Producing Woman: Hippocratic Gynaecology

Abstract

The collection of medical writings associated with the name of Hippocrates has until recently been somewhat neglected as a source for women in the ancient world. In the past, scholars have vigorously debated which, if any, texts in the collection were written by Hippocrates (traditionally C.460--C.370 BC) himself and, consequently, which texts should be assigned to the `school of Cnidos' and which to the `school of Cos' with which the `father of medicine' was associated. Current scholarship has moved away from these topics, accepting that there are wide variations in style and content between the medical texts which were first written down between the fifth and first centuries BC, then circulated widely in various compilations and summaries before being assembled under the name of Hippocrates at some unknown date; perhaps as late as the tenth century AD.1