Hippocrates' Woman

Hippocrates' Woman presents an arresting study of the origins of gynaecology, an exploration of how the interior workings of the female body were understood and the influence of Hippocrates' theories on the gynaecology of subsequent ages.

Zusatztext 'King's eye for detail turns an intellectual feast into scintillating entertainment.' - Times Literary Supplement'This is a fine contribution which is interesting whether approached from a localised interest in the history of science or from a broader concern with gender and social change.' - London Review of Books'King provides a scholarly elucidation of the central importance of social and cultural factors in shaping medical practice and! conversely of medical practice in shaping the very definition - and experience - of what it is to be human.' - Sibyl'It will nevertheless appeal to...medical historians and in particular to those wiith an interest in Women's Studies.' - C F Salazar! University of Cambridge Informationen zum Autor Helen King is a Wellcome Trust Research fellow and Lecturer in the Departments of Classics and History at the University of Reading. Her wide range of publications on women and medicine includes Hysteria Beyond Freud (1993). Klappentext Gynecology in ancient Greece originated in the myth of the first woman Pandora, whose beautiful appearance was seen to cover her dangerous insides. This book explores how Greek healers understood the interior workings of the female body, and how gynecology was based on ideas about women and their bodies found in myth and ritual. Helen King also presents a detailed account of how doctors twisted ancient Greek texts into ways of controlling women's behavior, and how later medicine diagnosed hysteria and recommended clitoridectomy by claiming ancient Greek origins which never existed. "Hippocrates' Woman" provides a provocative insight into the origins of gynecology and the influence of the early study and medical texts on later medical practices. Zusammenfassung Hippocrates' Woman presents an arresting study of the origins of gynaecology, an exploration of how the interior workings of the female body were understood and the influence of Hippocrates' theories on the gynaecology of subsequent ages. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction; Chapter 1 Constructing the Body; Chapter 2 Deceitful Bodies, Speaking Bodies; Chapter 3 The Daughter of Leonidas; Chapter 4 Blood and the Goddesses; Chapter 5 Asklepios and Women's Healing; Chapter 6 What Does Medicine Mean?; Chapter 7 Reading the Past Through the Present; Chapter 8 Gender and the Healing Role; Chapter 9 Imaginary Midwives; Chapter 10 Green Sickness; Chapter 11 Once Upon a Text; concl Conclusion;...

Autorentext
Helen King is a Wellcome Trust Research fellow and Lecturer in the Departments of Classics and History at the University of Reading. Her wide range of publications on women and medicine includes Hysteria Beyond Freud (1993).

Klappentext

Gynecology in ancient Greece originated in the myth of the first woman Pandora, whose beautiful appearance was seen to cover her dangerous insides. This book explores how Greek healers understood the interior workings of the female body, and how gynecology was based on ideas about women and their bodies found in myth and ritual. Helen King also presents a detailed account of how doctors twisted ancient Greek texts into ways of controlling women's behavior, and how later medicine diagnosed hysteria and recommended clitoridectomy by claiming ancient Greek origins which never existed.

"Hippocrates' Woman" provides a provocative insight into the origins of gynecology and the influence of the early study and medical texts on later medical practices.

Zusammenfassung
Hippocrates' Woman presents an arresting study of the origins of gynaecology, an exploration of how the interior workings of the female body were understood and the influence of Hippocrates' theories on the gynaecology of subsequent ages.

Inhalt
Introduction; Chapter 1 Constructing the Body; Chapter 2 Deceitful Bodies, Speaking Bodies; Chapter 3 The Daughter of Leonidas; Chapter 4 Blood and the Goddesses; Chapter 5 Asklepios and Women's Healing; Chapter 6 What Does Medicine Mean?; Chapter 7 Reading the Past Through the Present; Chapter 8 Gender and the Healing Role; Chapter 9 Imaginary Midwives; Chapter 10 Green Sickness; Chapter 11 Once Upon a Text; concl Conclusion;