Who Was Hippocrates?

The Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos, often known as Hippocrates II, lived during the Age of Pericles (460 - 370 BC). Hippocrates, widely referred to as the "Father of Medicine," was an eminent healer in the ancient Greek world. Hippocrates was the original founder of an educational institution called the Hippocratic School of Medicine. This school was special because it, along with Hippocrates, revolutionized the ideas behind medical reason. Medicine was no longer to be studied under the umbrella of philosophy, but rather its own profession entirely.

Hippocrates: Biography

Hippocrates was born on the island of Cos in Greece around 460 BC. It was rumored that Hippocrates' family line descended from the Greek god of medicine. During his younger years, he is said to have traveled extensively around the Mediterranean, picking up medical knowledge everywhere he visited. Democritus, who popularized the notion that matter is composed of indivisible atoms in Greek civilization, could have served as a teacher to him. He eventually made his way back to Cos, where he established his medical school. In a society where superstition and unsophisticated medicine were the norm, Hippocrates and his supporters devised a logical method of treating illness. Hippocrates disregarded mythical justifications for sickness. A lot of information on Hippocrates is derived from legend and the one and only source on his life entitled, "The Life of Hippocrates" written by Soranus of Ephesus. Hippocrates was the first person to realize that sickness was a direct cause of nature and not a consequence or punishment inflicted by the "gods." 

Hippocrates and Science

The amount of recorded evidence for how medicine was dealt with in ancient Greece is quite sparse. However, it is understood that before Hippocrates, any healing that did occur was a result of ancient mysticism and lacked a proper medical basis. The general population of Greece during this time did not believe in medical practice. Most often, ailments would be brought to the temple to request healing for the god Asclepios. This is the same god that Hippocrates' family was rumored to have descended from later on in time. As a result of the school's success in establishing the legitimacy of its medical practice, that is how Hippocrates became renownedly known as the "Father of Medicine." He distinguished between the study of medicine and religion, contending that illness was a result of one's environment, nutrition, and lifestyle rather than a punishment meted out by the gods.

The Hippocratic School of Medicine

The word hippocratic is defined as relating to Hippocrates or to the school of medicine that took his name. The seventy-two manuscripts that make up the Corpus Hippocraticum are where we learn what we do about Hippocrates' medical theories. Unable to dissect humans to learn more about anatomy, Hippocrates had limited resources than today to learn about disease. Hippocratic medicine was influenced by the Pythagorean belief that the body is made up of four fluids or "humors," in an analogous manner to how nature is made up of four elements (water, earth, wind, and fire) (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood). The doctor had to help "benevolent Nature" do its therapeutic work in order to restore the proper balance of these humors. Hippocrates believed that depending on how you were living your daily life, these humors could become unbalanced, thus causing disease.

Hippocrates did, however, hold several beliefs, such as Humorism, that are now recognized to be founded on faulty anatomy and physiology. The oath that Hippocrates is most famous for, "the Hippocratic Oath", was presumably composed in its original form by him or one of his followers. The oath includes mainly a declaration of medical ethics and a commitment to uphold them while they finish their training alongside him. This oath is still taken very seriously by medical professionals today. Hippocrates also wanted his students to understand the connection between practicing medicine and having empathy for their patients.

Hippocrates and the Medicine of Today

Medical students entering the medical profession for the first time are still required to recite a version of the Hippocratic Oath. It has been modified in today's age with some changes that include modern problems and knowledge. It is a symbolic tribute to the work of Hippocrates all those years ago. Hippocrates believed that things in nature had the ability to heal our ailments. Therefore, it was the physician's job to educate his/her patients and show them how to use nature to heal. While this is a little different than how western medicine is used today, Hippocrates did discover that the egg and sperm both played equal parts in reproduction, which is a relevant concept to today's medicine.