There’s plenty we can learn from the ancient Greeks. Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, is still being taught in schools some 3,000 years on, and it has inspired perhaps the biggest blockbuster movie of this year. But there’s wisdom to be found in their approach to everyday life, too. Today we talk often about the Mediterranean lifestyle, with countless studies pointing to its benefits for our health, but the ancient Greeks had their own philosophy for living well, and hygieia was at its heart.
Hygieia was the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness (hence the word “hygiene”), and the preservation of wellbeing. She represents a kind of wellbeing derived from completeness and contentment in body, mind and spirit. While her father, Asclepius, was the god of medicine and associated with treating illness, Hygieia represented staying well in the first place. It’s an idea traditional western healthcare hasn’t always excelled at – we tend to wait until health declines before addressing it – but the rise of the longevity movement has brought the concept of prevention over cure back into focus for a modern audience.
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While the various biohacking protocols that permeate social media can help us optimise our health, they can also feel rather overwhelming. As someone who loves a health treatment – from acupuncture to lymphatic drainage massage – there are still times when I find the worrying about what stress is doing to my body more stressful than the stress itself.
Which is why I find it easy to get on board with the hygieia philosophy. The ancient Greeks honoured the goddess at healing sanctuaries known as asklepieia – places where they would walk in nature, bathe in mineral-rich waters, rest, have massages, take herbal remedies and generally restore themselves physically and mentally. These were simple rituals, but the benefits they delivered were profound.
Of course, there’s no better (or easier) time to embrace this philosophy than when on holiday – and bonus points if you’re in Greece itself. A growing number of hotels there are drawing on these ancient principles, marrying picturesque sea views with treatments inspired by classical rituals, to create a slower, more restorative approach to wellbeing.
Take Cape Sounio, a hotel on the Athens Riviera around an hour’s drive from the city. Overlooking the Temple of Poseidon – where, according to mythology, King Aegeus threw himself into the sea, giving the Aegean its name – the hotel is home to a holistic wellness programme created by healer-to-the-stars Vicky Vlachonis, who works with Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. Born in Athens and now based in Los Angeles, she has developed bespoke treatment protocols that combine somatic movement, massage, breathwork and time in nature – and they are very good.
