ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Hippocratic oratorical texts as significant evidence for the pre-history of Aristotle’s definition of the genre of display speech known as ‘epideictic’. The chapter identifies issues with the application of this generic label to Hippocratic texts and considers some of the internal evidence for notions of display and demonstration (epideixis) in individual Hippocratic treatises. The chapter goes on to explore how analysis of oral features of texts, though not offering conclusive evidence of communicative context, can reveal layers of meaning present in medical texts that have not previously been acknowledged.
