The respected gynaecologist Agnodice (2)

Enunciado

Read the excerpt about the doctor and gynaecologist Agnodice who lived in the 4th century BC in Athens and answer the questions.

6. A curious event, reported by Hyginus, shows not only the possibility, but also the ease of taking this measure. There was a law in Athens which forbade women to practise medicine; so that even the use of the art of obstetrics was forbidden to them [237]. This caused the very serious inconvenience that many women, too sensitive to the embarrassment of being assisted by men in the anguish of the puerperium, lost their lives and those of the fetus miserably. In this context, a maiden named Agnodice, whether out of condolence for this calamity towards her sex, or because she felt in herself a vehement inclination to Medical Science, decided to violate the law; for which purpose, disguising herself as a man, she attended the school of a physician named Hierophilus, who did not know her.  In fact, she was very well instructed in medicine; and with a specialty in the art of obstetrics; when she finished, she began to exercise her skill in Athens, always disguised in the habit of a man, assisting women, not only in childbirth, but in any ailments, although confessing her sex in secret, in order to remove the hindrance of her modesty. The Physicians, from whom Agnodice was taking a considerable part of their earnings by the cure of women, conspired against her; and in the belief that she was a man, they accused her in the Areopagus of illicit intimacies with the other sex; adding that many women complained of ailments, which they did not suffer from, seeking this pretext to accomplish their clumsy trade, with the hairless Mediquito. Agnodice appeared in the Areopagus, exhibiting evident proofs of her sex before those Judges. When this battery was demolished, the Doctors founded another one in its ruins, alleging the law against Agnodice, which forbids women to use medicine. But the Athenian women, knowledgeable of the case, intervened in the cause, and did so much that they succeeded in having that law abrogated; in the end Agnodice was successful, and women were declared to have the right to exercise the Art, which she did.

Our own translation from: Feijoo, Benito Jerónimo (1740/2007). "Cartas eruditas, y curiosas (tomo II, carta XVII)", in Proyecto Filosofía en español, Fundación Gustavo Bueno, (retrieved on 14/05/2021/, <http://www.filosofia.org/bjf/bjfc217.htm>

1.- "Gynaecologist is a word formed by the Greek stem "gyne" (gr. gyné, gynaikós) which means "woman", and "logia" which means "word" with the semantic attachment of "study". Therefore, gynaecology is "the science of women". On the contrary, from the world "male (gr. aner, andros) the medical discipline "Andrology" has not been built up. Could you explain the reason for this difference?

2.- Make a list of 6 words which contain this stem and write their meaning. The Greek stem can adopt different forms: gin-, gyno-, gyneco, -gyna. 

3.- In the text it is said "the art of obstetrics", a term used as a synonym for Gynaecology. Find out which is the Latin word it stems from and what its meaning was. 

4.- In the text the word "puerperium" appears. Look up its meaning and find other words with the Latin lexical root of puer (child).

5.-In December 2020, the Diccionari Normatiu Valencià has included a new word: criptoginia. [In English: cryptogynia]. The first part of this word contains the stem "crypto" which means "hidden" and you already know the second part. What do you think is the meaning of this word? Why did it not exist before? Do you think this word should be incorporated into other languages?

Observaciones y contexto

Prehistoric gatherer women discovered and used the healing properties of plants. In Egypt, in 3000 BC, there were already female physicians or surgeons, and by 1500 BC, the schools of Sais and Heliopolis were open to women like Zipporah and Queen Hatshepsut. In Mesopotamia, women healers were very important. In the Greek cities there were also female physicians and surgeons, but their role was gradually restricted to that of midwives. Popular medicine also stood out: one of the first herbalists was Artemisia II of Caria. In Athens, in the 4th century BC, women were prevented from practicing medicine, accusing them of performing abortions; in this context the figure of Agnodice appeared. In Rome, there were many female physicians who also wrote treatises, such as Elephantis, Laïs, Olympias of Thebes, Antiochis and Metrodora. The texts on gynaecology and obstetrics by Cleopatra and Aspasia, which were the most important until the work of Trotula in the 11th century, stand out. 

Descripción

Exercise on Greek and Roman etymology.

Respuesta

Documentos