Pliny on abortion

Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) was not a Christian but was a Roman with hiher moral
standards than many who li!ed durin his time.
"or e#am$le% e!en thouh in his writin &'he (atural )istory*% he lists some o+ the
methods by whi,h numerous medi,al $ra,titioners at the time used to murder unborn babies% -7

he o$$osed abortion. )e wrote. &/ut say% that in these ,ases it miht be tolerable to set down in
their
boo0s some $oisons. what reason% nay what lea!e had those 1ree0s to shew the means how the
brains
and understandin o+ men should be into#i,ated and troubled2 3hat ,olour and $reten,e had they
to set
down medi,ines and re,ei$ts to ,ause women to sli$ the untimely +ruit o+ their womb% and a
thousand
su,h-li0e ,asts and de!i,es that be $ra,ti,ed by herbs o+ their $ennin2 "or mine own $art% 4 am not
+or
them that would send the ,on,e$tion out o+ the body unnaturally be+ore the due time. they shall
learn no
su,h re,ei$ts o+ me.*
Pliny also re,orded that the medi,al $ra,ti,es o+ the time in the Roman world were able
to abort a baby u$ till the se!enth month o+ $renan,y. -5 'his is e!en thouh su,h late abortions
nearly always also 0illed the mother. -9

According to a study released last year by the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in
Iran, Ancient Persians saw abortion as murder, as "cutting out the roots of life and the
most important blessing of od
aristotle be+ore li+e and sensation% showin that embryos ha!e li+e and sensation would be
today ,om$letely aainst abortion
htt$.66www.a,ademia.edu6-7833936Aristotle9on9Abortion9and94n+anti,ide
hi$$o,rates is his oath will not i!e aents to woman wantin abortion
$ythaoreans li+e bean at ,on,e$tion
alen no dis,ussion o+ ,ontra,e$tion
o!id and sene,a aainst abortion. At $ 9
auustus s$ea0s about the soul o+ li+e im$lanted at ,on,e$tion and 0illin is sub:e,t to death
$-;< o+ $aul ,arri,0 boo0% medi,al ethi,s in the an,ient world.=note this boo0 tries to
,onstrue an,ient authors as early $ro$onents o+ eueni,s to $ro$aate their enlish +olly and
barbarity
ad!o,ates $lato ad!o,ated euthanasia. Re!isionist it.> 3hat is the in!ention o+ the west
with their barbarity and +olly they im$ose on re,o roman ,i!ilisation
!e have thoroughly discussed elsewhere the flaws of "delstein#s interpretation of the $ippocratic
%ath as a Pythagorean manifesto&'()

*oncerning abortion, the %ath 'as translated by "delstein himself) says+

I will not give a woman an abortive remedy&
alen 'photo, left) mentions that ,ycurgus and Solon promulgated laws against abortion and
asserts that their laws were based on the fact that the fetus is a living being&'-) Some historians
believe 'although the record is not clear) that in at least some parts of the ree. world there
were laws against abortion
sourced from the following,
htt$.66www.ha,ienda$ublishin.,om6medi,alsentinel6hi$$o,rati,-oath-abortion-ree0-
homose#uality-and-,ourts
htt$.66boo0s.oole.,om.au6boo0s
sourced from Medical Ethics in the Ancient World
By Paul Carrick
htt$.66en.mu!s.or6to$i,6abortion-in-anti?uity-en6 bias
n the *ommentary of Sopater '/th century A0) there is reference to a wor. about abortion that
may have been written by ,ysias 'c&/123c&-42 5*)+'1)
6here are, in fact, medical and philosophical problems& A medical problem, for e7ample, is the one that
,ysias also considered+ if he who caused a woman to abort committed homicide& 8irst of all, it is
necessary to .now if, before the e7pulsion, 9the fetus: was alive& 6his .ind of thing is for physicians and
natural philosophers 9to decide:&&&'4)
Cicero ';213/- 5*) describes with contempt a case of abortion motivated by greed+
$aving ta.en the money and many gifts, overcome by greed, she sold the promise in her womb that was
entrusted to her by the husband&'<)
$e also reports a case that occurred in Miletus+
I remember a case&&&how a certain woman of Miletus, who had accepted a bribe from the alternative heirs
and procured her own abortion by drugs, was condemned to death+ and rightly, for she had cheated the
father of his hopes, his name of continuity, his family of its support, his house of an heir, and the =epublic
of a citizen3to3be&'>)
?uvenal 'early (nd century A0) decries abortion as the murder of human beings within the womb+
So great is the s.ill and so powerful the drugs of the abortionist who murders human beings within the
womb&';2)
Ovid 'photo, right), not .nown for puritanical principles
concerning se7ual mores, laments the practice of abortion+
Ah, women, why will you thrust and pierce with the
instrument 9literally+ why do you dig with shafts at your
vitals from below: and give dire poisons to your children yet
unborn@&&&6his neither the tigress has done in Aungles of
Armenia, nor has lioness had the heart to destroy her unborn
youngB yet tender woman does it 3 but not unpunishedB oft
she who slays her own in her bosom dies herself& She dies
herself, and is borne to the pyre with hair unloosened, and
all who behold cry out+ "#6is her desert&"';;)
6he passage is of particular interest because it underlines
that it was not only %vid himself who condemned abortion
but "all who behold," that is, the people who are present at
the cremation as well&
Seneca wrote with pride about his own mother+
&&&never, as it was common among other women&&&did you
hide, almost as it were an indecent burden, the tumescent
uterus, nor did you tear out from your viscera the conceived
hopes of children&&&';()
6he most important evidence against general acceptance of
abortion, however, is given by Soranus '><3;-< A0)& 6he
greatest of the ancient gynecologists, in fact, clearly states
that some physicians opposed abortion in all cases because
"it is the specific tas. of medicine to guard and preserve
what has been engendered by nature," and that even those
who were not opposed to it had ethical Cualms and would
allow it only to preserve the health of the mother+
5ut 9concerning abortion: a controversy has arisen& 8or one
party banishes abortives, citing the testi3mony of
Hippocrates who says+ "I will give no one an
abortiveB"';-) moreover, it is the specific tas. of medicine to
guard and preserve what has been engendered by nature&
6he other party prescribes abortives, but with discrimination, that is, they do not prescribe them when a
person wishes to destroy the embryo because of adultery or out of consideration for youthful beautyB but
only to prevent subseCuent danger in parturition&&&And they say the same about contraceptives as well,
and we too agree with them&';/)
%bviously Soranus 'photo, left), while recognizing the
necessity of performing abortion to protect the health of the
