Cover of The Sacred Disease by Hippocrates Audiobook The Sacred Disease
Audiobook · Adelphi Press

The Sacred Disease

Author
Hippocrates
Read by
George Easton
Language
English
Length
32 minutes
ISBN
9781787364660
Published
4 September 2022
Imprint
Adelphi Press
  • Hippocrates
  • medicine
  • medical
  • healing
  • health
  • doctors
  • education
  • professional
  • science
  • philosophy

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Description

The Sacred Disease is a text written by Hippocrates that explores the topic of epilepsy. In this text, Hippocrates attempts to dispel the belief that epilepsy is a sacred disease caused by supernatural forces. Instead, he argues that epilepsy is a natural disease that should be treated like any other illness. This text is significant because it represents one of the earliest attempts to provide a rational explanation for a medical condition. Read in English, unabridged.

Author

Hippocrates (c. 460–370 BC) is the figure most closely associated with the birth of rational medicine in the ancient Greek world. The Hippocratic Corpus — essays, case histories, and aphorisms long attributed to him and his school — sought to explain illness through observation rather than superstition. His name survives in the physician's oath and in the ideal of medicine as a humane, disciplined art grounded in evidence and care.

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