Hippocrates is considered by scientists to be the founder of medicine. He may have been the most important doctor of the ancient times and the best representative of the Medical School of Kos. He was also a profound philosopher and humanitarian. He was born in Kos in 460 BC and was the son of the doctor Irakleida and Fenareti. According to tradition he was an Asclipiadi and the 20th grandson of Hercules on his mothers side and the 18th grandson of Asclipios on his fathers side.

The development of Medical Science is connected with the evolution of philosophy in the ancient Greek world especially along the coast of Asia Minor. The foundations of Medical Science were laid during the peak of Ionic philosophy during the 5th and 6th century BC. From the 5th and 6thcentury BC medicine was taught at philosophical centres like Knidos and Kos. Knido was located on the Asia Minor coast close to Kos. Relations between Kos and Knido were close as both were members of the Doric sixcity Alliance.