Abortion
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Historical Notes
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The Hippocratic Oath 2 The fact that such an oath was deemed necessary is proof enough that abortions were common in ancient Greece and that its author tried to prevent at least the physicians from participating in them. But who was the author? Modern historical research has shown that it was not Hippocrates, because we now know that the physicians of his school did perform abortions. Today the oath is attributed to some older school, possibly that of the philosopher Pythagoras which had a strong religious orientation. Most modern versions of the Hippocratic oath - if it is taken at all - no longer mention abortions, which are now routinely performed by many doctors in many countries.
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Hippocrates (460-377 BC)
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Pythagoras (569-475 BC)
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Was Pythagoras the real author of the Hippocratic oath?
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(By the way: Among many other features worthy of comment, the oath also reveals that ancient Greek physicians, who were always male - and most often husbands and fathers -, had to resist the temptation of seducing not only their female but also their and male patients: "I will not seduce or have sexual contact with the female or male household members." This casts an interesting light on the sexual behavior of the ancient Greeks, who took a man's sexual interest in other males for granted even when he had a wife and a family.)
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