mother, ac.nowledges the moral problem by asserting that it
is to be condemned if performed for trivial reasons&';D) 8or
our purpose, it is of interest that he indicates that there were
two factions among physicians and that one of the two felt
that abortion had to be reAected in all cases&';1)
Scribonius Largus, a =oman physician who lived in the first
half of the ;st century A0, states+
Hippocrates, founder of our profession, to inspire human
feelings in the minds of the students, began his instruction
with an oath in which it was decreed that no abortifacient be
given or revealed to a pregnant woman by any physician&
';4)
It is of interest that Scribonius Largus felt that the %ath
was written "to inspire human feelings in the mind of the
students," that is, that it was an ethical code for the
physician&
8inally, in the entire *orpus $ippocraticum, there is but one
prescription for aborting a healthy fetus& 6he case concerned
a danseuse 'owned by a procuress who was a relative of the
author) who allegedly was pregnant for si7 days& 6he author
of the $ippocratic treatise advised the girl to e7pel the
"seed" by leaping so that the heels touched the buttoc.s, the
so3called ,acedaemonian leap&';<)
6he inconsistency between the %ath and the prescribing of the ,acedaemonian leap is easily e7plained&
8irst of all, as it was written by many authors, the $ippocratic *orpus does not show uniformity in all
points& It could very well be that the author of %n the Eature of the *hild had no obAections to abortion&
Second, it must be remembered that, in antiCuity, at least by some, the ,acedaemonian leap was not
considered a means to induce abortion but an "e7pulsive" maneuver+ possible hippocrates forgery
addition
And an "e7pulsive" some say is synonymous with an abortiveB others, however, say that there is a
difference because an e7pulsive does not mean drugs but sha.ing and leaping&&&8or this reason they say
that $ippocrates, although prohibiting abortives, yet in his boo. "%n the Eature of the *hild" employs
leaping with the heels to the buttoc.s for the sa.e of e7pulsion&';>)
In any case, it must be underlined that, besides the ,eap, all other prescriptions in the $ippocratic
*orpus for emptying the pregnant uterus are for the e7pulsion of a
dead, paralyzed or half3developed fetus, in other words, for the
termination of an irreparably compromised pregnancy&'(2)
As for the two passages from Aristotle 'photo, right) and Plato
mentioned by the Supreme *ourt, namely Plato, =epublic, F, /1;B
Aristotle, Politics, FII, ;--Db, (D 'see above), they do not commend
abortion at all as stated by the Supreme *ourt report& Plato#s
passage says that abortion should be induced on fetuses conceived
against the laws of his utopian republic, and Aristotle ma.es it clear
that abortion can be procured before sense and life have begun but
that it would be otherwise unlawful& 6here is nothing, in the two
passages, that suggests that the two authors "commended
abortion&"
It would appear that, in classical times, there were those who did
not obAect to abortion, others who felt it to be Austified only in
certain circumstances, others who were against it in all cases& In
other words, there was a body of opinion, unrelated to Pythagorean
philosophy, that condemned abortion,'(;) and we believe that the
$ippocratic %ath reflected this point of view&'(() 6his being the
case, the Pythagoreans do not need to be called into the picture&
$omose7uality in Ancient reece and the 0enver 0istrict *ourt
Ancient history and behavior were also considered by another court,
this time concerned with homose7uality&
6he 0enver 0istrict *ourt, on the ;/th of 0ecember ;>>-, passed Audgment on"vans v& =omer, generally
called the *olorado amendment ( *ase& 6he case concerned a constitutional amendment on the status of
homose7uals& !e are not going to discuss here the case itself but we will mention that, once again, the
*ourt considered, before passing Audgment, the Cuestion of the degree of acceptance of a specific
practice 'in this case homose7uality) in ancient reece& 6he court received contradictory statements from
the e7perts'(-) and therefore did not mention ree. homose7uality in the final ruling although its
Audgment suggests that it may have accepted as true the myth that homose7uality was common practice
in ancient reece, where, allegedly, it was considered normal behavior& In reality, things were
different.
In discussing ree. male homose7uality'(/) we must begin by clarifying certain basic points+ first of all,
homose7ual relations between adult males, if not "virtually un.nown in ree. homose7uality,"'(D) were
not particularly common and certainly not accepted by societyB'(1) in fact, the ree.s had no
nouns corresponding to "a homose7ual" or "a heterose7ual&"'(4) 6he Cuestion of ree. male
homose7uality is therefore limited to that particular relation that was often established between a boy
and an adult male and that was, if se7ual, pederasty'(<) or, if not, an educational e7perience 'the adult
being an e7ample to emulate) or an initiation ritual&
In our discussion of the main evidence concerning the nature
of the adult3boy relation we will use the terms "protector"
and "protGgG," which, although not devoid of possible se7ual
meaning, do not have as definite a se7ual meaning
as erastes anderomenos,'(>) which have been commonly
used&'-2) 6here is no Cuestion that pederasty was practiced
in ancient reece, but the picture is far from that being a
society where such an activity was approved and pursued as
a matter of course& 8or e7ample, laws against pederasty are
mentioned by several authors 'e&g&, Plato,'-;) ,ysias,'-())B
the most important document about these laws, however, is
Aeschines# 'photo, left) Against 6imarchus, which was
composed in -/1 5*&
An Athenian politician, 6imarchus, was prosecuted under a
law that provided that a citizen who had prostituted himself
to another male 'that is to say, who had accepted
compensation in return for homose7ual use of his body)
could not participate in political life& Aeschines# Against
6imarchusconsists in the principal speech of the prosecutionB
it is of particular interest for our inCuiry because it is chiefly
concerned with homose7ual relations and practices in
contemporary Athens&
6he law invo.ed by the prosecution debarred any citizen who
had prostituted his body to another male from the e7ercise
of civil rights because "the man who has made traffic of the
shame of his own body&&&would be ready to sell the common
interests of the city also&"'--) 6he te7t of the law is as
follows+
If any Athenian shall have prostituted his body, he shall not
