On the Sacred Disease

by Hippocrates, Francis Adams (Translation), D.P. Curtin (Editor)

On the Sacred Disease is a work of the Hippocratic Corpus, written in 400 B.C. The authorship of this piece can not be confirmed, so is regarded as dubious. The treatise is thought to contain one of the first recorded observations of epilepsy in humans

Genres: Nonfiction

36 pages, Paperback

Published July 5, 2019

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.

Reviews

[silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

(i am not a medical professional)

this was... something i've read! seeing as i have epilepsy myself i was intrigued to read (a translation of) an ancient description of epilepsy, and i can't say i was disappointed. man really wrote "there is nothing sacred or divine about any of this, you guys just think it's peculiar and don't have a good explanation so you blame the gods", and then continued to give the wildest and most unpredictable medical explanation i've ever read. amazing

[Arianna Pellisari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean he was totally wrong but he sure said it with a lot of confidence. I don’t really know how to review classics like this because it is a centuries old exploration of a disease, which critiques contemporary treatments and religion, created by who is widely considered the founder of all western medicine. But also it was boring and the narrator spoke in a complete monotone.

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very quick and easy read. Hippocrates does a great job starting the discussion of how diseases would not be coming from the Gods but from the natural environment. His bases on this was that no Devine entity would be able to give such an unhealthy effect to man.

The section that I enjoyed the most was his discussion on how the weather and winds are the main forces that provide terminal diseases to mankind. His early recommendations that if a disease is brought by cold weather, the solution will be to provide the counter of cold weather to be a cure. It was these early beliefs that started to break away from praying to the Gods and developing man made solutions.

Obviously the understanding of how viruses work through the body was completely inaccurate. It was interesting to see how Socratic and Aristotle philosophical methods started to shape the early medical profession through Hippocrates.