Megan Galeski

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Shaw, Carl

Area of Concentration

Classics with Chemistry Seconary Field

Abstract

This thesis will examine the foundations of Western Medicine as derived from the Hippocratic Corpus. It will outline those ethical frameworks which Hippocrates innovated. Further, it will examine how ancient physicians failed to apply these guidelines to their female patients, particularly when treating uniquely female conditions. Since modern medicine traces its development to the work of Hippocrates, these inequities in women’s healthcare still exist. Additionally, this thesis will present that despite the heavy reliance on Hippocratic teachings, medicine could have avoided carrying forward this ancient misogyny. It will do this by examining Soranus of Ephesus, a first century CE Roman physician, whose writings addressed many of the failings of Hippocrates. Although there has been little attempt to separate Soranus’ work from the Hippocratic background, one of his greatest works, Gynecology, clearly demonstrates an unusual respect for women and midwives. This thesis will use primary textual evidence to assert that Soranus’ writings represent a revolutionary advancement in medical practice at the time. If his revelatory teachings were carried through history as Hippocrates’ have been, women’s medical treatment would almost certainly be much more equitable today.

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