea, daughter of Ouranos and his own sister. He absence, however, Clytemnestra developed a re- was the son of Ouranos and Gaia and according lationship with Aegisthus, Agamemnon’s cousin to a prophecy he was to be overthrown by one of and archenemy. Agamemnon was murdered by his own children. In order to save one of them, the two lovers. Orestes and Electra disagreed Rhea handed Cronus a stone wrapped in cloth to with their mother’s decision and sought revenge. swallow, and the child, none else but Zeus, was There are various versions of the story belong- thus saved and brought up on the island of Crete. ing to Aeschylus, Euripides, or Sophocles, but Zeus had grown into a powerful god and with they all come down to the two brothers planning the help of his mother he made Cronus vomit and carrying out the murder of Clytemnestra and the swallowed children. Thus, Poseidon, Hades, Aegisthus. Hera, Demeter, and Hestia were reborn from The first description of the disease entity called Cronus’s bellows (4), Cronus was imprisoned, hebephrenia is attributed to Ewald Hecker (1, and the generation of Olympians was born. 10). In 1871 he defined hebephrenia as a disor- Another term which should be under investi- der with a very specific and predictable course gation is cyclopia, also called cyclocephaly or always occurring between the ages of 18 and synophthalmia, which refers to the condition of 22. A type of schizophrenia, hebephrenia, or a foetus to fail to develop two orbits (5, 8). As hebephrenic schizophrenia, has symptoms the term denotes, the origin of the word is rooted such as disorganised behaviours and thoughts, in the Cyclopes, a group of one-eyed giants (3). short-lasting delusions and hallucinations, disor- They had a single large eye in the middle of their ganised speech. Zeus had several children with forehead, and they were the gods of thunder and his wife, Hera, among whom there were Ares, lightning. The three Cyclopes were saved and Hebe, Eileithyia, and Hephaestus (3). According freed by Zeus and, as a sign of gratitude, they to other sources, Eris was born to Hera without produced a lightning bolt for their saviour, Arges the help of Zeus (9), that is parthenogenetical- added brightness, Brontes added thunder, while ly. Ares was the god of war, whose only delight Steropes added lightning (9). was conflict, war, and violence. Hephaestus, on The Electra complex is a psychological concept the other hand, was even more troublesome, he where a daughter distains her mother and is more was lame and so unappealing that his mother affectionate towards her father, in other words it flung him from Mount Olympus. Nevertheless, is a competition with the mother for the posses- Hebe, a cupbearer to the gods and the goddess
330 Revista Română de Medicină de Laborator Vol. 29, Nr. 3, Iulie, 2021
of eternal youth, was the least demanding of the rather the opposite and was hateful even to the
children. Hebe was responsible for readying her immortal gods. Hypnos fell in love with Endy-
mother’s horse when she went out, she looked mion and caused him to sleep with wide open
after her siblings, and handled the other house- eyes. Hypnos had the power to induce a state
hold chores. She was also in charge of prepara- of lack of awareness and animation upon both
tions and served the other gods at their banquets. mortals and immortals. James Braid, a Scottish
Eventually, she married Heracles and escaped surgeon and natural philosopher, is considered to
from her former chore-filled life (1). If we con- be the father of hypnosis and the one who coined
sider that Hebe’s marriage to Heracles is a type the term hypnosis from the name of the Greek
of victory happening in youth, the concept of he- mythological figure, and a whole string of words
bephrenia, the condition that occurs at the end of related to the concept: hypnology, hypnoid, hyp-
puberty, is fully explained. notise, hypnotic, or hypnotism. Hypnos became
Nyx (Night) and Erebus (Darkness) had two to be regarded as the God of Anesthesia (13).
children, Hemera (Day), and a corresponding We previously discussed the case of Aphrodite
brother, Aither, who personified brightness. The as the one whose name gave us the word aphro-
name of Hemera gave birth to the word ephem- disiac. Nevertheless, Aphrodite is also responsi-
eral to refer to something short-lasting. In medi-
ble for another term that is used in medicine, i.e.,
cine, however, hemeralopia refers to a condition
hermaphrodite. Aphrodite does not get the whole
in which vision is impaired in bright light, in oth-
credit for this term, half of it is the contribution of
er words day blindness (1).