be permitted to become one of the nine archons, nor to
discharge the office of priest, nor to act as an advocate for
the state, nor shall he hold any office whatsoever, at home or
abroad, whether filled by lot or by electionB he shall not ta.e
part in debate, nor be present at the public sacrificesB when
the citizens are wearing garlands, he shall wear noneB and
he shall not enter within the limits of the place that has been
purified for the assembling of the people& If any man who has been convicted of prostitution act contrary
to these prohibitions, he shall be put to death&'-/)
Pederasty was also specifically forbidden and harshly punished, not only if practiced with a free3born but
with a slave as well+'-D)
If any Athenian shall outrage a free3born child, the parent or guardian of the child shall prosecute him
before the 6hesmothetae, and shall demand a specific penalty& If the court condemn the accused to
death, he shall be delivered to the constables and put to death the same day& If he be condemned to pay
a fine, and be unable to pay the fine immediately, he must pay within eleven days after the trial, and he
shall remain in prison until payment is made& 6he same action shall hold against those who abuse the
persons of slaves&'-1)
It is also mentioned that "the lawgiver imposes the heaviest penalties if any person act as pander in the
case of a free3born child or a free3born woman"'-4) and that "he commands that procurers, men and
women, be indicted, and if they are convicted, be punished by death&"'-<)
A distinction was made, in terms of degree of societal reAection, between having one or more partners,
and the passive partner in a pederastic relation was considered with contempt+
Eow, fellow citizens, if 6imarchus here had remained with Misgolas and never gone to another man#s
house, his conduct would have been more decent 333 if really any such conduct is "decent" 333 and I
should not have ventured to bring any other charge against him than that which the lawgiver describes in
plain words, simply that he was a .ept man&&&5ut if&&&I refresh your memories and show that he is guilty
of selling his person not only in Misgolas# house, but in the house of another man also, and again of
another, and that from this last he went to still another, surely you will no longer loo. upon him as one
who has merely been a .ept man, but&&&as a common prostitute&'->)
Several other passages in Against 6imarchus refer to the fact that homose7ual acts were considered
shameful and illegalB'/2) in addition, in section ;>D, it is underlined that pederasty was considered
harmful 'in the moral sense) for the people of Athens+
And as for the hunters of such young men&&&command them to turn their attentions to the foreigners and
the resident aliens, that they may still indulge their predilection, but without inAuring you 9the people of
Athens:&'/;)
0emosthenes 'photo, right), who defended 6imarchus,
suggested that the accused could not have prostituted
himself, since his name was not recorded among those 'male
and female) who had to pay the ta7 on prostitution&'/()
Aeschines retorts that the activity of 6imarchus was common
.nowledge, and, therefore, such a defense should not be
considered valid&'/-) !hen the prosecutor realizes that he
himself may be accused of having had relations with boys,
he ac.nowledges them but distinguishes between di.aios
'"legitimate," "honest," "law3abiding") love and erotic love
between protector and protGgG, and even reinterprets the
story of $armodius and Aristogiton'//) in the light of chaste
love+
And Aust here I understand he 9the defense: is going to carry
the war into my territory, and as. me if I am not ashamed
on my own part, after having made a nuisance of myself in
the gymnasia and having been many times a lover 9erastes:
now to be bringing the practice into reproach and danger&
And finally&&&he says he is going to e7hibit all the erotic
poems I have ever addressed to one person or another, and
he promises to call witnesses to certain Cuarrels and
pummeling in which I have been involved in conseCuence of
this habit&
Eow for me, I neither find fault with love that is honorable
9di.aios:&&&I do not deny that I myself have been a lover
9eroti.os: and am a lover to this day, nor do I deny that the
Aealousies and Cuarrels that commonly arise from the
practice have happened in my case& As to the poems which
they say I have composed, some I ac.nowledge, but as to the others I deny that they are of the
character that these people will impute to them, for they will tamper with them&
6he distinction which I draw is this+ to be in love with those who are beautiful and chaste is the
e7perience of a .ind3hearted and generous soulB but to hire for money and to indulge in licentiousness is
the act of a man who is wanton and ill3bred& And whereas it is an honor to be the obAect of a pure love, I
declare that he who has played the prostitute by inducement of wages is disgraced& $ow wide indeed is
the distinction between these two acts and how great the
difference, I will try to show you&&&the free man&&&9is: not
forbidden to love a boy, and associate with him, and follow
after him, nor did the lawgiver thin. that harm came to the
boy thereby, but rather that such a thing was a testimony to
his chastity&&&And so it was that those benefactors of the
state, $armodius and Aristogiton, men pre3eminent for their
virtues, were so nurtured by the chaste and lawful love 3 or
call it by some other name than love if you li.e 3 and so
disciplined, that when we hear men praising what they did,
we feel that words are inadeCuate to the eulogy of their
deeds&'/D)
$e also underlines that heterose7uality is natural and
homose7uality is unnatural+
Eow, when your ancestors distinguished so firmly between
shameful and honorable conduct, will you acCuit 6imarchus,
when he is guilty of the most shameful practices@ 6imarchus,
who is a man and male in body, has committed a woman#s
transgression 'lit&, "error")& !ho among you will then punish
a woman caught in wrongdoing@ !ill it not deserve a charge
of insensitivity, to deal harshly with her who transgressed
according to nature, yet listen to the advice 'in council or assembly) of him who has outraged himself
contrary to nature@'/1)
Although the laws against it constitute the most important evidence indicating that pederasty was neither
accepted nor condoned in Athenian society, other evidence is found in the writings of several authors&
Plato and Aristotle, in some passages, indicate that they considered homose7uality as being against
nature+
!hether these matters are to be regarded as sport, or as earnest, we must not forget that this pleasure
