Greek Americans Make Snow Sculpture of Hippocrates in Astoria

A pair of Greek-American artists used New York’s snowy weather to beautify their neighborhood by making a snow sculpture of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates.

Melissa Vadakara and Marios Tzavellas, residents of the Greek-American hub of Astoria, who are prolific snow sculptors, created the sculpture of the iconic father of medicine in early February.

They crafted the 2 meter (6.5 feet) tall sculpture to serve as a protector of the neighborhood from Covid-19, they stated to the Astoria Post.

In total, the two artists spent just five hours creating the Hippocrates sculpture, which is just one in a series of snowy art pieces they’ve created together, which include a snow god and an ice queen.

Despite its impressive beauty and imposing height, the statue didn’t last very long — just one day after it was created, only the legs of the icy Hippocrates remained.

Hippocrates

Born on The island of Kos, c. 460 BC, the Greek physician Hippocrates is considered the father of medicine, as he was the first known physician who believed that diseases were caused by some type of natural action instead of being instigated by the spirits or gods.

In addition to recognizing that disease is not caused by supernatural forces, Hippocrates invented clinical medicine and what we know today as the doctor-patient relationship.

Perhaps most amazingly of all, he was the first known physician to recognize that thoughts and emotions arise in the brain rather than the heart.

Hippocrates also was the medical practitioner who created an oath of conduct for physicians which has remained influential for 2,500 years.

There are about 70 books attributed to Hippocrates, considered to be the oldest known books about medicine. Known as the Hippocratic Corpus, his body of work was written for physicians and pharmacists while others were written for the layman.