Challenging Gender Roles: Agnodice, Hyginus, Fabulae 119

Name: Hyginus   Date:  64 BCE – 17 CE Region:  Hispania [modern Spain] / Alexandria [modern Egypt]; Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Fables 274.10

In ancient times, they did not have midwives. Since Athenians did not allow slaves or women to learn the art of medicine, women were dying in childbirth because of theirmodesty.

A certain young lady named Agnodice desired to learn medicine. Since she truly had it in her heart to learn, she shaved her head, dressed in men's clothing, and learned medicine under the tutelage of Hierophilus. Once she had learned what she needed to, she would visit women who were in labor.

Whenever a woman thought she was a man and did not want to be treated by her, she would lift up her tunic and show them that she was a woman. Then the patient would allow her to help.

When doctors saw that they were no longer needed in delivery, they began to attack Agnodice, calling her a pervert and a corruptor of women, and accused her patients of faking their illnesses to spend time with her.

They took Agnodice to trial, during which she lifted her dress and proved that she was a woman. And when the doctors began to double down, continuing to attack her, the top women of the town entered the court and declared, “You men are not our husbands, but our enemy, because you have condemned the one person who has discovered a way for us to be safe.” Then the Athenians modified the law, and allowed free-born women to learn the art of medicine.  

 

Antiqui obstetrices non habuerunt, unde mulieres verecundia ductae interierant (nam Athenienses caverant, ne quis servus aut femina artem medicinam disceret). Agnodice quaedam puella virgo concupivit medicinam discere.Quae cum concupisset, demptis capillis habitu virili se Hierophilo cuidam tradidit in disciplinam. Quae cum artem didicisset et feminam laborantem audisset ab inferiore parte, veniebat ad eam. Quae cum credere se noluisset existimans virum esse illa tunica sublata ostendebat se feminam esse: et ita eas curabat. Quod cum vidissent medici se ad feminas non admitti Agnodicem accusare coeperunt, quod dicerent eum glabrum esse et corruptorem earum et illas simulare imbecilitatem. Quod cum Areopagitae consedissent Agnodicem damnare coeperunt. Quibus Agnodice tunicam allevavit et se ostendit feminam esse. Et validius medici accusare coeperunt. Quare tum feminae principes ad iudicium convenerunt et dixerunt: “Vos coniuges estis, sed hostes, quia quae salutem  nobis invenit eam damnatis.” Tunc Athenienses legem emendaverunt ut ingenuae artem medicinam discerent.

 

Hyginus [Caius Julius Hyginus; 64 BCE – 17 CE, modern Spain or Egypt] was one of Augustus’ freedmen and a famous mythographer. He was originally from Hispania [modern Spain].  Some think that he was actually from Alexandria [modern Egypt], and brought to Rome as a boy by Caesar after the fall of Alexandria. He studied under the Greek scholar Cornelius Alexander, then followed in his footsteps. He was in charge of the Palatine library, and despite this, still had the time to teach many people. He was very close friends with the poet Ovid and Clodius Licinius, the former consul and historian who, after Hyginus fell into poverty, supported him financially for as long as he lived.

M/M: Achilles & Patroclus Reborn: Alexander & Hephaestion, Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri 1.12.1-2

Name: Arrian [Flavius Arrianus Nicomediansis] Date: 86 - 160 CE Region: Bithynia [modern Turkey] Citation: Anabasis of Alexander 1.12.1-2

As Alexander arrived at Troy, the Governor Menoetius honored him with a golden crown in front a crowd of Greeks and locals; then Chares the Athenian did the same, who came all the way from Sigeum to do so. They say that thereafter Hephaestion honored the tomb of Patroclus with a golden crown; there are also those who say that Alexander then crowned Achilles' tomb, too, and said that Achilles was blessed to have obtained Homer as the reporter of his deeds.
ἀνιόντα δ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐς Ἴλιον Μενοίτιός τε ὁ κυβερνήτης χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ ἐστεφάνωσε καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ Χάρης ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐκ Σιγείου ἐλθὼν καί τινες καὶ ἄλλοι, οἱ μὲν Ἕλληνες, οἱ δὲ ἐπιχώριοι:...οἱ δὲ, ὅτι καὶ τὸν Ἀχιλλέως ἄρα τάφον ἐστεφάνωσεν: Ἡφαιστίωνα δὲ λέγουσιν ὅτι τοῦ Πατρόκλου τὸν τάφον ἐστεφάνωσε: καὶ εὐδαιμόνισεν ἄρα, ὡς λόγος, Ἀλέξανδρος Ἀχιλλέα, ὅτι Ὁμήρου κήρυκος ἐς τὴν ἔπειτα μνήμην ἔτυχε. 

