Humoral theory

The four ‘humours’: Our 2,500-year-old mania for personality types

First suggested in ancient Greece, the four ‘humours’ personality types have shaped how we view ourselves for thousands of years – and still look oddly familiar today. If you’ve ever watched or read Shakespeare’s late 16th-Century play The Taming of the Shrew, you’ll be familiar with the antiquated gender tropes at play. The famous story centres on protagonist Petruchio, who exacts various punishments on his headstrong wife Katherine to transform her into an “ideal” pliant and submissive woman. But modern audiences may be less aware of the diagnosis for Katherine’s intolerable wilfulness: an excess of yellow bile (known as “choler”) rushing in her blood, leading to a stubborn and hot-headed disposition. ….[READ]