Metrodora facts for kids
Metrodora (Ancient Greek: Μητροδώρα, romanized: Mētrodōra) was possibly the author of an ancient Greek medical text, On the Diseases and Cures of Women (Περὶ τῶν Γυναικείων παθῶν τῆς μἠτρας). She is known from a single Byzantine manuscript. The manuscript, in the collection of the Laurentian Library in Florence, is a collection of writings on medical topics; the first part, attributed to Metrodora, focuses on obstetrics and women's medicine.
If Metrodora existed, she would be one of only two ancient women (along with Cleopatra the Physician) to have a surviving medical text attributed to her. Her dates are disputed: scholars' suggestions range from the first to the sixth century AD, and the latest possible date is the composition of the Laurentian manuscript in the tenth or eleventh century. Her name is also disputed; some scholars have suggested that Metrodora was a pseudonym or even the misinterpretation of the title of her work.
On the Diseases and Cures of Women
On the Diseases and Cures of Women is a medical text preserved as part of a miscellany on a single manuscript, codex 75.3 from the Laurentian Library. The manuscript dates to the late tenth or early eleventh century, is authored by three different hands, and was probably compiled in southern Italy. The codex measures 110 x 170 mm, and comprises 263 leaves. There are between 25 and 27 lines of text on each page.
The text was first published by Aristotle Kousis in 1945. The surviving manuscript collects various writings on medical topics.
At some point the Greek text of On the Diseases and Cures of Women was translated into Latin, and it was misattributed to Cleopatra. This was apparently due to a note included with one of the text's recipes, saying that it was used by Cleopatra. This Latin translation was published in 1566 by Caspar Wolf, but all manuscripts have been lost.
Identity of Metrodora
The identity of Metrodora, if she existed, is unknown. Storti identifies three possibilities:
- Metrodora was a medical author whose excerpts were included in the Laurentian manuscript.
- Metrodora was both the author of the first portion of the manuscript, and the anthologist who compiled the collection of extracts which makes up the remainder of the text.
- Metrodora was the title of a work misinterpreted as a name.
Along with Cleopatra the Physician, Metrodora is one of only two ancient women to have a surviving medical text attributed to her. Assuming that she existed, her date can only be identified as no later than the compilation of the Laurentian manuscript in the late-tenth or early-eleventh century. Scholars have argued for dates from the first to sixth centuries AD, with the sixth century being the most common.
Kousis and Giorgiou del Guerra both date Metrodora to the sixth century, on the basis of the extracts from Alexander of Tralles at the end of the Laurentian manuscript. However, Congourdeau argues in the introduction to her French translation of the Laurentian manuscript that it is a compilation, that only the first section is by Metrodora, and therefore the date of Alexander of Tralles does not help date Metrodora. Other authors have suggested earlier dates: Ian M. Plant puts Metrodora in the second century AD, and Holt Parker dates her to between the first and fifth centuries. Irene Calà and Giulia Maria Chesi argue that Metrodora was active in the earlier part of this period, and suggest that she worked in Alexandria.
Legacy
Metrodora was included in Judy Chicago's Heritage Floor, associated with the place-setting for Hypatia in The Dinner Party. A mural outside the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona which depicts women scientists from history includes Metrodora. The Metrodora Institute, a women's health clinic, and Metrodora Ventures, a venture capital fund founded by Chelsea Clinton which invests in health- and education-related businesses, are both named for Metrodora.
See also
In Spanish: Metrodora para niños
