Hippocrates, Volume XI: Diseases of Women 1–2

by Hippocrates

This is the eleventh and final volume in the Loeb Classical Library’s complete edition of Hippocrates’ invaluable texts, which provide essential information about the practice of medicine in antiquity and about Greek theories concerning the human body. Here, Paul Potter presents the Greek text with facing English translation of Diseases of Women 1 and 2, which represent the most extensive accounts in the Hippocratic collection of female reproductive life, the pathological conditions affecting the female reproductive organs, and their proper terminology and recommended treatments. A lexicon of therapeutic agents is included for reference.

The works available in the Loeb Classical Library edition of Hippocrates

Volume Ancient Medicine. Airs, Waters, Places. Epidemics 1 and 3. The Oath. Precepts. Nutriment.
Volume Prognostic. Regimen in Acute Diseases. The Sacred Disease. The Art. Breaths. Law. Decorum. Physician (Ch. 1). Dentition.
Volume On Wounds in the Head. In the Surgery. On Fractures. On Joints. Mochlicon.
Volume Nature of Man. Regimen in Health. Humours. Aphorisms. Regimen 1–3. Dreams.
Volume Affections. Diseases 1–2.
Volume Diseases 3. Internal Affections. Regimen in Acute Diseases.
Volume Epidemics 2 and 4–7.
Volume Places in Man. Glands. Fleshes. Prorrhetic 1–2. Physician. Use of Liquids. Ulcers. Haemorrhoids and Fistulas.
Volume Anatomy. Nature of Bones. Heart. Eight Months’ Child. Coan Prenotions. Crises. Critical Days. Superfetation. Girls. Excision of the Fetus. Sight.
Volume Generation. Nature of the Child. Diseases 4. Nature of Women. Barrenness.

528 pages, Hardcover

Published November 13, 2018

About the author

Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC) was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, and was considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is referred to as the "father of medicine" in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic School of medicine. This intellectual school revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece, establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields that it had traditionally been associated with (notably theurgy and philosophy), thus making medicine a profession.

However, the achievements of the writers of the Corpus, the practitioners of Hippocratic medicine, and the actions of Hippocrates himself are often commingled; thus very little is known about what Hippocrates actually thought, wrote, and did. Nevertheless, Hippocrates is commonly portrayed as the paragon of the ancient physician. In particular, he is credited with greatly advancing the systematic study of clinical medicine, summing up the medical knowledge of previous schools, and prescribing practices for physicians through the Hippocratic Oath and other works.