University of Texas Health Science Center - IATRO Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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Vv VA. IBL EXTANT DELINEATIO. ; } ERA ANATOMIA. LUGDUNO-BATAVA, CUM SCELETIS ET RELIQVIS ARCHIVUN INS’TRE MENT ANATOMICOR We Dr Wi MOG ‘ VY a WF £ SS a ee Gens te as po Aod|| Eaca j : SRO ONT MIG RA SSC SNE 8 ai 1p Sn . Oe pets ANAN CAANRANRAAARAN: AANNAAAAARAAARY § . me ee ee ; 12 Features

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This is easily understandable when one realizes that the Pythagoreans were elitist and aristocratic. It was equally held in Antiquity and the Middle Ages that any work done with hands was menial and, therefore, delegated to the lower classes. The Pythagoreans abhorred adultery as much as violence. They upheld the equality of men and women and did not discriminate between classes in the performance of their moral duties. Thus, the Oath’s prohibition of sexual relations with the pa- tient, patient's family or slaves is an outgrowth of the Pythagorean doctrine. The promise of silence and strict confidence at the end of the Oath is not a precaution but a duty, a moral obligation observed by the Pythagoreans in everyday life. They swore not to tell everyone everything (Edelstein, pp. 21-38). Thus, one sees clearly that the ‘Hippocratic Oath” is hardly the expression of common Greek attitudes howing a man vomiting. toward medicine, nor does it represent the natural TT ap es YL we duties of the physician. This document reflects the i ue é ‘ o Tas ; . E VW, ; “S MG. 222 «opinions and beliefs peculiar to a small, isolated ' ; ae 4; » % group which reached the peak of its importance in the fourth century BC, the same era when the ‘‘Hip- pocratic Oath” was written. This Oath was an obliga- tion then, as it is now, but it was not enforced then by any ruling organization. Instead, the physician freely accepted the obligation. It is also not a legal docu- ment but a solemn promise given and honored only by the conscience of the swearer. It is interesting to note that this, too, is in strict adherence with Pythagorean ethics. Pythagoras insisted that all in- struction must be based on the willingness of teacher and pupil, through voluntary rule and volun- tary obedience. Pythagoras’ aim, after all, was religious — to instill in man a desire to lead a better, purer, holier existence through stimulation of his conscience (Edelstein, p. 61). It is remarkable that in : ) 2 a civilization characterized by the pursuit of Bas-relief (c. 4th cent. BC) showing Asclepius and his daughter knowledge as well as decadence, there should Hygeia. evolve a small cry in a vast wilderness which | developed parallel to the larger voice of Judaic Artwork is reproduced from Lyons’ and morality, later to become the Judeo-Christian ethic. | Petrucelli's Medicine, An Illustrated History One cannot help but wonder how cumbersome the | (Abrams, 1978) and Marti-lbanez’s The Epic of development of modern-day medical ethics would | | Interior medallion of a cup (c. 490-480 BC) s' | Medicine (Potter, 1962). have been without this important Pythagorean | document. — Michael A. Weitzner | Castiglioni, A. A History of Medicine. NY: Alfred A. | Knopf, 1947. Gordon, B. Medicine throughout Anti- quity. Phil: FA Davis Co., 1949. Sigerist, H. A History of Medicine, vol Il. NY: Oxford University Press, | 1961. Temkin, O. and CL Temkin, ed. Ancient | Medicine: selected papers of Ludwig Edelstein. Balt: Johns Hopkins Press, 1967. Hippocratic Oath 11

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FEATURES one Se bees, Amboise Pare revolutionized the treatment of wounds. Features 13