PODCAST: Hippocrates - the father of Medicine
Over the summer I am committed to try and produce less but consume more history! This means reading the books in my rather towering to-read pile, trying to watch some documentaries, seeing some more historical sites, and listening to a load of the great podcasts out there.
With history-podcasts you are often at the whim of the presenter or producers when it comes to the accuracy and validity of the history being spouted. So I find myself more frequently listening to interviews with experts more than anything else. The latest one ties in with a new obsession of mine - playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, a video game that came out many years ago but I have never had the time to play. The game is set in ancient Greece, during the 5th century BC. So, as you follow the story line you get to meet some of the most famous figures from the ancient world! What’s not to love.
One such figure is Hippocrates, the so-called Father of Medicine. He forms part of the main story line for a brief period before appearing sporadically during side quests. Now, I studied my undergraduate degree under the guidance of one of the world’s leading experts in Hippocrates and his legacy, Prof. Helen King, so anytime I see Hippocrates in the popular market I take an interest.
While his is a name many of us know, and his influence on European medical traditions is often flaunted (like the so-called Hippocratic Oath), it may surprise you to know just how little we actually know about him. We are not even sure how many of his works are authentically his! In terms of contemporary evidence, we have very little about him - except for a couple of passages in the writings of Plato which suggests that he was quite famous and that he charged people who wished to train under him. The latter of which sounds perfectly reasonable if you ask me.
His story in the history books is all the more interesting because it is not really about him, it is about what other people made of him. How his name was, and still is, assigned as a way of adding authority and even gravitas to a medical idea - from the inspired to the downright bizarre. Helen wrote a fantastic book exploring Hippocrates through time, and if you are interested in how his name has been used by both standard medicine and alternative medicine advocates, definitely give it a look by clicking here (it is FREE!!!).
Or you can listen to her talk about everything we really know about Hippocrates, and a whole lot more, here on the Echoes of History Podcast. It is a great interview and filled with fascinating stories as well as snippets of medical history - which are always interesting!