Aspasia the Physician
Aspasia was an ancient Greek medical writer known only from book 16 of Aetius of Amida's Tetrabiblion.[1] She is cited eleven times by Aetius.[2] John Scarborough suggests that Aspasia was a contemporary of Aetius and an expert in gynaeology and obstetrics.[1]
Because Aspasia is not attested anywhere outside of the last book of Aetius, and because of the name Aspasia, which Rebecca Flemming says held "obvious appeal ... in a gynacological context", Flemming has argued that it should not be assumed that Aspasia was a real woman physician.[3] Steven Muir and Laurence Totelin suggest that the name, evoking Pericles' lover, might have been chosen to lend authority to obstetric and gynacological material.[4]
References
- ^ a b Scarborough, John (2013). "Theodora, Aetius of Amida and Procopius". Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies. n.27.
- ^ Scarborough, John (2013). "Theodora, Aetius of Amida and Procopius". Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies: 752.
- ^ Flemming, Rebecca (2007). "Women, Writing and Medecine in the Classical World". The Classical Quarterly. 57 (1): 257–279. ISSN 0009-8388.
- ^ Muir, Steven; Totelin, Laurence (2013). "Medicine and Disease". In Tillich, Janet H. (ed.). A Cultural History of Women in Antiquity. p. 103.
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