Kos News

The International Hippocratic Foundation has devised a novel way to educate children about the therapeutic properties of traditional herbs and spread information about the methods and procedures used in the medical practice of ancient times. All these through a video game!

Designed as part of an initiative called "The Hippocrates Garden," the video game teaches children to treat "digital wounds" such as, how to clean a wound by applying chamomile, a traditional medicinal herb, how to heal the wound with dittany, a Cretan medicinal plant, applying bandage to the wound, stabilizing a broken limb and giving the patient mandragora (mandrake) root for pain. The "Hippocrates Garden" initiative was launched in May 2007 on the island of Kos, the home of the father of medicine, Hippocrates.

The director of the International Hippocratic Foundation, Stefanos Geroulanos, explained that the electronic game will enable people, both children and adults, to learn about the practices and techniques of ancient doctors “in a virtual environment”.

The foundation, supported by the Ministry of the Aegean Sea and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, among others, has a herb garden behind its headquarters for collecting the more than 254 species of medicinal plants mentioned in the writings of Hippocrates. The garden has at present 158 species of all. The foundation also plans to build a 700-meter pathway connecting the foundation with the archaeological site of Asclepieion.