What Is a Human Being?

Name: What Is a Human Being?
Author: John of Damascus

Quid est homo

John of Damascus (c. 645/675–749 AD) · PG 94-96

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Contents4 passages

1Definition of a Human Being and the Four Humors
2Humors shape temperament and age
3Humors, the head's rule, and the brain's parts
4Brain versus marrow, and the four humors and their seats

Author

John of Damascus (c. 645/675–749 AD) — Monk and priest near Jerusalem who left a career at the court of Damascus. He defended the use of icons when the emperors banned them, and his Fount of Knowledge sums up the Greek Fathers' teaching in one ordered book.

All works by John of Damascus

About this text

John of Damascus answers what a human being is, with a short account of the four humors, their seats in the body, temperaments, and stages of life.

John of Damascus, a Christian monk and priest, wrote this letter to an unnamed person who had asked him to explain what a human being is. He was born in Damascus and later lived at the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem, where he was ordained a priest. He wrote in Greek, and this letter is his concise answer to that request.

The letter offers a short account of human nature based on the four elements of the body: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. John explains where each element is seated in the body and what temperament it produces. He also describes how these elements dominate different stages of life, from childhood through old age.

A reader should know that John defines a human being as a rational mortal animal capable of intellect and knowledge. He calls the temple of the head the ruler of the body, and says the brain receives power and thought from the liver, with the soul dwelling in the brain. He also describes the skull's sutures and the brain's membranes, contrasting the brain with marrow. The letter quotes no other speakers and cites no scripture.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 94-96; Quid est homo (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.

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Definition of a Human Being and the Four Humors§1

John of Damascus opens his letter by defining what a human being is and then locating each of the four humors in its bodily seat.

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1A human being is a rational mortal animal, capable of intellect and knowledge. It is composed of four elements: namely, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

Blood has its seat in the heart, and the breath is in the heart as well. Yellow bile is in the liver and in the stomach. Black bile is in the spleen and in the loins. Phlegm is in the brain and in the chest.

Greek · §1

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Humors shape temperament and age§2

John of Damascus is explaining how each of the four humors produces a distinct temperament and dominates a successive stage of human life.

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2Those who happen to be made of pure blood are always cheerful, playful, and laughing. They look fresh and have a fine complexion. Those who happen to be made of yellow bile are quick and bold, irascible, bitter, and have an unusual coloring. Those who happen to be made of black bile are sluggish and faint-hearted, sickly, hesitant, and timid. Those who happen to be made of phlegm are sorrowful and also cold, forgetful and utterly oblivious, sleeping most of the time, and pale-complexioned.

In childhood, blood increases until the age of fourteen. In youth, yellow bile increases until the age of twenty-eight. In the prime of life, black bile increases until the age of forty-two. In old age, phlegm increases until the age of eighty.

Greek · §2

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Humors, the head's rule, and the brain's parts§3

John of Damascus continues his account of the four humors, now linking each to a stage of life and its qualities, then turns to the head as ruler of the body and describes the brain's sutures, membranes, and parts.

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3Children, then, are warm and moist because of blood. Young men are warm and dry because of yellow bile. Those who are full-grown in age are cold and dry because of black bile. Old men are cold and moist because of phlegm. The temple, then, is the ruler of the body. As long as the brain is well settled and healthy, all the limbs of the body are at peace. Power and thought are sent up to the brain from the liver, and the soul itself is there, along with the depth of thoughts. The head has five sutures. There is also a single-sutured head, and it is always healthy. The brain has three membranes: the first is hypozomatias, the second is charakoeides, and the third is...oeides. The brain has three parts: one is kyreboeides, the second is the thitos, and the third is noeros. It is a warm substance.

Greek · §3

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Brain versus marrow, and the four humors and their seats§4

John of Damascus is closing his account of human nature by contrasting the brain with marrow and then restating the four elements and where each humor builds its own place in the body.

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4The brain differs from marrow in being without sorrow and bloodless, while marrow is dirty and full of blood. The human body is composed of four elements, since it contains blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Each of these builds its own place: blood on the right side above the liver, yellow bile on the left side above the spleen, black bile in the loins above the kidneys, and phlegm in the chest above the breath. Blood is warm, moist, and sweet; yellow bile is warm...

Greek · §4

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