How Two Greek Gods Can Completely Change the Way You Look At Your Health

by Darrin on July 28, 2010

“The human body is a deeply flawed object. Without caloric restriction and an hour a day of physical exercise, it will quickly accumulate fat and lose muscle mass. It is highly susceptible to injury and illness, and will likely require operations and medication in order to fix these maladies as they occur. In order to help prevent this, you must seek out supplements and enriched foods, plus spend long hours in the gym.”

“The human body is as close to a perfect piece of machinery as you’ll ever find. Over generations upon generations, it has helped us to survive and reproduce successfully. It does a remarkable job at curing diseases and healing injuries all by itself. It is an elaborate homeostatic system that resists changes to body composition, which is largely determined by hormonal factors. The best kind of food you can eat is the type you have evolved to eat, and the best kind of exercise you can do is that which you have evolved to do.”

A Physician and a Hippie? Or a Couple of Greek Gods?

The first paragraph is the sort of thing that Asclepius would say, the second, something that Hygeia would.

What? Who are these two people and what’s with the goofy names?

Actually, they aren’t people at all, but two ancient Greek gods of physical health. While Asclepius specialized in working against nature when injury, illness, and even death seemed inevitable, Hygeia worked with the laws of nature to ensure optimal health in the first place.

But you wouldn’t be mistaken to think that the first paragraph came from a physician or anyone else with strong faith in the mainstream paradigm of health, fitness, and wellness, while the second came from a hippie or someone who advocates natural or preventive medicine.

Myths and Archetypes

I’m putting my geekiness out in the open here, but I am a HUGE fan of the Greek myths. (The Iliad is still one of my favorite books.) But instead of believing that things such as Asclepian vs Hygeian medicine are good for entertainment only, I think they can be used to understand some important issues regarding physical health.

One of my favorite authors is Joseph Campbell, who spent his life studying the myths of all world cultures. He came to one startling conclusion: all these myths seemed to be different versions of the ones found in different cultures, even when they developed during times when these groups had no way to communicate with one another! This suggested that Jung’s idea of the collective unconscious was indeed real, and that myths are spontaneous manifestations of our unconscious drives.

Here’s a video on how the creators of The Matrix were able to take Campbell’s teachings to connect with millions of people and become filthy, stinking rich in the process:

The Physician-Centered Culture

Okay, that’s some heavy ivory-tower stuff, but how do we learn from these archetypes and apply them to our lives?

Our society is heavily biased towards the Asclepius mentality while only the “weirdos” seem to embrace the Hygeian. We seem to place doctors in an exalted position and assume that the way to true health lies in following every suggestion they make.

I want to be clear in one thing: I have nothing but the utmost respect for the medical profession. Without physicians, our lifespans would still probably average around 30 – 40 years. Doctors have drastically eliminated most of the preagricultural causes of death, such as infant mortality, poisoning, and physical trauma.

That being said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and when it comes to the Neolithic diseases of civilization, physicians are much more adept at curing them once they already happen rather than preventing them in the first place.

Enter the “Hippies”

Look, I understand there’s a lot of weird stuff out there when it comes to alternative medicine. (Crystals? Really?) But it’s important to realize that we are the successful survivors of eons of brute force at the unyielding hands of evolution. As such, it is far more accurate to think of the human body as an *ahem* Lean, Mean, Virile Machine rather than a Fat, Sick, Broken Piece of Damaged Goods.

Beyond the weird “woo woo” stuff you’ll find some smart people who are interested in using the body’s natural defenses to stave off illness and injury, which it is quite adept at doing. Most cultures are much healthier than Americans, even when they have no access to medical professionals. They seem to intuitively live in a way that is more harmonious with nature’s laws than we do.

Applying the Lessons of Asclepius and Hygeia

And so, fellow Spartans (to keep the Greek theme going), I believe that it is best to follow a Hygeian outlook towards health, fitness, and wellness, while remaining receptive to the Asclepian philosophy in times of emergency.

In other words: take 100% responsibility for your health. Make it your goal to continually become more attractive, boost your status, have more energy, and live longer. Try to prevent illness and injury in every way, but should things get rough, know that the medical profession can work miracles that would have been unfathomable even 100 years ago.

{ 6 comments }

Kelly July 28, 2010 at 3:27 pm

Darrin,
Great post as usual! I actually believe in a lot of the so called woo-woo stuff. I am not dumb enough to think that you can sit in a room and visualize a million dollars falling in your lap, and it will suddenly appear. I do believe that your mind is very powerful though. I think that when it comes to healing, the body and mind are incredible at it.

What you think about and your attitude towards it will definitely make a difference in the outcome. I have been a big fan of the Sedona Method, meditaion, and EFT for years. It may seem silly for some, but I really feel better when I can quiet my mind and relax for even a few minutes a day.

I own a brick and mortar business that I started 11 years ago, besides my blog. I have always been successful with it and have had more than enough business through the years. Even when the economy went down, I still stayed steady. I attribute a lot of it from thinking about my goals and visualizing what I want the outcome to be each day.

I think that when it comes to health and fitness, thinking about what you want your body to be like, can work just the same. I don’t think that it will always be the miracle cure for any disease but It definitely won’t hurt either. What do you think?

Darrin July 28, 2010 at 8:37 pm

@Kelly:
When it comes to who we are and what makes our lives what they are, there are three different types of people:
1. Those who think that we are a product of our genes and that our destiny is sealed at birth. (See: Freud)
2. Those who think that we are a product of our environment and upbringing. (See: B.F. Skinner, Pavlov)
3. Those who think that we are a product of our thoughts and our own free will. (See: The Secret, Napoleon Hill, etc)

People tend to fall down hard into one of these three camps and think that the other two are completely out of touch, but I haven’t yet met anyone (or read anything by anyone) that thinks that ALL THREE play a major role! (Which is my belief, BTW.)

The great thing about taking 100% responsibility for your life is that you never feel like a “victim,” you always feel like you have the power to change things for the better. Unfortunately, some people have taken this to mean that everything bad that has happened in a person’s life is their fault due to their conscious decisions, which is BS.

I am a big fan of things such as meditation, EFT, and NLP as well, not because I think I can just sit on my ass and think myself to success, but I know I can empower myself to take action in the world. It sounds like it’s worked great for you, man! Happy to hear about your successes! 🙂

Unfortunately, I think that most people put the “woo woo” label on too many things, which is why I referred to it as such in this post. For example, most people think that our teeth are destined to decay no matter what, and the only way to stop this is to brush our teeth with toothpaste twice a day and floss once a day. (Asclepian philosophy) But when you look at traditional hunter-gatherer societies who live in accordance with the laws of nature (food, exercise, fun, etc.) they rarely get cavities even though they never brush or floss! (Hygeian philosophy)

Whew, good comment my man, you got me really into this one! Haha.

FitXcel July 29, 2010 at 6:13 am

I love the Greek myths, too! In fact, my tattoos are all related to them. But anyway, you’re absolutely right. I loved this post.

-Drew

Raymond - ZenMyFitness July 29, 2010 at 12:19 pm

haha… I love Greek myths too my favourite is Homer’s The Illiad and Odyssey, Virgil’s the Aeneid etc. .. I have the symbol of Zeus on my arm Movie Troy was pretty cool with again Brad Pitt looking so fit again…. anyways … Power of the mind stuff to change outcomes? remember the popularity of the book ” The Secret” very similar ideas as you mention in fact Vince Delmonte talks about it in his No Nonsense Muscle Building Program…but back to Crete …Actually the Greek God’s body is exactly how I would like to look
Raymond

Darrin July 30, 2010 at 7:00 am

@Raymond:
I still have to read the Aeneid, but it’s on the list. Good to see I’m not the only fan of Greek mythology here!

Fred Pret November 4, 2010 at 12:26 am

Great blog man! Keep it up!

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