9that is, se7ual pleasure: is held to have been granted by nature to male and female when conAoined for
the wor. of procreationB the crime of male with male, or female with female, is an outrage on nature and
a capital surrender to lust of pleasure&'/4)
5esides those things however which are naturally pleasant&&&there are other things, not naturally
pleasant, which become pleasant either as a result of arrested development or from habit, or in some
cases owing to natural depravity&&&%ther morbid propensities are acCuired by habit, for instance&&&se7ual
perversion& 6hese practices result in some cases from natural disposition, and in others from habit, as
with those who have been abused from childhood&'/<)
In the Pseudo3Aristotle of the Problems we find a description of the alleged physical abnormalities
responsible for the condition+
!hy do some men enAoy se7ual intercourse when they play an active part and some when they do not@ It
is because for each waste product there is a place into which it naturally secretes&&&Aust in the same way
semen passes into the testicles and privates& In those whose passages are not in a natural condition, but
either because those leading to the testicles are bloc.ed&&&or for some other reasons, such moisture flows
into the fundament&&&the semen collects in these parts, so that, when desire comes, then that part
desires friction in which it is collected&&&5ut the naturally effeminate are so circumstanced that little or no
secretion occurs in the place in which it occurs with normal persons, but it is secreted in this region 9i&e&,
the fundament:& 6he reason is that such persons are unnaturally constituted 9para physin sunestasin:B for
though they are male this part of them has become maimed&'/>)
In Polybius 'photo, right) we find+
Agathocles in his early youth was a common prostitute,
ready to yield himself to the most debauched, a Aac.daw, a
buzzard 9lit&, "very lecherous":, who would right about face
to anyone who wished it 9lit&, "place his behind in front of
anyone who wanted it":&'D2)
And Aristophanes says+
$e never was found in the e7ercise3ground, corrupting the
boys+ he never complied !ith the suit of some dissolute
.nave, who loathed that the vigilant lash of the bard should
chide $is vile effeminate boylove&'D;)
Although we have discussed so far only the evidence that in
ancient reece homose7uality was condemned, as we have
mentioned above there is as much evidence, however, that it
was also practiced, sung by poets, and celebrated by artists
'for a review of this evidence, not discussed here for reasons
of space, see *hapter I in the second volume of my $istory
of Medicine'D() and the paper presented at the International
*ongress of $istory of Medicine in Spain in ;>>(&'D-)
All this seems indeed contradictory+ on one hand, in reece,
pederasty was considered illegal, shameful and against
natureB on the other, it would seem that it was commonly
practiced, seen as normal, and declaimed in prose and
poetry& 6o evaluate it, it is necessary to assess the
bac.ground against which the protector3protGgG relation
developed and to e7amine the relation in detail&
6he speech of the prosecutor in Against 6imarchus is of
particular interest because, as he won the case, his points
against pederasty must have been commonly accepted by the average man, that is, by the Aurors& %n the
other hand, the evidence that pederasty was Cuite commonly practiced and was considered normal
behavior, at least by many, is overwhelming& 6he number and variety of documents describing it and
approving of it is too large to be disregarded or considered the unimportant e7pression of the feelings of
few& In addition, in the ancient world, it was widely believed that pederastic love was characteristic of the
ree.s&'D/)
6he picture that emerges is the following+ if we define male homose7uality as the disposition to see.
pleasure by se7ual relations between adult males, then it was neither more common nor more accepted
in reece than in, let#s say, Fictorian "nglandB on the other hand, if we consider pederasty 'a form of
homose7uality defined as the disposition, on the part of a man, to see. pleasure by se7ual intercourse
with a boy as the passive partner), then the picture changes& 6he evidence suggests that, most li.ely, it
was practiced much more freCuently than in our time and, as mentioned above, was considered, by
many, normal behavior&
6he picture, however, of ree. society as a milieu where
pederasty was the rule more than the e7ception and where
its social acceptance was total'DD) appears to be inaccurate&
In ancient reece pederasty was probably considered more
or less as adultery is in our contemporary society+ it is
generally condemned but not only does it e7ists, it is not
e7actly a rarity& In the U&S&, in many states, adultery is still
an illegal activity,'D1) as pederasty was illegal in ancient
reece, but the law is not usually enforced& 6his divergence
between law and practice is well illustrated by Plato 'photo,
left)+
!ere one to follow the guidance of nature and adopt the law
of the old days before ,aius 333 I mean, to pronounce it
wrong that male should have to do carnally with youthful
male as with female 333 and to fetch his evidence from the
life of animals, pointing out that male does not touch male in
this way because the action is unnatural, his contention
would surely be a telling one, yet it would be Cuite at
variance with the practice of your societies&'D4)
Also, to continue the parallel, Aust as in our time adultery is
usually ignored unless it is e7pedient to e7pose it 'e&g&, to
damage the political career of a public figure) in ancient
reece pederastic activities were e7posed for political or
Audicial advantage 'e&g&, in Against 6imarchus)&
%ther characteristics of ree. pederasty were+
a) Although not all relations between protector and protGgG
were se7ual 'see the speech of Aeschines above), to assert,
as some have done, that as a rule there was no se7ual intimacy between the two'D<) is to distort the
evidence&
b) 6he average Athenian condemned pederasty 'as shown by the trial of 6imarchus) and it is probable
that the activity was characteristic of the upper class&'D>) 6his is supported by the passage of
Plato#s Symposium in which, referring to the boys who had been involved in pederastic relations, the
author states that "on reaching maturity these alone prove in a public career to be men&"'12) If indeed
pederasty was more common in the upper class, as the documents that have reached us were written by
members of that class, we may have a somewhat distorted picture of its freCuency and acceptance&
