Modern Greek Psychiatry was shaped during the 19th century, to a considerable degree by the contributionand the writings of physicians of Greek origin who studied or worked at Universities or Medical Centers abroad.There, they were exposed to the influence of a metabolized form of Ancient Greek medical and philosophicaltradition (along with the advances in medical knowledge of that time). This may be perceived as a counter– loan to match the original loan provided to the West by the medico-philosophical thinking of Ancient Greecethat was “exported” to the West through the scholars who emigrated there following the fall of the ByzantineEmpire in 1453. It is interesting that the mythical figure of the Greek revolution against the Turkish occupation(1820s), General Theodoros Kolokotronis, had a similar opinion about the first part of the above procedure (i.e.the exportation of knowledge from Greece to the West) when he wrote “The scholars and some merchants leftfor Europe and the educated ones enlightened the foreigners with the wisdom of the ancestors”.

G.N. Christodoulou, D.N. Ploumpidis, A. Karavatos (page 193) - Full article