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by Deno Toulatos, LMT & Peggy A Cambus Toulatos, LMT
Homer, the Greek poet of The Iliad and The Odyssey (story of the Trojan War and
Odysseus long journey home), spoke of the use of nutritious foods, exercise, and
massage for war heroes to promote healing and relaxation.
The Greeks referred to exercise as “ascesis”, based on their belief that an ascete
was a person who exercised his or her body and mind. This was the same principle
as today’s “holistic” health concept of the cultivation of total health of body and mind.
Historically, the Greeks made gymnastics and the regular use of massage part of
their physical fitness rituals.
Greek women participated in gymnastics and dancing, and used massage as part of
their health and beauty regimens.
Greek physician Herodicus of the 5th Century B.C. prolonged the lives of many of his
patients by having them massaged with beneficial herbs and oils.
Hippocrates (460 – 380 B.C.), a pupil of Herodicus, later became known as the father
of medicine. His code of ethics for physicians, the Hippocratic oath, is still in use
today. Hippocrates described “anatripsis” –- “rubbing up” as having a more
favorable effect than rubbing down on limbs (remarkable in that the understanding of
circulation was incomplete at that time).
Herodotus, the father of history, wrote of the benefits of massage.
Asclepiades, a Greek physician of the 2nd Century B.C., is said to have
recommended therapeutic massage and exercises for athletes and gladiators before
contests and as a relief from fatigue or injuries that often followed.
In the 21st century, Deno & Peggy Toulatos continue the tradition by promoting
health & vitality through massage therapy.