6here is no Cuestion, therefore, that in ancient reece pederasty was practiced and to a certain e7tent
tolerated but it was not commonly accepted as a normal activity, as is often claimed&
$ow abortion and homose7uality were considered in antiCuity had probably no great impact on the
Audgments of the courts in the cases Aust mentioned& !e find it very disturbing, however, that flawed
scholarship in medical history and ethics is used to influence the Audgment of our courts, including the
U&S& Supreme *ourt&
=eferencesHEotes
;& =oe v& !ade, /;2 U&S& ;;-, ;-23;-(, ;>4-&
(& Prioreschi P& 6he hippocratic oath+ a code for physicians, not a Pythagorean manifesto& Medical
$ypotheses, I,IF, //43/1(, ;>>D& See also+ Prioreschi P& 6he hippocratic oath+ a code for physicians, not
a Pythagorean manifesto& Proceedings of the -/th International *ongress of $istory of Medicine,
lasgow, Scotland& 5, /3< September ;>>/, pp& >>3;;D&
-& alen, An animal sit Cuod in utero geritur, v, J III, p& ;4>3;<2& 6he wor. is of uncertain authenticity&
/& 8or a discussion on this subAect, see+ MoKssidGs, "*ontribution L l#Mtude de l#avortement dans l#antiCuitG
grecCue&" ?anus, IIFI, D<3<D, ;>((&
D& Aristotle& Politics, FII, 7iv, ;--Db, (/3(1& In eneration of Animals, it is stated that the fetus is alive
and that it acCuires the "sentient Soul" during its development 'see+ Aristotle& eneration of Animals, II,
iii, 4-1a3b)&
1& !hether the passage can be attributed to ,ysias is debatable, but the te7t is nevertheless of interest
because it suggests 'together with other references to the e7istence of such a document by ,ysias) that,
in ,ysias# time, there were discussions about abortion& 8or a review of the pertinent literature on this
passage see+ "nzo Eardi& Procurato aborto nel mondo greco romano, Milano, iuffrN, ;>4;, pp& <(3;;1&
4& Ouoted by "nzo Eardi, Procurato aborto nel mondo greco romano, Milano, iuffrN, ;>4;, pp& <13<4&
6ranslation by P& Prioreschi&
<& *icero& Pro *luentio, III& "Ouo illa pretio accepto multisCue praeterea muneribus&&&spem illam, Cuam in
alvo commendatam a viro continebat, victa avaritia&&&vendidit&" 6ranslation by P& Prioreschi& 6he
condemnation could be considered as due to the betrayal of the husband#s trust more than to the
abortion itself, but, by calling the fetus "spem" 'that is, hope, prospect, promise of future achievements),
*icero seems to indicate condemnation of abortion per se& 8or a discussion about the designation of the
baby to be born as "spes," see+ "nzo Eardi, Procurato aborto nel mondo greco romano, Milano, iuffrN,
;>4;, pp& -D/3-12&
>& *icero& Pro *luentio, II& 6ranslation of $& rose $odge, 6he ,oeb *lassical ,ibrary, ,ondon, !illiam
$einemann, ;>(4&
;2& ?uvenal& Saturae, FI, D>D3D>4& "6antum artes huius, tantum medicamina possum, H Cuae steriles facit
atCue homines in ventre necandos H conducit&" 6ranslation by P& Prioreschi&
;;&%vid& Amores, II, 7iv, (43(<, -D3/2& 6ranslation by rant Showerman, 6he ,oeb *lassical ,ibrary,
,ondon, !illiam $einemann, ;>(;&
;(& "&&&numCuam more aliarum&&&tumescentem uterum abscondisti Cuasi indecens onus, nec intra viscera
tua conceptas spes liberorum elisisti&&&" Seneca& 0ialogues, Ad $elvetiam matrem de consolatione, III,
7vi, -& Ouoted by+ "nzo Eardi, Procurato ahorto nel mondo greco romano, Milano, iuffrN, ;>4;, p& (/4&
6ranslation by P& Prioreschi&
;-& 6he $ippocratic %ath reads, literally+ "I shall not give a woman an abortive pessary&"
;/& Soranus& ynecology, III, 12& 6ranslated by %wsei 6em.in with the assistance of Eicholsons ?&
"astman, ,udwig "delstein, and Alan 8& uttmacher, 5altimore, 6he ?ohns $op.ins University Press,
;>D1, p& 1-&
;D& 0iscussing the characteristics of the good midwife, he says+ "She must not be greedy for money, lest
she give an abortive wic.edly for payment" 'Soranus&ynecology, I, ii, /& 6ranslated by %wsei 6em.in
with the assistance of Eicholsons ?& "astman, ,udwig "delstein, and Alan 8& uttmacher, 5altimore, 6he
?ohns $op.ins University Press, ;>D1, p& 4)&
;1& *uriously enough, "delstein reads in this passage that Soranus "had little patience with these
colleagues of his," that is, with those who reAected abortion under all circumstances, and that "he
resorted to abortion whenever it seemed necessary, much as he deprecated it if performed for no other
reason than the wish to preserve beauty or to hide the conseCuence of adultery" ',& "delstein, "6he
$ippocratic %ath+ 6e7t, 6ranslation and Interpretation," in+ Ancient Medicine+ Selected Papers of ,udwig
"delstein, edited by %& 6em.in and *&,& 6em.in, 5altimore, 6he ?ohns $op.ins Press, ;>14, p& ;/)& It is
evident that, in this passage, Soranus neither shows "little patience" with those condemning abortion, nor
shows evidence that "he resorted to abortion whenever it seemed necessary, much as he
deprecated&&&etc&" !hat he says is that abortion should not be performed e7cept when the safety of the
mother reCuires it& 6he condemnation in other cases is clear&
;4& "$ippocrates, conditor nostrae professionis, initia disciplinae ab iureurando tradidit, in Cuo sanctum
est, ne praegnanti Cuidem medicamentum, Cuo conceptum e7cutitur, aut detur aut demonstretur a
CuoCuam medico, longe praeformans animos discentium ad humanitatem&" Ouoted in !& $& S& ?ones, 6he
0octor#s %ath& An "ssay in the $istory of Medicine, *ambridge, *ambridge University Press, ;>(/, p& ->&
6ranslation by P& Prioreschi&
;<& %n the Eature of the *hild, IIII, ,ittrG, FII, p& />2& 8or a discussion of this case see+ Plinio Prioreschi,
"OuandoCue bonus dormitat $ippocrates+ Induced abortion and embryos# age in the $ippocratic
*orpus," Acta 5elgica $istoriae Medicinae, F, /, ;<;3;</, ;>>(&
;>& Soranus& ynecology, I, 7i7, 12& 6ranslated by %wsei 6em.in with the assistance of Eicholsons ?&
"astman, ,udwig "delstein, and Alan 8& uttmacher, 5altimore, 6he ?ohns $op.ins University Press,
;>D1, p& 1(& Undoubtedly, to us the ,acedaemonian leap seems to be a prescription for abortion&
(2& 8or a discussion of this topic, see+ "nzo Eardi, Procurato ahorto nel mondo greco romano, Milan,
iuffrN, ;>4<, pp& 4(3<(&
(;& 8or the position of other ancient authors on the Cuestion of abortion, see+ "nzo Eardi, Procurato
aborto nel mondo greco romano, Milano, iuffrN, ;>4;, passim&
((& It has been suggested that, in reality, the $ippocratic %ath does not prohibit abortion but only pesson
phtorion, that is "to7ic 'or damaging, or abortive) pessary" presumably because of the ulcerations that
they may have caused '?ohn M& =iddle, "%ral *ontraceptives and "arly3term Abortifacients during
*lassical AntiCuity and the Middle Ages," Past and Present, Eo ;-(, -3-(, August ;>>;)& In this conte7t,
