Democedes
historical figure · 1 work · 2 mentions · 9 anchored passages
Democedes of Croton · the physician
in the texts
The Histories
A celebrated physician from Croton who, after serving Polycrates and falling into Oroetes' hands as a forgotten slave, cures Darius's dislocated foot and Atossa's tumor, gaining great influence at the Persian court while longing to return to Greece.
On the eighth day, when he was doing poorly, someone who had heard in Sardis of the skill of Democedes of Croton told Darius of him;
But when Darius turned the case over to him and Democedes applied Greek remedies and used gentleness instead of the Egyptians ' violence, he enabled him to sleep and in a short time had him well, although Darius had had no hope of regaining the use of his foot.
Now this is how Democedes had come from Croton to live with Polycrates: