Person

Herophilus

c. 335 – c. 280 BCE · 4th century BCE

Herophilus of Chalcedon was a Greek physician who worked in Alexandria under the early Ptolemies and is often called the father of anatomy. He was among the first to perform systematic dissections of human bodies, distinguished nerves from tendons, described the brain, the eye and the duodenum, and studied the pulse, founding a medical school whose influence lasted for centuries.

Herophilus
Image: Ecelan · CC BY-SA 3.0 es · Wikimedia Commons

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Herophilus. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/herophilus
MLA
“Herophilus.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/herophilus. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Herophilus.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/herophilus.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Herophilus’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/herophilus (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