Medical science and the need for the treatment of diseases and injuries, is as old as human history. Thisresearch aims to identify and study the first registered shoulder replacementin Ancient Greek Mythology.After a review of literature, the texts that referred to the myth of Pelops’ ivory shoulder were identifiedand analysed, as were the texts which contain the first citation for shoulder replacementin the prehistoricera.
The various versions of the legend of Pelops ivory shoulder provide evidence of peoples desire for surgical operations in early history. The surgery was so difcult from its nature that it required help from the Gods, a divine intervention. There existed a belief among ancient Greeks about the medicinal virtues which the bone possessed . The myth of Pelops is symbolic and suggesting that even in the primitive human the need for medical treatment existed and the Gods were called upon to do their duty to save man.
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According to one writer, the ivory was made by Demeter . According to another reference, Pelops ivory shoulder replacement was made for him by Hephaestus . Hephaestus made an ivory shoulder and replaced the missing of esh with the ivory. The articial ivory bone inserted into Pelops shoulder was passed on to (cid:11)(cid:5)(cid:2)(cid:11)(cid:13) his future generations ((cid:5) (cid:3)(cid:5)(cid:14)(cid:13) (cid:15)(cid:12)(cid:13) those descended from Pelops have such a shoul(cid:6)(cid:8) (cid:3) (cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9) (cid:10)(cid:6)(cid:11)(cid:6)(cid:4)(cid:12)(cid:3)(cid:13)(cid:5) (cid:11)(cid:13)
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(cid:3) (cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9) has a tremendous impact, due to the fact that there were no technical capabilities (surgery room, etc) and medical tools, the primitive man realized that he had to develop medicine, initially as magic, then as an art and nally as a science. The severity and difculty of the procedure was so serious that it required divine intervention. The presence of the Gods in such a difcult surgery is symbolic, the hero Pelops is made whole again from Gods volition, from divine intervention.
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The legend of K(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6) der Heyne, 1807: Schol. Olymp. 1, 38) . According to the study, the only reliant depiction of the myth is illustrated in an Etruscan mirror, which is cited in the museum of Louvre . The right side of the mirror depicts a cauldron from which a young naked man, Pelops, is emerging . Pelops after divine intervention replaced his ivory shoulder and is whole and healthy again. Taking the above under consideration, the ancient writers, referring to the myth of Pelops cutting up (Greek: K(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6) (cid:3) (cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)), provide the indications of the rst shoulder replacement in Greek Mythology. Feldman (2006) supports the thesis that Demeter created a splendid ivory replacement for Pelops, thereby atoning for her sin and accomplishing the rst shoulder arthroplasty . 6. Conclusion
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