I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and
Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses,
that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath
and this covenant:
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and
to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of
money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as
equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art -
if they desire to learn it - without fee and covenant; to give a
share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning
to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to
pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath
according to the medical law, but no one else.
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick
according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm
and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor
will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give
to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard
my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but
will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this
work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the
sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief
and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male
persons, be they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even
outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no
account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such
things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to
me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for
all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the
opposite of all this be my lot.
