RLS029 Gynaecology in the Ancient World

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jana Steklá, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jana Steklá, Ph.D.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 10:00–11:40 C33, except Mon 21. 4. to Sun 27. 4.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! KR029 Gynaecology in Ancient World
Nejsou potřeba žádné speciální znalosti či vědomosti, orientace v antické historii je výhodou.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course aims to provide students with the possibilities of ancient medicine regarding a woman´s body in the course of her reproductive life from menarche to menopause and with the medical and philosophical knowledge of the human reproductive system.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student will be familiar with Greek and Roman medicine, with the medical knowledge regarding woman´s body and with the main problems of the reproductive system which ancient people were afflicted.
Syllabus
  • 1. The topics of the lectures, ancient medicine, its influence, kinds of physicians and healers.
  • 2. Rational medicine: physicians, texts, gynecological treatises.
  • 3. Physicians and their she-patients: who cured women, the duties of the physician, relation of the physician with women.
  • 4. Anatomy of the female reproductive system
  • 5. Menstruation and sexual intercourse.
  • 6. Pregnancy and birth.
  • 7. Pathology during pregnancy, complications in the parturition, miscarriages.
  • 8. Infertility.
  • 9. Breastfeeding.
  • 10.-11. Regulation of the childbearing: contraception, abortion, infanticide.
  • 12.–13. Other diseases of the reproductive system
Literature
    recommended literature
  • FULÍNOVÁ, Eliška, Roman FIGURA, Vojtěch HLADKÝ, Tereza LIEPOLDOVÁ and Anton MARKOŠ. Aristotelés o plození živočichů. Červený Kostelec: Pavel Mervart, 2022, 460 stran. ISBN 9788074655555. info
  • LAQUEUR, Thomas Walter. Rozkoš mezi pohlavími : sexuální diference od antiky po Freuda. Edited by Martin Pokorný. První české vydání. Praha: Univerzita Karlova, nakladatelství Karolinum, 2017, 355 stran. ISBN 9788024634715. info
  • HIPPOKRATÉS. Vybrané spisy. Edited by Sylva Fischerová, Translated by Hynek Bartoš. První vydání. Praha: Oikoymenh, 2012, 604 stran. ISBN 9788072983926. info
  • KING, Helen. Hippocrates' woman : reading the female body in ancient Greece. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 1998, xvi, 322. ISBN 0415138949. info
  • DEAN-JONES, Lesley. Women's bodies in classical Greek science. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994, ix, 293. ISBN 0198150466. info
    not specified
  • HIPPOKRATÉS. Vybrané spisy. Edited by Hynek Bartoš - Sylva Fischerová. První vydání. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 2018, 752 stran. ISBN 9788072985067. info
  • KING, Helen. The one-sex body on trial : the classical and early modern evidence. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013, xii, 274. ISBN 9781409463351. info
  • HIPPOKRATÉS. Hippocrates. Translated by Paul Potter. First published. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1995, 412 stran. ISBN 9780674995314. info
  • HIPPOKRATÉS. Hippocrates. Translated by Paul Potter. First published. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988, xiv, 324. ISBN 9780674995222. info
  • HIPPOKRATÉS. Hippocrates. Translated by Paul Potter. First published. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988, xv, 293. ISBN 9780674995208. info
Teaching methods
lectures, discussions, reading and analysis of Greek and Latin medical texts in Czech translation
Assessment methods
Written text (open and multiple choice questions), 65% success rate required.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
https://elf.phil.muni.cz/24-25/course/view.php?id=747
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2026.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/RLS029