CHAPTER VII
HIPPOCRATES THE GREAT
Hippocrates was born in 460 B. C. in the city of Cos, on
the island of the same name. Both his father and grandfather
were eminent physicians, descendants of Aesculapius.
On his mother's side he traced his descent from
Hercules. The famous painter, Apelles, also hailed from
the city of Cos. To distinguish Hippocrates from an
earlier individual of the same name he was called
Hippocrates II., or the Great. He is said to have received
his first instruction in medicine at the school of the
Asclepiadae in his native city, but his frequently repeated
and very favorable comments on the teachings of the
Cnidian school[1] have led some to believe that he may have
received a part of his medical training at the latter
institution. At a later period of his life his popularity as
a teacher of medicine, in the school of the Asclepiadae at
Cos, attracted many pupils to that city. In accordance
with a custom which prevailed among the physicians of
ancient Greece, Hippocrates, at the beginning of his
career, spent quite a long time in Athens, and then traveled
about, from one city to another, in the character of a
periodeutic or itinerant physician. In this way, as he
himself reports in some of his writings, he visited Thessaly,
Thrace, the Island of Thasos, Scythia, the countries
bordering on the Black Sea, and even Northern Egypt.
Owing largely to domestic troubles he left his home in
Cos, during the latter part of his career, and removed
to Thessaly. He died about 370 B. C. at Larissa, at an
- ↑ The city of Cnidus was situated very close to the Island of Cos, on a peninsula that projects from the coast of Caria, Asia Minor.
