Hippocrates (ca. 460–377 B.C) was born in a family which consists of physicians and priests on the Greek Island of Cos (Kos), southwest coast of Asia-Minor. His father Heraklides was a Physician-Priest of the Asclepion at Cos (Kos). His family heritage claimed to be from the lineage of Asclepius, the god of medicine. His influence in physiology is apparent that it came from his father as he underwent medical training from his father and other practitioners as well. By the time he moved to Athena, he had mastered many skills and understanding as a physician such as prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases which was developed from his observation and training itself at his hometown Island of Cos. As a matter of fact, he did travel to other regions of Greece which are Thessaly and Thrace. He was likely influenced by his father as well as his heritage (Asclepius; God of medicine) to become a physician in the first place, his training as a physician also seems to be convenient as he had access to it, be it through his father, the school of medicine on Cos Island or through other practitioners.
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We can also look at other aspects of Hippocrates such as his morals, values, lifestyle as a physician, and oath in general so that we can understand the role of Zeitgeist or spirit of times in influencing the philosopher’s ideas, beliefs and behavior in general. Looking at Hippocrates' way of being as a physician and as a philosopher first, there is no doubt that his family background is related to the priesthood which could have influenced his moral aspects and striving for the greater good. (From observing his oath and his principles as a physician). The famous Hippocrates’s oath was found out that it was also majorly influenced by Pythagoras’s teachings and concepts. It consisted of the values and virtues of Pythagorean duties involving justice, respect for masters, and solidarity with fellow peers. It was also pointed out by Ludwig Edelstein that it was written in the fourth century B.C and it strongly resembles the influence of Pythagorean philosophy. This Oath of Hippocrates was unmistakably saturated with Pythagoreanism and its manifesto in general which means Hippocrates’s lifestyle, as well as his thoughts, did get influenced a lot by the Pythagoreans.
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‘The Pythagoreans were an elite philosophical group who believed that benevolent Nature was divinely created by musically harmonious and numerically defined laws’ (Christos Yapijakis, 2009). They believed in the immortality of the soul and rejected bodily pleasures philosophically as well as practically through intense mental and physical training. The founder of this group was the legendary Pythagoras who claimed to hold superior or divine knowledge and also claimed to remember his past lives. He then created a school that glorified math. Pythagoras followed hierarchy and maintained secrecy precisely because they believed that sacred knowledge should not be given to the mob carelessly but only to a selected few. Their main values included justice as well as equality which is the reason why they argued against slavery and also accepted women in their school when it was taboo. The Pythagoreans also suggested that illness was caused because of disruption of the body’s natural equilibrium and medical treatment is a way to restore that equilibrium. This belief is the basis of the Humor theory given by Hippocrates, which was inspired by Empedocles, who was a Pythagorean himself. Thus, making it apparent that the main inspiration for where this theory stems from the Pythagoreans. Anyhow, it is not a coincidence that even Hippocrates’s lifestyle or practice as a physician and a philosopher has also been influenced by Pythagoreanism. Nonetheless, this influence on the philosopher’s thought can at least be viewed as a catalyst to Hippocrates’s success and his title as ‘The Father of Medicine’.
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Hippocrates went against the beliefs of humans at that age by challenging various medical practices based on superstitions and magic which may seem airy-fairy now, but it was normal back in those days. It was practiced by Priests, Priestess, spiritual healers, and witch doctors who attached and rapped a divine element to the illness and medicine to mask their ignorance; not to mention how some did it likely to gain profit and power. Thus, Hippocrates shattered these dogmas and beliefs regarding these vague practices and brought clarity to the field of medicine, diseases, and Mental Health by observation of the client and promoting rational conclusions rather than concluding it as something divine, thus taking on a naturalistic view of health and transforming the field in greater height. He attacked superstitious and supernatural medicine as well as practitioners ruthlessly; one of the examples would be how epilepsy was called the ‘Sacred Disease’, the mobs referring to it as possession by an evil spirit because the cause was unknown or rather unfamiliar. Taking on the naturalistic and deterministic perspective, Hippocrates disagreed with this and proposed that the illness is the cause of a natural phenomenon or occurrence rather than a supernatural and it was considered supernatural precisely because they can hide their own failure by giving it a ‘Divine’ element, thus mask their ignorance of the benevolent nature. Followed up by his conclusion that ‘all disorders (mental as well as physical) were the cause of natural factors or phenomenon such as inherited susceptibility to disease, organic injury and an imbalance of bodily fluids’ (B.R. Hergenhahn, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2009, 2005, p. 39). Thus, bringing the perspective of determinism to the table in the field of mental and physical health.
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A new perspective emerged because of Hippocrates, which took a naturalistic view and medicine to new heights. He believed that body has a natural and innate ability to heal itself, thus facilitating natural healing and a physician should not interfere with the natural healing mechanism doing so can cause dysfunction in the body as well as the healing process itself. Through this understanding, Hippocrates advised his patient's treatments which included proper rest, better diet, healthy exercise, fresh air, massages, and baths. He also had a humanistic view on treating the patient as he emphasized treating the whole of patients uniquely and not just the diseases. This perspective and treatments have been the baseline and foundation for the medical field which Hippocrates emphasized thus influencing the Zeitgeist or the Spirit of Time by upholding Deterministic, Naturalistic as well as humanistic perspectives in the field of medicine, which transformed the field to this day. This perspective thus made an impact of pointing out and rejecting dogmas or magic elements attached to the illness.
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Lastly, this attitude which is portrayed by his quotes has been an ideal and motto for many practitioners in today’s day & age. For e.g., He also formed various morals which should be followed by every physician like not charging fees if the patient was in financial difficulty which is likely not followed in today’s time by some exceptional. And also, some of his famous mottos are as follows; “Life is short but the art is long” (‘Ὁ μέν βίος βραχύς ἡ δέ τέχνη μακρά’) and “Do good or at least do not harm” (‘Ὠφελέειν ἤ βλάπτειν’). One of the famous quotes as a physician is “The art consists of three things: the disease, the patient, and the physician. The physician is the servant of the art, and the patient must combat the disease along with the physician”. These mottos as well as the famous Hippocrates Oath will continue inspiring many contemporary Doctors of Medicine, even though ‘no physician with scientific knowledge and self-resect believes in a benevolent Nature anymore’ (Christos Yapijakis, 2009).
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