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Claudia Metrodora

Claudia Metrodora (Μητροδώρα, c. 200-400 CE) was a Greek physician and author of the one oldest medical textbook known to have been written by a woman which is called “On the Diseases and Cures of Women” (Περὶ τῶν Γυναικείων παθῶν τῆς μἠτρας). for centuries her name and book were forgotten in history and no mention of her in writings by male physicians of her time. It wasn’t until in the late Italian renaissance that her book was found again and kept at the Laurentian Library in Florence. The Italian translation of the book is “on the uterus, abdomen, and kidneys”. Her medical treatise covers many areas of medicine, including gynecology, Facial reconstruction, and surgery. It was widely referenced by other medical writers in ancient Greece and Rome and was also translated and published in Medieval Europe. It influenced many women physicians in her time to break the barrier between women and medicine. Nothing is known of Metrodora's identity beyond her name. However, several women physicians are known to have existed in the ancient Greco-Roman world, and she is generally regarded as the first female medical writer.

( include references of 1^st reading, 2^nd reading, 4^th reading)

On the Disease and Cures of Women-

On the Diseases and Cures of Women survives in two volumes, containing 63 chapters. Metrodora's approach was heavily influenced by the work of Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Corpus, as were most physicians of her era, for example, she shared Hippocrates' theories concerning hysteria. Metrodora was decisive about controversial topics involving symptomology and etiology; inflammation of the uterus is one example. She made her unique contributions to advancing medical understanding of theory and etiology.

Although female physicians were active in gynecology and obstetrics in ancient Greece and Rome, it was rare that women physicians practiced in other areas of medicine. Childbirth and obstetrics in antiquity were viewed as acceptable areas of medical practice for women who were able to gain medical training as physicians, in large part because of the ancient tradition of midwifery and its association with women trained by other women. Metrodora writes on many areas of medicine in On the Diseases and Cures of Women, including all aspects of gynecology, but obstetrics is not dealt with in the extant volumes. Surgery was not typically practiced in ancient Greece or Rome and is also not covered in her treatise. This is in contrast with the writing of another female physician, Aspasia the Physician, who covered gynecologic surgery including abortion. Aspasia's work was also often referenced by other physician writers, including Aetius and Soranus. Metrodora did not deal with obstetrics, the traditional domain of midwifery, instead of focusing on pathology, the same approach being used by male physicians influenced by Hippocrates. She differed from many other male medical writers of her era in analyzing and referring to the writings of Hippocrates directly, rather than using the proliferation of secondary sources in the intervening centuries as the substance of her work.

Some of her findings not only limit gynecology and pathology, but it also details how can write about breast and facial reconstruction, re-suturing of the vaginal hymen, and breast and uterus cancer excisions. In Ancient Greece standards, it was regarded as modern surgery and innovated in her times. Her findings include; natural methods to determine the sex of the baby, determining possible sexual abuse on a woman, reconstruction of the face to look aesthetic, and treatments for obesity and infection on the kidneys and stomach. There is one procedure she is known for in the book is when it comes to most fatal diseases is to scalpel the tumor or ulcer from the Hippocratic dogma and press a flatiron onto the surgical wound to prevent any infection or hemorrhage around the wound. Metrodora mostly followed the methods by physician Alexander of Tralles and used herbal substances used by Hippocrates. When it came to women that went through sexual abuse, she re-sutured the vagina hymen to create a new sense of virginity for those victims. Not only she focused on gynecology and surgery, but she also helped in midwifery and the process of childbirth. For example, when it came to the mother to be experiencing difficult labor, she instructed to apply almond oil around the belly and calm down the pain. She also gave instructions to produce breast milk and make treatments for female sterility. When it came to finding out if the woman was a virgin or not, she would have to urinate in a pot of fresh lentils and if they disappeared then it would signify she wasn’t a virgin. One of her many remedies to make the appearance more enticing was to apply starch, served, and Emilia with the white of the egg with honey, to make the face appear smooth and clean.

(include 1^st and 4^th readings)

Impact[edit]/ LEGACY

The first Latin translations of On the Diseases and Cures of Women appeared between the 3rd and 5th centuries. The oldest known manuscript of Metrodora's work is located in Florence, Italy. Metrodora's work was referenced by other physician writers and also republished in extracts.

The scholarly texts of ancient Greece and Rome were part of the foundation of Western research during the Middle Ages in Europe. Metrodora's work was circulated during this period as well. Her bibliographic references include "a Berenice called Cleopatra" or "mono Marsiglia", which caused some Medieval publishers to incorrectly attribute her work to the famous Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and it was under the name of "Cleopatra" that On the Diseases and Cures of Women was published by Caspar Wolf in 1566, and then by Israel Spach in 1597.

Metrodora was greatly experienced with clinical practice. Her works reference examinations done both digitally (that is, by hand alone) and using a speculum, and show a detailed familiarity with physiology. She made contributions by formulating classifications of vaginal discharges and proposed theories on etiology such as the possibility of rectal parasitic infections causing vaginal discharges. Her contributions in these areas appear to have been her original research and theory. There are also many medicine compounds provided in her treatise that has not been found elsewhere. Her work also appears to include the first known alphabetized medical encyclopedia, using alphabetic headings for ease of reference, although it exists in an incomplete manuscript that ends with epsilon.

Metrodora authorship has been debated for centuries. Some records believe that “Metrodora” is a pseudo name and the possibility of a women physician in her time was not hear of enough to gain popularity within the community. Her findings could have been unmentioned or taken credit since she was a woman and viewed us unremarkable to her counterparts. Although in one of the writings of Plato, he argues for positions to be based on natural aptitude, it is not mentioned if he was talking about female physicians, but it can be applied to this as well.

( include readings 11^th, 5^th, and 8^th)

Women in Ancient Byzantine

Ancient Byzantine was considered a dominant male society with women being considered to be of a lower status than men. There is a difference between the economic status of women; the higher noblewomen stayed at home and nurture children while the husband was away; women of middle and lower socio-economic standards either worked to help their husbands or became concubines to higher noblemen.

In ancient Byzantine, not many were allowed to pursue an education that did not involve housework, if they were allowed then it would be a limitation of medicine and philosophy but never reaching out to more. When it came to economic status, women have viewed as property to their husband the only access they have to a little “ownership” which are her children, are through marriage.

The only ones who could practice medicine and break the barriers between women and medicine were those who had more money to afford the time to study and experiment. When it came to medicine, only women can practice on each other and it was usually dealing with pregnancy and childbirth. Shadowing over male physicians, women studying medicine were given less opportunity to learn and less prestigious acclaim and helped the male physicians in handing them instruments. They were often outlawed and forbidden to practice because it was odd for a woman to pursue science and their findings have never been taken into consideration. In history, they have written down two types of women in medicine: those who work with herbs and spells, and those that rely heavily upon science. They contributed a lot to modern medicine and female health.

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Physicians in her time

Another famous physician in Metrodora times was in Egypt and she was called Pesehet, who lived during the IVth dynasty (old kingdom) around 2620-2560 BC. Her job was to look after the king’s mother and in charge of the lady physicians in the court. In ancient Egypt, it was more open to women being medical practitioners but only to noble families and in the court. It was more tightly regulated the medical education to women and they contributed to the evolution of women’s health. They helped a lot in preparing traditional remedies that focused more on specific areas of the body.

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