Porro Alexandro Ilium versus adscendenti Menoetius gubernator auream coronam imposuit: post hunc Chares Atheniensis, qui ex Sigeo venerat, atque alii nonnulli, partim Graeci, partim indigenae. Ab Hephaestione vero Patrocli tumulum coronatum esse narrant. Sunt qui Alexandrum etiam Achillis tumulum coronasse dicant: et felicem quidem, ut fama est, nominavit Achillem quod Homerum praeconem ad perpetuandam suam memoriam nactus esset. 
Translated from the Greek by Fr. Duebner

W/W: Aphrodite, Be My Wingman: Sappho, Fr. 1

Name: Sappho Date: d. 570 BCE Region: Lesbos [modern Greece] Citation: Fragment 1

Iridescent-throned goddess,
O immortal Venus, Daughter of Jupiter,
O crafty vixen, I pray to you,
do not overwhelm my heart with hatred or grief.
Blessed one, stay by my side!
For you have always heard my prayers as I languished in love,
you would listen to me and support me time and time again,
you would leave the golden palace of your heavenly father to come to me,
yoking your chariot with  swift doves,
their tiny wings  fluttering as they bore you between the sky and the ether.
They brought you to me quickly;
but you, o Blessed one, smirking with your immortal smile,
you asked me again and again what was wrong, what I felt, and why I was calling you.
And asking me what I yearned for most in my troubled heart,
and what love has caught me this time.
Asking, "O Sappho, who hurt you this time?
If someone plays hard to get, they'll soon start to pursue you;
if they don't accept your favors, soon they'll be the one to lavish you with gifts,
even if you don't like them that way.
Come to me, Aphrodite! Release me from my overwhelming anxiety;
let me obtain whatever my heart desires,
be my wingman.

Ποικιλόθρον᾽ ὰθάνατ᾽ ᾽Αφροδιτα,
παῖ Δίοσ, δολόπλοκε, λίσσομαί σε
μή μ᾽ ἄσαισι μήτ᾽ ὀνίαισι δάμνα,
πότνια, θῦμον.

ἀλλά τυίδ᾽ ἔλθ᾽, αἴποτα κἀτέρωτα
τᾶσ ἔμασ αύδωσ αἴοισα πήλγι
ἔκλυεσ πάτροσ δὲ δόμον λίποισα
χρύσιον ἦλθεσ

ἄρμ᾽ ὐποζεύξαια, κάλοι δέ σ᾽ ἆγον
ὤκεεσ στροῦθοι περὶ γᾶσ μελαίνασ
πύκνα δινεῦντεσ πτέῤ ἀπ᾽ ὠράνω
αἴθεροσ διὰ μέσσω.

αῖψα δ᾽ ἐχίκοντο, σὺ δ᾽, ὦ μάσαιρα
μειδιάσαισ᾽ ἀθάνατῳ προσώπῳ,
ἤρἐ ὄττι δηὖτε πέπονθα κὤττι
δἦγτε κάλημι

κὤττι μοι μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαι
μαινόλᾳ θύμῳ, τίνα δηὖτε πείθω
μαῖσ ἄγην ἐσ σὰν φιλότατα τίσ τ, ὦ
Πσάπφ᾽, ἀδίκηει;

καὶ γάρ αἰ φεύγει, ταχέωσ διώξει,
αἰ δὲ δῶρα μὴ δέκετ ἀλλά δώσει,
αἰ δὲ μὴ φίλει ταχέωσ φιλήσει,
κωὐκ ἐθέλοισα.

ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλεπᾶν δὲ λῦσον
ἐκ μερίμναν ὄσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαι
θῦμοσ ἰμμέρρει τέλεσον, σὐ δ᾽ αὔτα
σύμμαχοσ ἔσσο

Versicolori solio, immortalis Venus,
puella Iovis, nectens dolos, supplico tibi,
ne me fastidiis, neque maeroribus doma,
Veneranda, animo,
Verum huc ades, si quando alias in amore
meam vocem tu audieris, (quam crebram acceperas)
auscultabas, patrisque domum relinquens auream venisti;
currum subiungens, pulchri vero te egerunt
veloces passeres alis pullis,
crebras vibrantes pennas de caelo per aethera medium.
Protinus vero pervenere: tu vero, o Beata, subridens immorali tuo vultus, quod vero
rogabas, quodnam erat, quod passa sum, et erat, quod te vocarem.
Et quodnam meo maxime velim fieri
penitus furenti animo, quamve rursus suadam,
atque irretientem amorem: quis te, o Sappho, laedit?
Etenim si te fugit, cito sequetur:
et si dona non accipit, quin ipse dabit:
et si non amat, cito amabit,
et si tu nolueris.
Veni ad me & nunc, durisque solve me
ex curis: quaeque mihi te perficere
animus concupiscit, perfice: tuque ipsa
Audiutrix esto.
Translated into Latin by Jo. Christian Wolf

Sappho [d. 570 BCE, modern Greece] was universally applauded by the ancient world as the “Tenth Muse.” Because she was one of the earliest Greek lyric poets, there is very little definitive information on Sappho’s life.  It is generally agreed that Sappho was a wealthy noblewoman from the island of Lesbos who had three brothers and a daughter named Kleis. She used her prominent social position to support a cohort of other women artists, and composed many poems about them, expressing her love for them, praising their beauty, and celebrating their marriages. Whereas earlier Greek poetry was epic poetry with serious themes of gods, warfare, and the state, Sappho’s lyric poetry was emotional, intimate and personal. Her poetry centered around womanhood and womanly love, providing rare insight into the time period. The modern terms “sapphic” and “lesbian” reveal the longevity of her impact upon modern culture. Unfortunately, although her poetry was universally revered by the Greeks and Romans alike, Sappho’s works only exist as fragments, adding mysterious allure to her larger-than-life status but unfortunately hindering our understanding of her life and thoughts.

The Motherless Birth of Pallas Athena: Apollodorus, Bibl.1.3.6

Name: [Pseudo]Apollodorus Date:   1st – 2nd century CE Region:    Unknown Citation:    Library 1.3.6

Thetis tried to escape Jupiter's seduction by changing forms, but was unsuccessful. When she became pregnant, Jupiter swallowed her whole, fearing a prophecy that claimed that after she birthed a daughter, she would bear a son who would rule the universe.
When the time had come for the child's delivery, Prometheus (or Vulcan, as others say), struck Jupiter's head with an ax, and Pallas Athena sprang forth from the wound fully armed.
 

μίγνυται δὲ Ζεὺς Μήτιδι, μεταβαλλούσῃ εἰς πολλὰς ἰδέας ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ συνελθεῖν, καὶ αὐτὴν γενομένην ἔγκυον καταπίνει φθάσας, ἐπείπερ ἔλεγε Γῆ γεννήσειν παῖδα μετὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννᾶσθαι κόρην, ὃς οὐρανοῦ δυνάστης γενήσεται. τοῦτο φοβηθεὶς κατέπιεν αὐτήν: ὡς δ᾽ ὁ τῆς γεννήσεως ἐνέστη χρόνος, πλήξαντος αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν πελέκει Προμηθέως ἢ καθάπερ ἄλλοι λέγουσιν Ἡφαίστου, ἐκ κορυφῆς, ἐπὶ ποταμοῦ Τρίτωνος, Ἀθηνᾶ σὺν ὅπλοις ἀνέθορεν.
Jupiter ad haec Thetidi, varias alternanti formas quo illius vitaret amplexus, immiscetur. Quam, cum gravidam esse persensisset, absorbere occupat, quoniam post natam ex ea puellam, filium se parituram dicebat, qui caeli dominatione potiturus esset. Id futurum veritus eam absorbuit. Ubi vero pariendi tempus advenit, Prometheus, sive, ut alii tradunt, Volcanus eius caput securi percussit, deque illius vertice secus Tritonem amnem armata Pallas exilivit.

Translated into Latin by Thomas Gale (1675)

Apollodorus [1st – 2nd century CE] is the name of the author of a famous collection of myths called the Bibliotheca / Library. Little is known about the author’s background or history.