Hippocratic Corpus

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The Hippocratic Corpus (Latin: Corpus Hippocraticum), Hippocratic Collection, or Hippocratic Canon, is a collection of around seventy early medical works from ancient Greece strongly associated with the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates and his teachings. They are, however, varied in content, age and style, and are largely of dubious authorship. Of the volumes in the Corpus, none is proven to be of Hippocrates's hand itself, though some sources say otherwise. Instead, the works were probably produced by students and followers of his (Ermerins numbers the authors at nineteen) , maybe centuries after he died. Because of the variety of subjects, writing styles and apparent date of construction, scholars believe it could not have been written by one person. But the corpus carries Hippocrates's name as it was attributed to him in antiquity and its teaching generally follow principles of his. It might be the remains of a library of Kos, or a collection compiled in the third century B.C. in Alexandria. It was not, however, only the Koan school of ancient Greek medicine that contributed to the Corpus; the Knidian did, too.

Content

The Hippocratic Corpus contains textbooks, lectures, research, notes and philosophical essays on various subjects in medicine, in no particular order. These works were written for different audiences, both specialists and laymen, and were sometimes written from opposing view points; significant contradictions can be found between works in the Corpus. One significant portion of the corpus is made up of case-histories, of which there are forty-two. Of these, 60% (25) ended in the patient's death. Nearly all of the diseases described in the Corpus are endemic diseases: colds, consumption, pneumonia, etc.

Style

The writing style of the Corpus has been remarked upon for centuries, being described by some as, "clear, precise, and simple" . It is often praised for its objectivity and concisesness, yet some have criticised it as being "grave and austere". Francis Adams, a translator of the Corpus, goes further and calls it sometimes “obscure”. Of course, not all of the Corpus is of this “laconic” style, though most of it is. It was Hippocratic practice to write in this style. The whole corpus is written in Ionic Greek, though the island of Kos was in a region that spoke Doric Greek. This use of Ionic instead of the native Doric dialect is analogous to the practice of Renaissance scientists, using Latin instead of the vernacular for their treatises.

Printed editions

The entire Hippocratic Corpus was first printed as a unit in 1525. This edition was in Latin and was edited by Marcus Fabius Calvus in Rome. The first complete Greek edition followed the next year in Venice. An English translation was first published about 300 years later. A significant edition was that of Émile Littré who spent twenty-two years (1839-1861) working diligently on the Hippocratic Corpus. This was scholarly, yet sometimes inaccurate and awkward. Another edition of note was that of Franz Z. Ermerins, published in Utrecht between 1859 and 1864. Beginning in 1967, an important modern edition by Jacques Jouanna and others began to appear (with Greek text, French translation, and commentary) in the Collection Budé. Other important bilingual annotated editions (with translation in German or French) continue to appear in the Corpus medicorum graecorum published by the Akademie-Verlag in Berlin.

The Oath

The most famous work in the Hippocratic corpus is the Hippocratic Oath, a landmark declaration of doctoral ethics. The Hippocratic Oath is both philosophical and practical; it not only deals with abstract principles but practical matters such as removing stones and aiding one's teacher financially. It is a complex and probably not the work of one man. Though it is of unknown origin, like many other works from the time period, it is included in the Corpus and named after Hippocrates for historic tradition. Indeed, this short work has become a very important work in the history of medicine. Traditionally, it has been taken at the beginning of a doctor's career, perhaps to medical school graduates. Because of its antiquity, however, the Oath is rarely taken in its original form today. But, it does serve as a foundation for other, similar oaths and laws that define good medical practice and morals; derivatives of which are still taken.

List of Works of the Corpus

#The Prognostics
    #On Airs, Waters, and Places #On Regimen in Acute Diseases. #The Aphorisms #The Epidemics #On the Articulations #On Fractures #On the Instruments of Reduction #The Hippocratic Oath #On Ancient Medicine #On Fractures #The Instruments of Reduction #The Physicians Establishment or Surgery'' #On Injuries of the Head #The Law #On the Nature of Man #Regimen of Presons in Health #The Coan Praenotions #Prorrhetics
  1. Of Ulcers
  2. Of Fistulae
  3. Of Hemorrhoids
  4. Of the Pneuma
  5. Of the Sacred Disease
  6. Of the Places in Man
  7. Of Art
  8. Of Regimen, and of Dreams
  9. Of Affections
  10. Of Internal Affections
  11. Of Diseases
  12. Of the Seventh Month Foetus
  13. Of the Eighth Month Foetus
  14. On the Surgery
  15. On Generation
  16. On the Nature of the Infant
  17. On the Diseases of Women
  18. On the Diseases of Young Women
  19. On Unfruitful Women
  20. On Superfoetation
  1. On the Heart
  2. On Ailment
  3. On Fleshes
  4. On the Weeks
  5. On the Glands
  6. On the Nature of Bones
  7. On the Physician
  8. On Honorable Conduct
  9. Precepts
  10. On Anatomy
  11. On the Sight
  12. On Dentition
  13. On the Nature of the Woman
  14. On the Excision of the Foetus
  15. On Crisis
  16. On Critical Days
  17. On Purgative Medicines
  18. On dangerous Wounds (lost)
  19. On Missiles and Wounds(lost)


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