He was enjoined to observe the most scrupulous cleanliness,
and was advised to cultivate an elegance removed from all signs of
luxury, even down to the detail that he might use perfumes, but not in an
immoderate degree."(22) But the high-water mark of professional morality
is reached in the famous Hippocratic oath, which Gomperz calls "a
monument of the highest rank in the history of civilization." It is of
small matter whether this is of Hippocratic date or not, or whether
it has in it Egyptian or Indian elements: its importance lies in the
accuracy with which it represents the Greek spirit. For twenty-five
centuries it has been the "credo" of the profession, and in many
universities it is still the formula with which men are admitted to the
doctorate.
(21) Oxford. Clarendon Press, 2d ed., 1911.
(22) Gomperz: Greek Thinkers, Vol. I, p. 281.
I swear by Apollo the physician and AEsculapius and Health (Hygieia) and
All-Heal (Panacea) and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to
my ability and judgment, I will keep this oath and this stipulation--to
reckon him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to
share my substance with him, and relieve his necessities if required; to
look upon his offspring in the same footing as my own brothers, and
to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee
or stipulation; and that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of
instruction, I will impart a knowledge of my art to my own sons, and
those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath
according to the law of medicine, but to none others.
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