Draco (physician)

Draco (or Dracon, Greek: Δράκον) was the name of several physicians in the family of Hippocrates.

• Draco I. Lived 5th to 4th centuries BC, was the son of Hippocrates, the famous physician (Hippocrates II). He was the brother of Thessalus.^[1] Galen tells us that some of the writings of Hippocrates was attributed to his son Draco.

• Draco II. According to the Suda,^[2] the son of Thessalus and grandson of Hippocrates II. He was the father of Hippocrates IV,^[3] and would have been the brother of Hippocrates III. He would have lived in the 4th century BC.

• Draco III. According to the Suda,^[4] the son of Hippocrates IV.

There may, however, be some confusion in the Suda, and it is possible that these three physicians are not all distinct persons.

References

1. ^ John Tzetzes, Chil. vii. Hist. 155; Suda, Hippocrates, ι567; Galen, De Difficult. Respir., ii. 8, vol. vii.; Comment in Hippocr. Praedict. I., ii. 52, vol xvi.; Comment in Hippocr. De Nat. Hom., ii. 1, col. xv; Thessali, Orat. ad Aram, and Sorani, Vita Hippocr. in Hippocr. Opera, vol. iii
2. ^ Suda, Dracon, δ1497
3. ^ Suda, Hippocrates, ι567
4. ^ Suda, Dracon, δ1497

Sources

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).