however, it is Cuite evident that phtorion means abortive and it has been so interpreted since antiCuity
'see, for e7ample, the Cuotation from Scribonius ,argus)&
(-& 8or a discussion of the controversy among e7perts in this case and as an indication of the e7tent to
which scholarship seems to have lost the obAectivity that it enAoyed in the past, see+ ?ohn 8innis,
"#Shameless Acts,# in *olorado, Abuse of Scholarship in *onstitutional *ases," Academic Ouestions, FII,
iv, ;23/;, ;>>/&
(/& !e use the term homose7uality as meaning the preference for persons of the same se7 as se7ual
partners&
(D& 0over J?& ree. $omose7uality& ,ondon, 0uc.worth P *o&, ;>4<, p& ;1& See also+ 5ernard
Sergent, ,#homose7ualitG initiatiCue dans l#"urope ancienne, Paris, Payot, ;><1, p& ;2>&
(1& *ohen 0& ,aw, Se7uality, and Society 6he enforcement of morals in classical Athens, *ambridge,
*ambridge University Press, ;>>;, p& ;4D&
(4& 0over, op& cit&, p& I 'footnote ;)&
(<& 5y pederasty we mean a homose7ual relation between a man and a boy, the latter being the passive
partner, involving various acts which could include intercrural se7 and anal penetration&
(>& 6he ree. word paiderastes means "lover of boys" and is derived from pais, "boy," and erastes,
"lover"B hence the use of erastes '"lover") and eromenos 'the masculine passive participle of eran 333 "to
be in love with&&&", "have a desire for&&&" 333 hence "the one being loved") to indicate, respectively, the
active 'man) and the passive 'boy) in the pederastic relation&
-2& See, for e7ample, eorge 0evereu7, "ree. Pseudo3homose7uality and the #ree. Miracle,#
" Symbolae %sloenses, I,II, 1>3>(, ;>14B 6hor.il Fanggaard,Phallos+ A Symbol and its $istory in the
Male !orld, ,ondon, ?onathan *ape, ;>4(B J& ?& 0over, ree. $omose7uality, ,ondon, 0uc.worth P *o&,
;>4<B 5ernard Sergent, ,#homose7ualitG initiatiCue dans l#"urope ancienne, Paris, Payot, ;><1B $arald
Patzer, 0ie griechische Jnabeliebe, !iesbaden, 8ranz Steiner Ferlag, ;><(&
-;& Plato& ,aws, FIII, <-1c&
-(& ,ysias& %n the Murder of "ratosthenes, -(&
--& Aeschines& Against 6imarchus, (>3-2& 6ranslation of *harles 0arwin Adams, 6he ,oeb *lassical
,ibrary, ;>;>&
-/& Ibid&, p& (;&
-D& 6he protection of slaves from se7ual abuse was undoubtedly wishful thin.ing on the part of the
legislator& It is difficult to see how, in a slave society, se7ual abuse of slaves could be prevented by
legislation& It is of interest, however, that it is often assumed that such legislation did not e7ist& *ohen,
for e7ample says "A man might do whatever he wished with a slave boy or foreignerB this was not the
law#s concern& Sons of citizen families, however, were felt to reCuire the law#s protection to help ensure
their se7ual integrity&" See+ 0avid *ohen, ,aw, Se7uality, and Society+ 6he enforcement of moruls in
classical Athens, *ambridge, *ambridge University Press, ;>>;, p& ;<(&
-1& Aeschines, op& cit&, p&;1&
-4& Ibid&, p& ;/&
-<& Ibid&, p& ;</
->& Ibid&, p& D;3D(&
/2& Ibid&, pp& -, ;>3(2, -(, /2, 4-, <>&
/;& Ibid&, p& ;>D&
/(& Ibid&, p& ;;>&
/-& Ibid&, p& ;(<3;-2&
//& $ipparchus, brother of the tyrant $ippias, wanted to become the lover of $armodius who was loved
by Aristogiton '6hucydides, $istory of the Peloponnesian !ar, FI, lvi3li7)& 6he two lovers conspired to .ill
both $ipparchus and $ippias but succeeded in .illing only $ipparchus 'D;/ 5&*&) losing their life in the
attempt& !hen $ippias was e7pelled in D;;H;2 5&*&, $armodius and Aristogiton became popular heroes&
/D& Aeschines, op& cit&, pp& ;-D3;-4, ;->, ;/2&
/1& Aeschines, Against 6imarchus, ;<D& 6ranslation by J& ?& 0over, in J& ?& 0over, ree. $omose7uality,
,ondon, 0uc.worth P *o&, ;>4<, p& 12&
/4& Plato& ,aws, 1-1c& 6ranslation by A& "& 6aylor in+ 6he *ollected 0ialogues of Plato, edited by "dith
$amilton and $untington *airns, Princeton, Princeton University Press, ;>1-& 6he same passage is
translated by =& & 5ury ',oeb *lassical ,ibrary) as follows+ "!hether one ma.es the observation in
earnest or in Aest, one certainly should not fail to observe that when male unites with female for
procreation the pleasure e7perienced is held to be due to nature, but contrary to nature when male
mates with male or female with female, and that those first guilty of such enormities were impelled by
their slavery to pleasure&"
/<& Aristotle& Eicomachean "thics, FII, v, ;3-& 6ranslation by $& =ac.ham, 6he ,oeb *lassical ,ibrary,
;>->& 6he ree. te7t ton aphrodision tois arresin, translated by =ac.ham as "se7ual perversion," literally
means "se7ual pleasure with males&"
/>& Aristotle& Problems, IF, (1 '<4>b)& 6ranslation by !& S& $ett, ,oeb *lassical ,ibrary, ;>D-&
D2& Polybius& 6he $istories, III, ;D, ;3-& 6ranslation by !& =& Paton, 6he ,oeb *lassical ,ibrary, ;>(D&
D;& Aristophanes& 6he !asps, ;2(/3;2(4& 6ranslated by 5enAamin 5ic.ley =ogers, 6he ,oeb *lassical
,ibrary, ;>(/&
D(& Prioreschi P& A $istory of Medicine, Fol& II, ree. Medicine, %maha, $oratius Press, ;>>1&
D-& Prioreschi P& and 5rehm "& Male homose7uality in ancient reece, Proceedings of the IIIIIIrd
International *ongress of $istory of Medicine, ranada, Spain, September ;>>(, pp& ;;-43;;D<&
D/& *icero& 6usculan 0isputations, IF, 777iii, 42& 6he Fulgate 'II Maccabees, IF, ;() says+ "&&&et optimos
CuosCue ephoeborum in lupanaribus ponere," that is, "&&&and to put the noblest young men in brothels&"
DD& 6his was the position, for e7ample ,of Siegerist& See+ $enry "& Siegerist, A $istory of Medicine,
%7ford, %7ford University Press, ( vols&, ;>D;, ;>1;, II, pp& (;>3((;&
D1& reen =& iswold#s legacy+ fornication and adultery as crimes& %hio Eorthern University ,aw =eview,
IFI, D/D 3D/>, ;><>&
D4& Plato& ,aws, FIII, <-1c& 6ranslation by A& "& 6aylor, in+ 6he *ollected 0ialogues of Plato, edited by
"dith $amilton and $untington *airns, Princeton, Princeton University Press, ;>1-&
D<& ?& A& J& 6homson 'ree.s and 5arbarians, ,ondon, eorge Allen P Unwin ,td&, and Eew Qor., 6he
Macmillan *ompany, ;>(;, pp& ;4/, ;4D, ;41) states that pederasty was chiefly a 0orian vice practiced
in Athens by a tiny minority among the upper classes, and that the association of older and younger
friends was a noble thing& $e then adds+ "that it sometimes san. in the mire is no more than can be said
of modern love&"
D>& Sergent 5& ,#homose7ualitG initiatiCue dans l#"urope ancienne, Paris, Payot, ;><1, p& ;2(&
12& Plato& Symposium, ;>(a& 6ranslation by !& =& M& ,amb, 6he ,oeb *lassical ,ibrary, ;>-(&
0r& Prioreschi is a Professor of Pharmacology and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at *reighton