Hermes. Hermaphroditus was the child of Aph-
Asclepius, the god of medicine, had three daugh-
rodite and Hermes (4), the son of Zeus and the
ters: Hygieia, Panacea, and Iaso (according to
nymph Maia, who had female breasts and male
some sources, there were seven daughters). Hy-
genitals, thus, the term to describe anyone with
gieia, the goddess of health and hygiene (11),
is often represented dressed in a long robe, and the reproductive organs of both sexes. According
feeding a serpent from a cup. She had the power to mythology, the boy had not been born a her-
to ward off pestilence and to promote health. The maphrodite, it was one of the nymphs, Salmacis,
name of the goddess gave rise to the word hy- mesmerised by his handsomeness, who followed
giene to mean, among others, the science of the him into the lake and embraced the boy while
establishment and maintenance of health. Her swimming (14). Thus, we also have the words of
name is also mentioned in the Hippocratic Oath hermaphroditism or hermaphroditic.
“I swear by Apollo Healer, by Asclepius, by Hy- A controversial word in terms of origin is hy-
gieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and god- men. By controversy we mean that Hymenaios
desses, making them my witnesses, that I will was the god of marriage, the son of Aphrodite
carry out, according to my ability and judgment, and Dionysus (15), god of the grapes and alco-
this oath and this indenture”. hol, or that of Apollo and a muse. The name of
Apart from her children with her brother Erebus, the god was derived from the traditional wed-
Nyx (Night) parthenogenetically produced Mo- ding-cry with little meaning hymen ο hymenaie
mus, Thanatos, Hypnos, the Moirae, and Neme- or ο hymen hymenaie, an invocation to a deity
sis (12). The children of Nyx who lived in a sub- (14). According to another account, Hymenaios
terranean place and emerged at night were Hyp- was a mortal who fell in love with an Athenian
nos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death). While Hypnos girl of noble origin (15). Whether the mortal or
was kind to mortals, his brother Thanatos was the god, the name gave us the term hymen, whichRevista Română de Medicină de Laborator Vol. 29, Nr. 3, Iulie, 2021 331
in Greek simply meant membrane, and in con- New York/ London/ Toronto/ Sydney/ New Delhi. 2021.
temporary use refers to the virginal membrane. 5. Kucharz EJ. Medical eponyms of mythological ori-
gin. Acta Neophilologica. 2017; XIX (2):29-42. DOI:
10.31648/an.639
Conclusion
6. Hernigou P. Bone transplantation and tissue engineer-
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the Medical English we use today and continue mera to the Miracle of the Black Leg of Saints Cosmas
to add terms to express discoveries, new reali- and Damian and the cock of John Hunter. International
Orthopaedics. 2014;38:2631-8. DOI: 10.1007/s00264-
ties, conditions, etc. On the other hand, Greek
014-2511-y
mythology is a vast resource of naming various
7. Woodard RD. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to
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that not only the names of gods and goddesses Madrid/ Cape Town/ Singapore/ Sao Paulo/ Delhi:
but also those of mortals depicted in mytholog- Cambridge University Press. 2007. DOI: 10.1017/
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used by medical professionals. However, break- 8. Sharma D, Yadav J, Garg E. Cyclopia syndrome. BMJ
ing the terms down, whether common or proper, Case Rep. 2014;2014:bcr2014203535. Published 2014
into their constituents: roots, combining forms, Jun 9. DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2014-203535
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Conflict of interest ry. History of Psychiatry. 2012;23(4):387-403. DOI:
None to declare. 10.1177/0957154X11428416
11. Ökten Aİ. Mythology and Neurosurgery. World
Neurosurg. 2016;90:315-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.
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