Physician · 460 BC – 370 BC
Hippocrates
Key Takeaways
- Hippocrates is traditionally called the father of Western medicine.
- He taught that diseases have natural causes, not divine or magical ones.
- He emphasized careful observation, diet and the body's own healing.
- The Hippocratic Oath, still echoed today, bears his name.
Hippocrates of Kos is honored as the father of medicine. In the classical Greece of Socrates, he transformed healing from a matter of priests and omens into a rational discipline grounded in observation.
Disease has natural causes
Hippocrates’ central insight was simple but revolutionary: illnesses arise from natural causes, not the anger of gods. He and his school watched their patients closely, recorded symptoms and outcomes, and emphasized rest, diet and the body’s own power to heal.
Ethics and the Oath
With medicine came responsibility. The Hippocratic Oath, associated with his school, bound physicians to act for their patients’ benefit and to do no harm — an ethical foundation still invoked, in revised form, by doctors today.
Legacy
Though much of the surviving Hippocratic Corpus was written by his followers, the ideal Hippocrates embodied — the observant, ethical physician — shaped Western medicine for more than two thousand years, alongside the empirical spirit of Aristotle.
Influence
Hippocrates separated medicine from superstition and gave it an ethical and observational foundation that shaped Western medicine for over two thousand years.
Legacy
His name endures in the Hippocratic Oath and in the ideal of the ethical, observant physician; he is honored as the father of medicine.
Major Works
- The Hippocratic Corpus (school writings)
Controversies
- Many works in the Hippocratic Corpus were written by others; the historical Hippocrates is hard to disentangle from his school.
Notable Quotes
“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.”
Connections
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Hippocrates?
Hippocrates (c. 460–370 BC) was a Greek physician regarded as the father of Western medicine, who established it as a rational discipline and inspired the Hippocratic Oath.
Why is Hippocrates important?
He taught that diseases have natural causes and should be treated through observation and ethics, founding the tradition of scientific, ethical medicine.
Citations & Sources
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