Upper extremity injuries in Iliad of Homer

Abstract

The objective of this study is to describe observations of functional anatomic significance of upper extremity wounds made in the Iliad of Homer and to report these relative to pre-Hippocratic concepts of health and disease in Ancient Greece. For this purpose Turkish translation of the Iliad was analysed for references of upper extremity injuries and findings are discussed in the context of ancient Greek ideas regarding anatomy and physiology, early descriptions and concepts of nervous system, ancient Greek theories concerning illness and disease and the practice of medicine in the preHippocratic era. Sixteen upper extremity trauma was detected and descriptions of injuries sustained by soldiers fighting in the Trojan War represent some of the earliest case histories of brachial plexus trauma.