Hippocrates
The most famous doctor in history may be as much a symbol as a person, and the oath with his name on it probably is not his.
By Greg Goodwin · Published October 17, 2026 · Updated October 24, 2026
Cheat Sheet
- Dates: born c. 460 BCE on Kos (Cos); death usually given as c. 375 BCE, though some sources say c. 377 BCE.
- Title: traditionally called the "father of medicine."
- Corpus size: about 60 medical writings bear his name, and most were not written by him.
- Early mentions: Plato and Aristotle both refer to him in their own works.
- Humors: the four fluids of the Hippocratic tradition were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.
- Oath myth: the Oath does not explicitly contain the phrase "First, do no harm."
The 60-Second Version
Hippocrates was a Greek physician from the island of Kos who lived in the 5th century BCE, and tradition calls him the father of medicine. He was admired in his own lifetime as a doctor and teacher, and Plato and Aristotle both mention him. Beyond that, the documented facts are thin. Most of what people attribute to him comes from the Hippocratic Corpus, roughly sixty ancient medical texts that he almost certainly did not write in full; several authors contributed, probably over centuries. The collection is celebrated for favoring careful observation and natural explanations of disease over appeals to the gods, and for covering topics from surgery to ethics. The Hippocratic Oath is part of that collection, but scholars suspect he did not write it. So the real story is a historical figure, a school of medicine, and a powerful legend woven together.
The Long Version
What We Can Say About the Man
Britannica gives Hippocrates' birth as about 460 BCE on the island of Kos and his death as about 375 BCE at Larissa in Thessaly, although other sources give a slightly different death date, so treat these as approximate. During his lifetime he was admired as a physician and teacher. Plato mentions him in the Phaedrus, where Socrates' companion says Hippocrates the Asclepiad held that even the nature of the body can only be understood as a whole. Aristotle also mentions him, and Aristotle's student Meno recounts his ideas about the causes of disease. The National Library of Medicine adds a caution: virtually nothing is known of the first physician named Hippocrates, and there are thought to have been several teachers by that name at Kos's famous medical school.
The Hippocratic Corpus
The writings that carry his name were assembled for the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. About 60 survive, covering anatomy, clinical subjects, diseases of women and children, prognosis, treatment, surgery, and medical ethics. Scholars assume several authors wrote them, probably spread over several centuries, and different treatises sometimes give contradictory advice. That is why historians speak of Hippocratic medicine, a body of ideas and practice, rather than attributing every text to one individual. When someone quotes "Hippocrates" on a medical point, it is usually a work from this corpus rather than a documented statement by the man himself.
A New Way of Thinking
What made the Hippocratic tradition influential was its approach. The NLM describes a turning away from divine explanations toward observation of the body as the basis of medical knowledge. Prayer and sacrifice did not hold a central place in the theories; diet, beneficial drugs, and keeping the body in balance did. Central to the physiology was the humoral theory: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile were thought to need balance, and illness arose when they fell out of balance, sometimes treated by bloodletting or purging. Modern medicine has long since discarded the humors, but the commitment to observing the body and anticipating how an illness will unfold remains admired.
The Oath, Handled With Care
The Hippocratic Oath is perhaps the best-known Greek medical text. In it a new physician swears by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea to keep professional standards, to benefit patients, to avoid harm and injustice, to keep confidences, and to honor and support his own teacher. Britannica says it is suspected Hippocrates did not write it, and the NLM notes it was rewritten often over the centuries to suit different cultures. Two common beliefs are wrong. Most modern medical schools do not require it, though some use modernized versions, and the original does not explicitly contain the line "First, do no harm."
Afterlife of a Legend
Hippocrates' reputation grew as later physicians built on his ideas. Galen, born in 129 CE and physician to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, took the humors and pathology of the Hippocratic tradition and expanded them, and Galen's authority dominated Western medicine for centuries. After the fall of Rome many Greek medical works were lost in Western Europe, and they returned through Arabic manuscripts and Byzantine scholars. Soon after printing arrived in the 1450s, the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius (1452-1516) began issuing early editions of Hippocrates in the original Greek. By then, the name stood for an ideal of ethical, observant medicine as much as for any single man.
Why People Care
Hippocrates is shorthand for the ideal that medicine should rest on observation and ethics rather than superstition, and his name still graces the oath many doctors recite. Knowing the real history, including how much is legend, helps you spot popular myths, like the famous line he never wrote.
Glossary
- Hippocratic Corpus
- The collection of about 60 ancient medical texts attributed to Hippocrates, probably written by several authors over centuries.
- Hippocratic Oath
- An ancient Greek medical text in which a new physician swears to uphold professional ethics, though it is suspected Hippocrates did not write it.
- Humoral theory
- The idea that health depends on balance among four bodily fluids.
- Asclepiad
- A member of a healing clan claiming descent from Asclepius, such as the physicians of Kos.
- Prognosis
- A prediction of how an illness will develop, one of the topics covered in the Hippocratic writings.
Go Deeper
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