The respected gynaecologist Agnodice (1)

Enunciat

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

6. An interesting 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. Even the use of the art of obstetrics was forbidden to them [237], which 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 towards Medical Science, decided to break the law; to do so, she disguised herself as a man, she attended the school of a physician named Herophilus, 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 practise 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 little doctor. 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 forbid 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.

7. What Agnodice achieved in Greece, seeking, even at her peril, a skillful Master to teach her, why should not many women be able to achieve it in Spain, where [238] there is no law to resist it? Some will claim that they are less suitable than men for this ministry. But I do not know on what they can base this lesser aptitude. Their hands are as nimble as ours. That exercise does not require strength, but dexterity. Perhaps it will be said that it calls for courage and resolution, of which there is little to be found in women. But little encouragement is needed to perform a work, which for the practitioner is free of any risk, falling the latter only on the patient.

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.- What were Agnodice's reasons for studying medicine?

2.- What was the first accusation that the Athenian physicians made against Agnodice?

3.- And the second accusation? 

4.- What position does the author defend?

5.- Which intellectual movement does she belong to? Look for other important names. 

6.- Make a brief biographical sketch of these intellectuals: Josefa Amar and Inés Joyes, who may not appear in your previous list. You can use these websites: Miras, Eugenia (2018). "Josefa Amar y Borbón, la ilustrada de la España de Carlos III", ABC Historia, (retrieved on 14/05/2021), <https://www.abc.es/historia/abci-josefa-amar-y-borbon-ilustrada-espana-carlos-201807271452_noticia.html>. Bolufer, Monica. “Biografia: Inés Joyes.” Real Academia de la Historia, (retrieved on 14/05/2021), <http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/68806/ines-joyes>

7.- Look for information on the Internet about the incorporation of women to university studies in Spain and select the dates and data that you consider important. The following link may be useful: Peña, Daniel (2010), "Cien años con mujeres en la universidad" El País, (retrieved on 14/05/2021),<https://elpais.com/sociedad/2010/03/08/actualidad/1268002812_850215.html>

Observacions i context

Prehistoric women gatherers discovered and used the healing properties of plants. In Egypt, before 3000 BC, there were already female physicians or surgeons, and by 1500 BC, the schools of Sais and Heliopolis were open to women like Sephora and Queen Hatsepshut. 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; this was the context for Agnodice. In Rome, there were many female physicians who also wrote treatises, such as Elephantis, Laïs, Olympias of Thebes, Antiochis and Metrodora. The texts on gynecology and obstetrics by Cleopatra and Aspasia, which were the most important until the work of Trotula in the 11th century, stand out.

Descripció

Exercise of reading comprehension, reflection and looking up information on a character of Antiquity, through a text by an illustrated author.

Resposta

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