Summary: Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Hippocratic Oath. The Greek physician Hippocrates, active in the fifth century BC, has been described as the father of medicine, although little is known about his life and some scholars even argue that he was not one person but several. A large body of work originally attributed to him was disseminated widely in the ancient world, and contains treatises on a wide variety of subjects, from fractures to medical ethics. The best known is the Hippocratic Oath, an ethical code for doctors. Although it has often been revised and adapted, the Hippocratic Oath remains one of the most significant and best known documents of medical science. With: Vivian Nutton, Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine at University College London Helen King, Professor of Classical Studies at the Open University Peter Pormann, Wellcome Trust Associate Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick
