Gynecology in Ancient Greece

The explosion of scientific and medical knowledge made possible by the ability to confirm through experimentation and highly specialized instrumentation theories about how the human organism functions obscures the fact that in the prescientific era, which extends virtually from the prehistoric era through the lifetime of Galileo and beyond, science, medicine, and philosophy overlapped and converged. Ihde (6) comments that before the 19th century, "it was often difficult to distinguish philosophy from science. What we would roughly call natural science today was, in early modern times . . . natural philosophy." One need not make a case for the reliability of scientific and medical theory of the ancient period to see the implications of characterizing practical science as natural philosophy. Such a characterization speaks to the moral seriousness attending whatever engagement with technical proficiency a practitioner might bring to the business of providing medical treatment to a patient.

Why that aspect of ancient medical practice assumes relevance for modern discourse is that in m

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or centuries. Soranus acknowledges (Gyn. 3.1) the reality of painful menstruation, which he attributes to fluid retention. Leaving aside whether that conclusion was completely accurate, the attention Soranus pays to the phenomenon can be profitably set beside the skepticism with which generations of (male) OB-GYN practitioners greeted claims for the "reality" of menstrual pain (Greer 45). Additional observations made by Soranus include recognition that premature births occurring at seven months need not be fatal for all newborns, the podalic version, the name given to a "footling breech" birth (California), and pica, the name given to abnormal food cravings during pregnancy (Gyn. 1; Hanson). One curiously modern recommendation that Soranus gives to midwives is to thoroughly wash newborns in lukewarm water and not to splash cold water on them, in the manner of barbarians, to stimulate activity. The cleansing advice alone is worthy of Pasteur, though his knowledge of bacteria per se cannot be presumed. However, Soranus also deals with issues such as nutrition for mother and child, as well as nursing. Raju cites Soranus's recommendation to clean the newborn's eyes with olive oil "to wash off the thickest moisture in them, and if no
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Approximate Word count = 2873
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)