The Asclepion
Prof. Nancy Demand, Indiana University
- Bloomington
Hippocratic Oath
1. i.
I swear
ii. by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius
and by Health and Panacea and by all the gods as well as goddesses,
making them judges [witnesses],
iii. to bring the following oath and written
covenant to ful- fillment,in accordance with my power and my
judgment;
2. i. to regard him who has taught me this techne as equal
to my parents, and
ii. to share, in partnership, my livelihood
with him and to give him a share when he is in need of necessities,
and
iii. to judge the offspring [coming] from
him equal to [my] male siblings, and
iv. to teach them this techne, should they
desire to learn [it], without fee and written covenant, and to
give a share both of rules and of lectures, and of all the rest
of learning, to my sons and to the [sons]of him who has taught
me and to the pupils who have both make a written contract and
sworn by a medical convention but by no other.
3. i. And I will use regimens for the benefit of the ill
in accordance with my ability and my judgment, but from [what
is] to their harm or injustice I will keep [them].
4. i.
And I will not give a drug that is deadly to anyone if asked
[for it],
ii. nor will I suggest the way to such
a counsel. And likewise I will not give a woman a destructive
pessary.
5. i.
And in a pure and holy way
ii. I will guard my life and my techne.
6. i.
I will not cut, and certainly not those suffering from stone,
but I will cede [this] to men [who are] practitioners of this
activity.
7. i.
Into as many houses as I may enter, I will go for the benefit
of the ill,
ii. while being far from all voluntary
and destructive injustice, especially from sexual acts both upon
women's bodies and upon men's, both of the free and of the slaves.
8. i.
And about whatever I may see or hear in treatment, or even without
treatment, in the life of human beings -- things that should
not ever be blurted out outside --I will remain silent, holding
such things to be unutterable [sacred, not to be divulged],
i. a. If I render this oath fulfilled,
and if I do not blur and confound it [making it to no effect]
b. may it be [granted] to me to enjoy the
benefits both of life and of techne,
c. being held in good repute among all
human beings for time eternal.
ii. a. If, however, I transgress and purjure
myself,
b. the opposite of these.
Translation by Heinrich Von Staden, "In
a pure and holy way:" Personal and Professional Conduct
in the Hippocratic Oath," Journal of the History of Medicine
and Allied Sciences 51 (1996) 406-408.
