What Was Hippocrates Famous For? (Did He Really Do That?)

In The Deadliest Lie, Miriam explains to her aunt what the study of alchemy means to her:

“Alchemy is the search for both material and spiritual perfection. I’m interested in perfecting not only the body and spirit of metals but the body and spirit of humans as well.”

In other words, Miriam hopes to learn about perfecting metals so she can apply that knowledge to improving human health:

“Learning about one can teach you about everything else.”

Her approach was based on principles attributed to Hippocrates, who lived hundreds of years before her time. For example, he is credited with saying that the natural forces within us are the true healers. But did he really say that?

It’s true that Hippocrates continues to represent the humane, ethical aspects of the medical profession, mainly through the Hippocratic oath. But the likelihood is that he did not write it. His reputation began to grow during the century after his death when the Library of Alexandria started collecting medical works from that period. The library attributed all those works to Hippocrates. Most, however, were not written by him.

So, the truth is we don’t know whether he even did what’s he’s so famous for. But at least we know who wrote the Miriam bat Isaac Mystery Series. To find out more about June Trop, just click here.