Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of thermal water healing practices in the ancient Greek world. The base of this research was the philosophical method. Descriptive design enriched with historical and archaeological sources were being used to enlighten some aspects of hydrotherapy, likewise its religious and scientific frame. To conclude advisory philosophy was used. Since antiquity, hydrotherapy has stimulated the interest of many civilizations from East (Sumerians, Hittite, Egyptians) to West (Greeks, Proto-Germanic tribes). Specifically in Greece, it had various applications according to mythological and linguistic sources. In Minoan times healers were called Paeans, a title of a priest, and in the Hellenistic period were called Asclepiads. The cult of Paian and Asclepius was strongly connected with physical and moral catharsis correlated to tree cults on caves. Cretan lustral basins and Mycenaean balneum simulated the healing environment of sacred caves, where water may be used as a kind of passageway into the “netherworld” for foreshadowing the future. Furthermore, thermal water practices were discriminated into two categories: dynamic exercise (γυμνάσια) and light exercise-graded immersion (ἀποθεραπεὶα). To this point, it is necessary to clarify that ἀποθεραπεὶα had a dual meaning; it was both the last part of training and also a different kind of non-intensive exercise. In some cases, the exercise was used either as the only therapeutic intervention or as a good way to preserve wellness. Both of them were characterized by a certain duration, intensity and rest period given by Galen on De Sanita and Philostratus on Gymnasticus. Their thermal effects during water immersion, especially in medicinal springs (Hierapolis, Cutiliae, Baiae etc.), were already observed on activities such as swimming (νὴξις), stream and steam bathing (λουτρὰ) in combination with manual therapy (Stavrakakis, 2016). Swimming was a good way to exercise whole the body, as in the example of the wrestler Tisandros. In addition, open water swimming was suggested also for cure prevention and swimming in thermal or medicinal springs was appropriate for rehabilitation in many pathological conditions like digestion (cold water) and neurological problems (warm water). These hydrotherapeutic practices were a crucial element for ancient Greek rituals. The present study enlightens the variety of thermal water healing practices in ancient Greece, both as a cathartic activity of the human being inextricably linked to his religious traditions, as well as part of a daily habit crucial to his health and wellbeing.
Keywords:
Thermo-mineral water, Hydrotherapy, Catharsis, Ritual, Ancient religion and philosophy
