Abstract
In contrast with the struggle of 19th and 20th century women all over the world to be admitted to medical schools, women in ancient Greece and Rome were apparently increasingly at liberty to practise medicine from the 4th century BC onwards. The available evidence offers conclusive proof of this more tolerant attitude. The sources are few in number, but fragmentary information can be gleaned from medical writers, passing remarks in Greek and Latin authors, and funerary inscriptions. These sources emphasise the professions of midwife and female doctor. Although there is some overlap between their duties, we find that in Greece a distinction was drawn between maia and iatrike as early as the 4th century BC, while in Rome the two professions of obstetrix and medica or iatrina were well established by the 1st century BC. The training, personal characteristics, qualifications, duties, status and remuneration of practitioners of the two professions will be considered in this study. The funerary inscriptions of female doctors reveal that they were honoured in the same way as men for exceptional services; medical works were also dedicated to them as colleagues, and those of them who wrote texts of their own were quoted with respect. Thus, although there were never very many female doctors, the classical world does not seem to have placed insurmountable obstacles in the way of women who wished to practise medicine.
Highlights
One of the most famous group statues of the 17th century Italian sculptor Bernini is that of Aeneas, fleeing from the burning city of Troy with his elderly father on his shoulders and his young son alongside him at the end of the 10-year war between the Greeks and the Trojans
In contrast with the struggle of 19th and 20th century women all over the world to be admitted to medical schools, women in ancient Greece and Rome were apparently increasingly at liberty to practise medicine from the 4th century BC onwards
There is some overlap between their duties, we find that in Greece a distinction was drawn between maia and iatrikê as early as the 4th century BC, while in Rome the two professions of obstetrix and medica or iatrina were well established by the 1st century BC
Summary
One of the most famous group statues of the 17th century Italian sculptor Bernini is that of Aeneas, fleeing from the burning city of Troy with his elderly father on his shoulders and his young son alongside him at the end of the 10-year war between the Greeks and the Trojans. One naturally wonders where his wife, Creusa, is, and why she is not depicted as part of the family group Virgil has his hero provide the answer:. This study will focus on the latter group, in order to provide a detailed examination of the role played by women in ancient medicine. 4 One must, guard against simplistic references to “women in classical times”, since the position of women changed significantly over the years and the centuries and there was an enormous difference between women in the higher and lower classes. See in this respect especially Beard (1993:29-35). On the uphill battle of women in later ages to gain access to academic institutions, see Bonner, To the ends of the earth: women’s search for education in Medicine (1992)
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