Hippocrates | Biography, Works, & Facts

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What does ‘Hippocrates’ mean? The Historiographical Construction of the Greek physician as the ‘Father of Medicine’</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hippocrates" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Encyclopaedia Iranica - Hippocrates</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0251%3Atext%3Dintro" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Perseus Digital Library - A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology - Greek Medicine and Hippocrates</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.academia.edu/61323087/Hippocrates_The_father_of_modern_medicine" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Academia - Hippocrates - The father of modern medicine</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0511-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Nature - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Hippocrates transformed: crafting a Hippocratic discourse of medical semiotics in English, 1850–1930</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://core.ac.uk/reader/236410650" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">CORE - Hippocrates: Philosophy and Medicine</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Hippocrates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">World History Encyclopedia - Hippocrates</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://iep.utm.edu/hippocra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Biography of Hippocrates</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgajpd/medicina%20antiqua/sa_hippint.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">University College London - Hippocrates: The "Greek Miracle" in Medicine</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/hippocrates-0012480" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Ancient Origins - Ancient Greek Physician Hippocrates and the Medical Revolution</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3704070/" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Hippocrates: timeless still</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-title">Britannica Websites</div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-subtitle">Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.</div> <ul class="list-unstyled bps-topic-web-sites lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Hippocrates/353250" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hippocrates - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)</a></li> <li><a class="external" href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Hippocrates/274888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hippocrates - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> <div class="md-byline module-spacing "> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Wesley-D-Smith/5944" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Wesley D. Smith</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Wesley D. Smith</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-21T00:00:00CST" >Nov 21, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hippocrates/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Born: </dt> <dd>c. 460 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, island of Cos, <a href="/place/Greece">Greece</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Died: </dt> <dd>c. 375 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, <a href="/place/Larissa-Greece">Larissa</a>, Thessaly</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Hippocrates"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What did Hippocrates do?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Hippocrates was a much admired physician from the island of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Cos-island-Greece\">Cos<\/a> who taught students for fees. Throughout his life Hippocrates appears to have traveled widely in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Greece\">Greece<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Anatolia\">Asia Minor<\/a> practicing his art and teaching his pupils, and he presumably taught at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/medical-education\">medical school<\/a> at Cos quite frequently." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>Why is Hippocrates famous?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Hippocrates\u2019 reputation, and myths about his life, began to grow in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Hellenistic-Age\">Hellenistic period<\/a>, about a century after his death. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Library-of-Alexandria\">Library of Alexandria<\/a> in Egypt collected medical works from the Classical period, calling them the works of Hippocrates. About 60 of these writings have survived, though most of them were not written by him." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What is Hippocrates remembered for?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/history-of-medicine\">Medical practice<\/a> has advanced significantly since Hippocrates\u2019 day. However, today Hippocrates continues to represent the humane, ethical aspects of the medical profession, mainly through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Hippocratic-oath\">Hippocratic oath<\/a>, although he probably did not write it. The Hippocratic writings, which are earnest in their desire to help and lacking in technical jargon, have inspired physicians for millennia." } } ] } </script> <div class="top-questions qa-accordion d-flex flex-column module-spacing"><div class="font-weight-bold font-14 mb-5"> Top Questions </div><div id="intent-accordion" class="md-intent-accordion"><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="1"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What did Hippocrates do?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>Hippocrates was a much admired physician from the island of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cos-island-Greece" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cos</a> who taught students for fees. Throughout his life Hippocrates appears to have traveled widely in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Greece" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Greece</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Anatolia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Asia Minor</a> practicing his art and teaching his pupils, and he presumably taught at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/medical-education" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">medical school</a> at Cos quite frequently.</p></div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="2"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>Why is Hippocrates famous?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>Hippocrates’ reputation, and myths about his life, began to grow in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hellenistic-Age" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hellenistic period</a>, about a century after his death. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Library-of-Alexandria" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Library of Alexandria</a> in Egypt collected medical works from the Classical period, calling them the works of Hippocrates. About 60 of these writings have survived, though most of them were not written by him.</p></div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="3"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What is Hippocrates remembered for?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/history-of-medicine" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Medical practice</a> has advanced significantly since Hippocrates’ day. However, today Hippocrates continues to represent the humane, ethical aspects of the medical profession, mainly through the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hippocratic-oath" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hippocratic oath</a>, although he probably did not write it. The Hippocratic writings, which are earnest in their desire to help and lacking in technical jargon, have inspired physicians for millennia.</p></div></div></div></div></div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies multiple medialist slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100" data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="11615" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/20/11020-004-E856EAB7/bust-Hippocrates-Roman-original-Greek-Antichita-di.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/266627/11615"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/20/11020-004-E856EAB7/bust-Hippocrates-Roman-original-Greek-Antichita-di.