Events at Reed

March 9, 2015

Lecture: Helen King, “Ancient Greek Gynaecology for Beginners: Wine, Women, and Pongs”

Monday, 4:30 p.m., Vollum lounge

How did ancient medicine answer the fundamental questions about the sexed body? How far are women different from men, and how should medicine take this into account? In this lecture, Helen King, Professor of Classical Studies at the Open University of the United Kingdom, will introduce the strange world of ancient women's medicine and the remedies for women's diseases, including scent therapy. Further, Dr. King will demonstrate why diagnoses and remedies such as the "wandering womb" and the beetle pessary, which no longer make sense to us, made perfect sense to the ancient Greeks, and she will investigate how men and women interacted in accounting for disease and in proposing cures. Dr. King focuses her research in ancient medical thought and has written on the use of classical models in nursing and midwifery, with particular interest in the classical origins of “hysteria.” Sponsored by the Reed Department of Classics, the Division of Literature & Languages, and the Dean of the Faculty's office.

greek women medicine

Add to Calendar 03/09/2015 16:30 03/09/2015 18:00 America/Los_Angeles Lecture: Helen King, “Ancient Greek Gynaecology for Beginners: Wine, Women, and Pongs” View details at http://www.reed.edu/events/posts/2014-15/lecture-helen-king.html Reed College Reed College Events events@reed.edu false MM/DD/YYYY