Hippocrates and His Legacy | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Hippocrates and His Legacy

Overview

Hippocrates, known as the "Father of Medicine," was a central figure in the medical and philosophical world of Greek antiquity. By rejecting the widely held belief of the time that disease resulted from the disfavor or intervention of the gods, Hippocrates set the stage for Western learned, written medicine. Hippocrates compiled the first written medical library in the fifth century B.C., and is associated with the Hippocratic Oath, a pledge outlining the ethical responsibilities of the physician. As a practicing physician, Hippocrates gained notoriety with his approach to illness. While considering disease as an entity affecting the whole person, Hippocrates replaced superstition with diagnostic observation and treatment. The impact of Hippocratic teaching was widespread in the Western world for over a millennium—first in the students Hippocrates himself trained, and eventually in the work of the famed Roman physician Galen (A.D. 129-c. 216), who sought to perfect the legacy of Hippocrates.

Background

Little is known of Greek medicine before the appearance of texts written in the fifth century B.C. Folk healing was often used, and the healer in turn often summoned help from the gods. Some herbal drug therapies existed. The narratives of Homer give accounts of battle wounds treated with salves.

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