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Background

Hippocrates II (Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος), also known as Hippocrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician who is considered the father of Western medicine. He may have been born around 460 BCE and lived through the classical Greek era, perishing at the ripe age of ninety around 370 BCE. He is attributed to creating a body of medical texts known as the Hippocratic Corpus, although many have speculated that his followers published the works over a number of years.

Disputed authorship of the Hippocratic Corpus

It's important to note that Hippocrates is attributed to the body of works known as the Hippocratic Corpus, but evidence from medical historians like Dr. Philip Mackowiak, M.D. suggests that it's unlikely he wrote it himself.^[1] Instead, it's more likely that his disciples produced the texts in the many years that followed Hippocrates' death, likely around 300 - 400 BCE.