Hippocratic Writings (Penguin Classics)

This is a great collection of Hippocratic writings. After 350 pages or so, the reader has a strong sense of ancient Greek medicine. To be honest, the material is often incredible boring, but this is a matter of the original subject matter, not the translation. For example, there are often lists and lists of plague victims or very specific medical aphorisms. Occasional footnotes supplement the readings. The introduction is well-done.

For a book compiled in the 4th/3rd centuries B.C. it is interesting (but not surprising) how relevant this book remains, for sickness and the effort to heal are enduring aspects of the human condition. "The Oath" at the beginning sets out some basic precepts, including: "I will not give a fatal draught to anyone if I am asked, nor will I suggest such a thing. Neither will I give a woman means to procure an abortion." "I will be chaste and religious in my life and in my practice." There is an interesting idea here about the link between cooking and medicine. Early humans realized that they could not eat the same raw/uncooked foods as animals without getting sick, so they started cooking and making their diet more palatable in order to improve their health. Some things have clearly changed: "Although the art of healing is the most noble of all the arts, yet, because of the ignorance both of its professors and of their rash critics, it has at this time fallen into the least repute of them all." The greater significance of this work is as a contribution to science; a triumph of empiricism over superstition, the notion that logical observation could be brought to bear on healing rather than a primary reliance on folk medicine or strange ritual.

This work is a sampling of the Hippocratic Corpus, a collection of ancient Greek medical works. Hippocrates himself may have written some, but certainly not all, of the texts. The collection spans centuries and contains slightly differing views. This makes for a fuller picture of ancient Greek medicine. As one reads through the book, the reader gets a real sense of the medical theories and "facts" of the time. A majority of Hippocratic Writings is concerned with internal medicine and diseases. At the beginning, and interspersed throughout, there are discussions on the philosophy of being a physician. There is a large section about how to treat limb fractures, and the section called The Nature of Man describes the physiological theories of the time. The book ends with a discussion of embryology and a brief anatomical description of the heart. The work is not too difficult to read and seems to be very well translated. The large introduction to the book serves well to place the setting of the book and understand a bit of the translation. A Glossary of Names appears in the back. This seems to serve more as an academic reference as it is not necessary to refer to it as one reads the book. Along with the general index, there is the Supplementary Index to Medical Treatises. This index lists instances within Hippocratic Writings that, in the context of current medical knowledge, describes some now more commonly known medical conditions and diseases. Some knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and ancient Greek scientific philosophy are helpful in reading the book.