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/20/11020-004-E856EAB7/bust-Hippocrates-Roman-original-Greek-Antichita-di.jpg?w=300" alt="Hippocrates" data-width="207" data-height="300" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/20/11020-004-E856EAB7/bust-Hippocrates-Roman-original-Greek-Antichita-di.jpg" data-href="/media/1/266627/11615">Hippocrates</a><span>Hippocrates, Roman bust copied from a Greek original, c. 3rd century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>; in the collection of the Antichità di Ostia, Italy.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref246035"></span>Hippocrates</strong> (born c. 460 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, island of Cos, Greece—died c. 375 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Larissa-Greece" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Larissa</a>, Thessaly) was an <span id="ref246034"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Greece" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ancient Greek</a> physician who lived during <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Greece" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Greece’s</a> Classical period and is traditionally regarded as the father of <span id="ref246036"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/medicine" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">medicine</a>. It is difficult to isolate the facts of Hippocrates’ life from the later tales told about him or to assess his medicine accurately in the face of centuries of reverence for him as the ideal physician. About 60 medical writings have survived that bear his name, most of which were not written by him. He has been revered for his <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ethical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethical" data-type="MW">ethical</a> standards in medical practice, mainly for the <span id="ref925894"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hippocratic-oath" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hippocratic Oath</a>, which, it is suspected, he did not write.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref3219"><h2 class="h1">Life and works</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">It is known that while Hippocrates was alive, he was admired as a physician and teacher. His younger contemporary <span id="ref246037"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Plato</a> referred to him twice. In the <em><span id="ref246038"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Protagoras-by-Plato" class="md-crosslink ">Protagoras</a></em> Plato called Hippocrates “the Asclepiad of <span id="ref246043"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cos-island-Greece" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cos</a>” who taught students for fees, and he implied that Hippocrates was as well known as a physician as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Polyclitus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Polyclitus</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phidias" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Phidias</a> were as sculptors. It is now widely accepted that an “Asclepiad” was not a temple priest or a member of a physicians’ guild but instead was a physician belonging to a family that had produced well-known physicians for generations. Plato’s second reference occurs in the <em><span id="ref246039"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Phaedrus-dialogue-by-Plato" class="md-crosslink ">Phaedrus</a></em>, in which Hippocrates is referred to as a famous Asclepiad who had a philosophical approach to medicine.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><span id="ref246040"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Meno-Greek-philosopher" class="md-crosslink ">Meno</a>, a pupil of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Aristotle</a>, specifically stated in his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/history-of-medicine" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">history of medicine</a> the views of Hippocrates on the causation of <span id="ref246041"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/human-disease" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">diseases</a>, namely, that undigested residues were produced by unsuitable diet and that these residues excreted vapours, which passed into the body generally and produced diseases. Aristotle said that Hippocrates was called “the Great Physician” but that he was small in stature (<em>Politics</em>).</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/ancient-greece" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/58/159658-131-6562599E/Alexander-the-Great-marble-bust-British-Museum.jpg" alt="Marble bust of Alexander the Great, in the British Museum, London, England. Hellenistic Greek, 2nd-1st century BC. Said to be from Alexandria, Egypt. Height: 37 cm." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Ancient Greece</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">These are the only <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="extant" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extant" data-type="MW">extant</a> contemporary, or near-contemporary, references to Hippocrates. Five hundred years later, the Greek physician <span id="ref246042"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Soranus-of-Ephesus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Soranus</a> wrote a life of Hippocrates, but the contents of this and later lives were largely traditional or imaginative. Throughout his life Hippocrates appears to have traveled widely in Greece and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Anatolia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Asia Minor</a> practicing his art and teaching his pupils, and he presumably taught at the medical school at Cos quite frequently. His birth and death dates are traditional but may well be approximately accurate. Undoubtedly, Hippocrates was a historical figure, a great physician who exercised a permanent influence on the development of medicine and on the ideals and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">ethics</a> of the physician.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Hippocrates’ reputation, and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="myths" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myths" data-type="MW">myths</a> about his life and his family, began to grow in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hellenistic-Age" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hellenistic period</a>, about a century after his death. During this period, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Alexandrian-Museum" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Museum of Alexandria</a> in Egypt collected for its library literary material from preceding periods in celebration of the past greatness of Greece. So far as it can be inferred, the medical works that remained from the Classical period (among the earliest prose writings in Greek) were assembled as a group and called the works of Hippocrates (<em><span id="ref925891"></span>Corpus Hippocraticum</em>). Linguists and physicians subsequently wrote commentaries on them, and, as a result, all the virtues of the Classical medical works were eventually <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="attributed" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/attributed" data-type="EB">attributed</a> to Hippocrates and his personality constructed from them.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The virtues of the Hippocratic writings are many, and, although they are of varying lengths and literary quality, they are all simple and direct, earnest in their desire to help, and lacking in technical jargon and elaborate argument. The works show such different views and styles that they cannot be by one person, and some were clearly written in later periods. Yet all the works of the <em>Corpus</em> share basic assumptions about how the body works and what disease is, providing a sense of the substance and appeal of ancient Greek medicine as practiced by Hippocrates and other physicians of his era. Prominent among these attractive works are the <em><span id="ref925890"></span>Epidemics</em>, which give annual records of weather and associated diseases, along with individual case histories and records of treatment, collected from cities in northern Greece. <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="Diagnosis" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Diagnosis" data-type="MW">Diagnosis</a> and prognosis are frequent subjects. Other <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="treatises" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treatises" data-type="MW">treatises</a> explain how to set <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/fracture-of-bone" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">fractures</a> and