[Non-Hippocratic references in Plato's dialogues]

Plato's references to contemporary medicine are of a twofold nature. They initially concern Hippocratic medicine, first as an epistemological model in opposition with sophistic arguments, secondly as an instrument to define 'political art'. But in the later dialogues, Plato's references to medicine appear to evolve into a 'non-Hippocratic', magical type. This second type of reference-mostly in the Laws-is no longer metaphorical or analogical: it serves to determine the procedures that must be followed by the Law-Giver to establish a theocratic order.