Hippocrates

Hippocrates was a much admired physician from the island of Cos who taught students for fees. Throughout his life Hippocrates appears to have traveled widely in Greece and Asia Minor practicing his art and teaching his pupils, and he presumably taught at the medical school at Cos quite frequently.

Hippocrates’ reputation, and myths about his life, began to grow in the Hellenistic period, about a century after his death. The Library of Alexandria 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.

Medical practice has advanced significantly since Hippocrates’ day. However, today Hippocrates continues to represent the humane, ethical aspects of the medical profession, mainly through the Hippocratic oath, 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.