Changes

Most of our knowledge of ancient Greek medicine derives from Hippocrates and his work developed between 470-370 BC. While some of his work, such as the famous "Corpus," were likely influenced by earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian medicine, one clear contribution, whether it was Hippocrates or one of his associates, is the establishment of medicine as a distinct area that began to be more separate from religion.<ref>For information on the contributions of Hippocrates, see: Kosak, Jennifer Clarke. 2004. ''Heroic Measures: Hippocratic Medicine in the Making of Euripidean Tragedy''. Studies in Ancient Medicine, v. 30. Leiden ; Boston: Brill.</ref> Although we had seen hints of this in Mesopotamia and Egypt, we know by this time it began to be truly studied for its own benefit rather than as part of religious beliefs, although philosophy and unsubstantiated ideas continued to be very influential, such as Humorism (i.e., belief that four fluids in the body control health).

What we can see is that medicine developed most likely in many societies. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, it became a profession, although generally associated with priests and their sets of religious practices. Advanced knowledge in surgery, medicines, treatments, diagnosis, and empirical observations, nevertheless, were made by these societies. This knowledge is also evident in India and China. However, by the time of Hippocrates, whether it was him or someone else, we begin to see that medicine becomes a separate field independent of religious practices.