Trauma management in Homer's Iliad

Homer's Iliad is one of the highest intellectual products of the early ancient Greek civilisation. A plethora of medical information lies within Iliad's 24 rhapsodies, and a total of 147 injuries are described. The present study records and evaluates all cases of trauma management included in this epic poem. Not only Iliad's original text but also all myths related to Iliad from the five-volume Greek Mythology by Ioannis Kakridis were meticulously studied to locate the injured person, the type of trauma, the care provider and the type of given care as well as the outcome of each case. A total of 21 cases were found and evaluated with a 5% mortality rate. The majority of these injuries were caused by an arrow (43%) and were located to the upper extremity (43%). Injuries of the head, neck and trunk were not treated as all of them were lethal. Many of the recorded trauma management techniques can be correlated to modern medicine. Furthermore, the role and skills of military doctors and paramedics, mentioned by Homer, is discussed.