Object

Group publication title:

Almanach Historyczny

Abstract:

Παιδίον μὲν γὰρ οὐδεμία ποτὲ γυνὴ λέγεται ποιῆσαι δίχα κοινωνίας ἀνδρός – according to popular belief, no woman is ever able to conceive a child without the help of a man, according to Plutarch, who can hardly be considered an expert on the subject. Although in the ancient world it was universally believed that both men and women were needed for reproduction and that each played their own role in conceiving a child, infertility was usually blamed on the woman, although men whose wives had not become pregnant for a long time might have felt some anxiety. In a patriarchal society where the primary purpose of marriage was to produce a legal offspring, all available methods and means were used to cure genital diseases and treat impotence, including seeking not only human but even divine help. In my paper I will try to present both medical and social aspects of male infertility. For this purpose, I will use both iconographic sources (exvota), such as the texts of Lucretius, Martial, Juvenal, Pliny, Gargilius, the advice preserved in the Cyranides collection, as well as the opinions of the greatest physicians of the time, namely Soranus, Celsus and Caelius Aurelianus.

Place of publishing:

Kielce

Physical description:

s. 11-23

ISSN:

1642-4530

Publisher:

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach

Date issued:

2023

Identifier:

doi:10.25951/11118

Language:

angielski

Is part of:

Almanach Historyczny

Has part:

t. 25

Type:

tekst

Format:

application/pdf