treat <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/wound" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">wounds</a>, feed and comfort patients, and take care of the body to avoid illness. Treatises called <em><span id="ref925892"></span>Diseases</em> deal with serious illnesses, proceeding from the head to the feet, giving symptoms, prognoses, and treatments. There are works on diseases of women, childbirth, and pediatrics. Prescribed medications, other than foods and local salves, are generally purgatives to rid the body of the noxious substances thought to cause disease. Some works argue that medicine is indeed a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/science" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">science</a>, with firm principles and methods, although explicit medical theory is very rare. The medicine depends on a mythology of how the body works and how its inner <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/organ-biology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">organs</a> are connected. The <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="myth" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth" data-type="MW">myth</a> is laboriously constructed from experience, but it must be remembered that there was neither systematic research nor dissection of human beings in Hippocrates’ time. Hence, while much of the writing seems wise and correct, there are large areas where much is unknown.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><em>The Embassy</em>, a fictional work that connects Hippocrates’ family with critical events in the history of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cos-island-Greece" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cos</a> and Greece, was included in the original collection of Hippocratic works in the <span id="ref246046"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Library-of-Alexandria" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Library of Alexandria</a>. Over the next four centuries, <em>The Embassy</em> inspired other imaginative writings, including letters between Hippocrates and the Persian king and also the philosopher <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Democritus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Democritus</a>. Though obviously fiction, these works <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="enhanced" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enhanced" data-type="MW">enhanced</a> Hippocrates’ reputation, providing the basis for later biographies and the traditional picture of Hippocrates as the father of medicine. Still other works were added to the Hippocratic <em>Corpus</em> between its first collection and its first scholarly edition around the beginning of the 2nd century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>. Among them were the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hippocratic-oath" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hippocratic Oath</a> and other ethical writings that prescribe principles of behaviour for the physician.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=black-friday-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h3"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref3220"><h2 class="h1">Influence</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="246502" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="video" video-id="215363"><a data-id="215363" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/Top-questions-answers-Hippocrates/-246502"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/215363-138-4D2718AF/Top-questions-answers-Hippocrates.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="Who was Hippocrates?" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/lisxOJ2H.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/63/215363-138-4D2718AF/Top-questions-answers-Hippocrates.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/64RLEjk7", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/qY6bXlON.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="215363">Who was Hippocrates?</span><span>Questions and answers about the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/biography/Hippocrates/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Technical medical science developed in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hellenistic-Age" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hellenistic period</a> and after. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/surgery-medicine" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Surgery</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/pharmacy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">pharmacy</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/anatomy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">anatomy</a> advanced; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/physiology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">physiology</a> became the subject of serious speculation; and philosophic <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="criticism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/criticism" data-type="MW">criticism</a> improved the logic of medical theories. Competing schools in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/medicine" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">medicine</a> (first Empiricism and later Rationalism) claimed Hippocrates as the origin and inspiration of their doctrines. In the 2nd century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>, the physician <span id="ref925893"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Galen" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Galen of Pergamum</a> developed his magnificent medical system, a synthesis of preceding work and his own additions that became the basis of European and Arabic medicine into the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Renaissance</a>. Galen was argumentative and long-winded, often abusive of contemporaries and earlier physicians, but at the same time, with exaggerated reverence that ignored five centuries of progress, he claimed that Hippocrates was the source of all that he himself knew and practiced. For later physicians, Hippocrates stood as the inspirational source, while the more difficult Galen offered the substantial details.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">As time went on, reverence for the past had to contend with new notions of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/scientific-method" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">scientific method</a> and new discoveries. In the process, Galen’s authority was undone, but Hippocrates’ eminence as father of medicine remained. Scientific progress in fields such as anatomy, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/chemistry" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">chemistry</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/microbiology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">microbiology</a>, and microscopy, especially beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries, demanded that Galen’s medicine be criticized and revised part by part. Arguments against Galenic medicine were often more effective when they were presented as returns to true Hippocratic medicine. New scientific <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="methodology" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methodology" data-type="MW">methodology</a> argued for a return to observation and study of nature, abandoning bookish authority. The simple and direct writings of the <span id="ref246044"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hippocratic-Collection" class="md-crosslink ">Hippocratic Collection</a> read well as sample <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="empirical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical" data-type="MW">empirical</a> texts that <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="eschewed" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eschewed" data-type="MW">eschewed</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="dogma" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dogma" data-type="MW">dogma</a>. By the late 19th century, Galen was irrelevant to medical practice, and general knowledge of Hippocratic medical writings was beginning to fade. However, today Hippocrates still continues to represent the humane, ethical aspects of the medical profession.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">A number of idealized images of Hippocrates have survived from antiquity, but none that seems to derive from a contemporary portrait.</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/Wesley-D-Smith/5944">Wesley D. 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Hippocrates | Biography, Works, & Facts | Britannica