University in %maha, Eebras.a, and the author of $istory of Medicine'%maha, Eebras.a, $oratius Press,
;>>D&) $is address is *reighton University, School of Medicine, 0epartment of Pharmacology, 0ivision of
$istory of Medicine, *alifornia Plaza, %maha, E" 1<;4<3222;&
%riginally published in the Medical Sentinel ;>>4B('()+D/312&
6he illustrations used in this article came from a variety of sources and did not appear in the Medical
Sentinel& 6hey were added here for the enAoyment of the readers at $aciendaPublishing&com&
*opyright R;>>4 Association of American Physicians and Surgeons&
Qour rating+ Eone Average+ D '1 votes)
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Comments on this post
Homosexuality medical and practical considerations
Submitted by %rval 6isbe on August ((, (2;- 3 (+-1pm&
6here are two ways of loo.ing at homose7uality, if by that term is meant se7ual attraction
and behavior toward those of the same se7+ seeing it as an inherited biological phenomenon and seeing it
as a learned phenomenon& 6hese two ways are not mutually e7clusive but for the sa.e of the argument it
would be useful to consider them separately& If homose7uality represents an inborn biological trait, from
a purely medical perspective, it can only be seen as a pathological one& In clinical medicine any biological,
i&e& not consciously chosen, condition that interferes with the process of reproduction is considered to be
an aberration& "7amples include various causes of infertility in both se7es, hormonal disturbances leading
to absent or low se7ual drive, erectile dysfunction, and the numerous SparaphiliasT that displace the focus
of se7ual desire to such an e7tent that normal se7ual life becomes impossible& 6hat psychiatry chose in
the ;>42Us to reclassify homose7uality from a pathological condition to an essentially normal one says a
great deal about the forces that operate with regard to what is and is not considered disease in that field&
6his appears to have been a politically and culturally motivated decision and not one consistent with a
medical understanding of normal reproduction& PsychiatryUs uneven application of medical principles to
diagnostic considerations has created some curious situations& 8or e7ample, homose7ual behavior, which
displaces the focus of se7ual attraction from a woman to a man is considered normal, while voyeurism,
which displaces the focus of se7ual attraction from the act of being intimate with a woman to the act of
secretly watching a woman disrobe is considered pathological&
,eaving biology aside and seeing homose7uality as a learned behavior ta.es homose7ual behavior out of
the medical arena and places it in a moral conte7t& After all, one is free to act or not to act in a certain
manner and all our actions are subAect to being seen as right or wrong& 6he current societal propensity
for moral relativism would have us Cuestion the very notion of right and wrong but this notion is
impossible to escape, even for the moral relativists, most of whom seem to thin. that a stance of moral
relativism is right while that of moral absolutism is wrong& And so, even if one does not choose to have
homose7ual impulses, one does choose to engage in homose7ual behavior, and it is behavior that is
subAect to moral Audgement& !e do, after all, Audge and condemn the child molestor who acts on urges
that are also involuntary& It is clearly up to individuals and to society at large to form a moral opinion of
homose7ual behavior& 6o *hristians, ?ews, and Moslems there is no great moral Cuestion about
homose7ual behavior as all three religions clearly identify it as sinful and against the law of od& %ne
would thin. that a practically minded secularist would also be prone to see homose7uality if not morally
wrong, then at least undesirable& After all, why should society approve of behavior that threatens its own
survival by destroying ideal conditions for creating and raising children@ 5ut wait, we are tal.ing about
the same society that approves of women in combat, easy divorce, abortion, delayed childbirth, single
parenthood, etc& !ell, perhaps there is currently a shortage of practically3minded secularistsV
6he homose7ual propagandist is busy convincing the world that the homose7ual urge is biological but not
abnormal and that homose7ual behavior is voluntary but not morally wrong& 6his view contradicts the
medical understanding of biological conditions that interfere with normal reproduction as well as religious
and practical3secular considerations& As 0r& 8aria pointed out, even in ancient reece, male
homose7uality was a tolerated vice but not an Salternative lifestyleT that was in any way considered on
par with normal family life& "ven in those times it would have not occurred to anyone to suggest that two
men could be married to each other because marriage was rightly understood to be a socially sanctioned
union between a man and a woman for the chief purpose of creating and raising children& 6hat the idea of
marriage between two people of the same se7 is becoming reality in our society is itself a sign of a
pathology which, if not addressed, may bring about a condition for which there is no longer any cure&
,ogin or register to post comments
Homosexuality in ancient !ome
Submitted by 0r& Miguel A& 8aria on August (D, (2;- 3 /+->pm&
Mr 6isbe has written another insightful commentary on this subAect in reference to medical and
practical considerations& %nce again I ta.e the historical point of view on this hot topic&
As homose7uality 'or as contemporary culture refers to, "being gay" or different se7ual orientation)
has become a subAect of discussion for reasons recently mentioned here by the thoughtfuls poster
Po
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%rval 6isbe and letter writer 0avid *& Pruden, I have added my usual perspective& 6his time
homose7uality in ancient =ome& 6his post is in fact the result of previous electronic conversations I
have had on the subAect&
0espite the fanciful $ollywood movies or sensationalizing and desensitizing popular literature, neither
the ancient =omans in the =epublican period or during the "mpire condone homose7uality& 8easts,
banCuets, wine freely flowing 'usually watered down), music, conversation, even erotic
entertainment and the e7pected "battle of the se7es" in different guises were ingredients present in
the culture of the higher classes, but pederasty and homose7uality were notB se7ual deviations were
only tolerated later during the "mpire epoch in a few emperors, and at least three of them were
assassinated& 6wo of them were young depraved emperors& %ne was *aligula, who became a
