Agnodice
Encyclopedia
Agnodice or Agnodike was the earliest historical, and likely apocryphal, midwife mentioned among the ancient Greeks
. She was a native of Athens
, where it was forbidden by law for women or slaves to study medicine. According, however, to Hyginus
, on whose authority alone the whole story rests, Agnodice disguised herself in men's clothing, and attended the lectures of a physician named Hierophilus, devoting herself chiefly to the study of midwifery and gynaecology
.
Women refused her service until she told them that she was a woman. Afterwards, when she began practice, being very successful, she excited the jealousy of several of the other practitioners, by whom she was summoned before the Areopagus
, and accused of corrupting the morals of her patients. Upon her refuting this charge by making known her sex, she was immediately accused of having violated the existing law, which second danger she escaped by the wives of the chief persons in Athens, whom she had attended, coming forward in her behalf, and succeeding at last in getting the law abolished; women were thereafter allowed to practice medicine and to be paid a stipend for their service. No date whatever is attached to this story, but several persons have, by calling the tutor of Agnodice by the name of "Herophilos
" instead of "Hierophilus", placed it in the 3rd or 4th century BC.
But this emendation, though at first sight very easy and plausible, does not appear altogether free from objections. For, in the first place, if the story is to be believed at all upon the authority of Hyginus
, it would seem to belong rather to the 5th or 6th century BC than the 3rd or 4th; secondly, we have no reason for thinking that Agnodice was ever at Alexandria
, or Herophilus at Athens; and thirdly, it seems hardly probable that Hyginus would have called a so celebrated physician "a certain Hierophilus" (Herophilus quidam.)
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. She was a native of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, where it was forbidden by law for women or slaves to study medicine. According, however, to Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was by Augustus elected superintendent of the Palatine library according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20...
, on whose authority alone the whole story rests, Agnodice disguised herself in men's clothing, and attended the lectures of a physician named Hierophilus, devoting herself chiefly to the study of midwifery and gynaecology
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
.
Women refused her service until she told them that she was a woman. Afterwards, when she began practice, being very successful, she excited the jealousy of several of the other practitioners, by whom she was summoned before the Areopagus
Areopagus
The Areopagus or Areios Pagos is the "Rock of Ares", north-west of the Acropolis, which in classical times functioned as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Alirrothios .The origin...
, and accused of corrupting the morals of her patients. Upon her refuting this charge by making known her sex, she was immediately accused of having violated the existing law, which second danger she escaped by the wives of the chief persons in Athens, whom she had attended, coming forward in her behalf, and succeeding at last in getting the law abolished; women were thereafter allowed to practice medicine and to be paid a stipend for their service. No date whatever is attached to this story, but several persons have, by calling the tutor of Agnodice by the name of "Herophilos
Herophilos
Herophilos , sometimes Latinized Herophilus , was a Greek physician. Born in Chalcedon, he spent the majority of his life in Alexandria. He was the first scientist to systematically perform scientific dissections of human cadavers and is deemed to be the first anatomist. Herophilos recorded his...
" instead of "Hierophilus", placed it in the 3rd or 4th century BC.
But this emendation, though at first sight very easy and plausible, does not appear altogether free from objections. For, in the first place, if the story is to be believed at all upon the authority of Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was by Augustus elected superintendent of the Palatine library according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20...
, it would seem to belong rather to the 5th or 6th century BC than the 3rd or 4th; secondly, we have no reason for thinking that Agnodice was ever at Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, or Herophilus at Athens; and thirdly, it seems hardly probable that Hyginus would have called a so celebrated physician "a certain Hierophilus" (Herophilus quidam.)
Other sources
- Ogilvie, M. B. 1986. Women in Science. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-65038-X
- John LemprièreJohn LemprièreJohn Lemprière , English classical scholar, lexicographer, theologian, teacher and headmaster...
's Classical DictionaryLemprière's Bibliotheca ClassicaThe Bibliotheca Classica , or Classical Dictionary containing a full Account of all the Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors is the best-known work of John Lemprière, an English classical scholar. Edited by various later scholars, the dictionary long remained a readable if not absolutely...
of 1848.