Polybus (; fl. 400 BC) was one of the pupils of
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...
, and also his son-in-law. He lived on the island of
Cos in the 4th century BC. With his brothers-in-law,
Thessalus and
Draco, he was one of the founders of the
Dogmatic school of medicine. He was sent by Hippocrates, with his fellow-pupils, during the time of the plague, to assist different cities with his medical skill. Afterwards, he remained in his native country.
[Galen, ''Comment. in Hippocr. De Nat. Hom.'', i. praef. col. xv.] According to
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...
, he followed implicitly the opinions and practices of Hippocrates, but the strict accuracy of this assertion has been doubted.
He has been supposed, by both ancient and modern scholars, to be the author of several works in the Hippocratic collection. Possible works include ''De Natura Hominis'', ''De Genitura'', ''De Natura Pueri'', ''De Salubri Victus Ratione'', ''De Affectionibus'', and ''De Internis Affectionibus''.
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...
attributes to him the treatise ''De Octimestri Partu'', and
Pseudo-Plutarch quotes him as the author of ''De Septimestri Partu''.
[Pseudo-Plutarch, ''De Philosoph. Plac''. v. 18] ''De Natura Hominis'' (''On the Nature of Man'') is the earliest known text to advance a
four-humor system of
blood,
phlegm,
yellow bile, and
black bile. Galen, though, considers ''De Natura Hominis'' to be the work of Hippocrates himself.
Polybus is mentioned many times by Galen, chiefly in connection with different works in the Hippocratic collection. He is also mentioned by
Celsus
Celsus (; , ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work '' The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: )Hoffmann p.29 survives exclusively via quotati ...
,
Caelius Aurelianus, and
Pliny.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Polybus
Ancient Koans
4th-century BC Greek physicians