Women's Bodies in Classical Greek Science - Hardcover

Dean-Jones, Lesley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198147678 ISBN 13: 9780198147671

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1994

Synopsis

In this book Professor Dean-Jones gives a close analysis of theories concerning women's bodies in such authors as the Hippocratics and Aristotle. She demonstrates the centrality of menstruation in classical theories of female physiology, pathology, and reproduction, and suggests that this had both negative and positive repercussions in attitudes towards women's bodies in that society. In particular, she argues that many of the medical principles governing clinical practice on male patients derived from the observation that healthy women menstruate and women who are seriously ill tend not to.
Many of the primary sources dealt with are not yet accessible in English, and to date research done on this material has appeared only in discrete articles, in several languages, and scattered in various publications. In addition to presenting many original theories, therefore, the book is important in assembling and presenting both original texts and the results of scholarly research on these texts in a way that is fully accessible to the non-specialist.

About this title

Review:

fascinating and closely-argued study (Classical Review)

From the Back Cover:

this is an informative work which makes a significant contribution not only to the history of Greek medicine, but also to our understanding of the place and role of women in Greek society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0198147678
• ISBN 13: 9780198147671
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312