paranoid tyrant, abused the Senate, and engaged in bise7uality and incest& $e died in the hands of
his own Praetorian uard& 6here was also the effete "mperor "lagabalus, related to the $ouse of
"mperor Septimius Severus, another young and depraved gay "imperator," who actually solicited
from his balcony and hardly ruled for his eccentricity and homose7ual preoccupation& $e was deposed
and assassinated in a palace coup with the connivance of his grandmother, ?ulia Maesa, and his aunt,
?ulia Mamaea, who as .ing3ma.ers placed the more congenial and heterose7ual Ale7ander Severus,
"lagabalus# cousin, on the throne&
I have already mentioned "mperor $adrian in another post& $omose7uality in the ancient =oman
=epublic, was considered and abomination and e7isted only under wraps& !hen it was noted, it was
blamed on the conCuest of reece and the feminizing influence of $ellenism upon =oman society,
something that was feared by *ato the Stoic and his great3grandfather, *ato the *ensor& ree.s, it
was said, practiced it at all levels of society& According to Professor Prioreschi, homose7uality was
probably practiced in ancient Athens, at about the same rate that heterose7uals engage in adultery
today, and may have carried about the same stigma with the general public&
Unfortunately, male homose7uality also lowered the status of women in ancient ree. and $ellenistic
societies& 6he =oman pater familiae treated their women well, some of them actually ruled over their
SpatriarchalT husbands& 6he na.ed truth is that ancient ree.s considered the women second3class
citizens, only better than slaves, and females were relegated to the bac., secluded portions of their
homes& It was not so in =ome&
*ato the *ensor, a plebeian soldier, scholar, politician, and statesman, decried ree. homose7ual and
aesthetic influences on =oman youth as early as the (nd century 5&*& Much of what the =omans
learned in philosophy, aesthetics, and the arts, which was good, came from reece& 5ut the =omans
also learned from the ree.s 'particularly, after the conCuest of reece and the $ellenistic .ingdoms)
about lu7ury and hedonism, as well as se7ual incontinence and pederasty 'i&e&, overt man3boy se7ual
relations), which were corrosive poisons to the =epublic and then the "mpire&
6he achievements of the =omans were in military discipline, law, the writing of history, and
engineering marvels 'i&e&, construction of bridges, aCueducts, roadsB the use of concrete, arches,
vaults, domes, etc&, for constructing monumental structures, techniCues later rediscovered and used
in building impressive othic cathedrals and universities in the Middle Ages, and Eeoclassical
museums, colleges, government buildings, etc& in the modern age&
I doubt if by the time of the formation of the =oman "mpire, or even after the second century A&0&,
pederasty and homose7uality were accepted or practiced at the same rate as it is found today in the
more tolerant and permissive modern world& 6hus, historical evidence points to cultural factors,
se7ual tolerance, and preference 'se7uality in vogue) as being important factors in the development
of homose7uality& I personally believe innate genetic or biological factors also play a role&
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Homosexuality in ancient "reece
Submitted by 0r& Miguel A& 8aria on August (;, (2;- 3 1+(Dpm&
At a conversation sometime bac. in the Macon 6elegraph Fiewpoints forum, a person, insisted,
"Ale7ander the reat, the greatest general was gay& So why should not gays serve in the military@"
I replied that it was very simplistic and an anachronistic statement to say that Ale7ander the reat was
gay, and support a policy in the military without consideration of other factors, such as the differences in
ancient ree. culture and modern society, not to mention the faulty maAor premiseW I addressed the
faulty maAor premise as follows+
It is true that iconoclastic and modern haters of raeco3=oman civilization, which sadly includes a great
swath of politically correct 'P*) modern historians, who really .now better but pander to film ma.ers, so
that they can ma.e it in those documentary history films, be Cuoted as authorities, and be used to
illustrate political agendas may affirm such claim and use such simplistic and shallow terminology&
Moreover, assigning gayness 'faddish euphemism for homose7uality) to Aust everyone in antiCuity X from
Ale7ander the reat to ?ulius *aesar X is in vogue in the conversation of pretending pseudo intellectual
circles&
And there is a thread of truth to the assertion, only because through much of ancient reece,
homose7uality in the form of male pederasty became fashionable and many older ree. philosophers,
even politicians, paraded their toy boys down the agora, the Platonists too. them to the Academy, and
the peripatetics perhaps to the ,yceum X although in truth, pederasty was not universally admired or
condoned by Plato, Aristotle, or the stoics& And according to Professor Plinio Prioreschi, who penned the
article above, ree. homose7uality was rebu.ed by the population at large, at least mildly in Aust about
the way we may be critical of adultery today&
5ut these ree. pederasts or "bise7uals," had families and procreated children, and they were primarily
heterose7ual, although it is true that they .ept their wives in oriental seclusion& 6he =omans, on the
other hand, brought the women out of seclusion, abhorred homose7uality for going against nature, and
punished male homose7uality with death, particularly in the army& ,ater, during the "mpire, many of their
emperors, including the great $adrian, were e7empted from social or se7ual mores, and they succumbed
to the ree. vice, which is what Plutarch 'A&0& /13;(2) and $erodotus called it&';)
In fact, $erodotus himself a ree. philosopher and the 8ather of $istory c& /</Y/(D 5*), wrote in his
masterpiece,"$istories," that the Persians learned pederasty from the ree.s, "from us, they learned to
go to bed with boys&" '() And yes, Ale7ander III did have his toy boy, $ephaestion, for whom he
mourned with e7aggerated grief, but he also had a wife =o7anna and numerous concubines& And he
married all his generals to marry foreign princesses to spread goodwill and $ellenistic culture&
6he fashionable pederasty in Athens, Sparta 'where it was legal and encouraged in the army), Ionia, and
elsewhere in the Mediterranean';,() is clearly historic evidence that the incidence of homose7uality,
particularly bise7uality or male pederasty, may not be solely inherited but also learned and cultural&
6o another disputant in our forum I recommended the second and third tomes of !ill 0urant, 6he $istory
of *ivilization, the S,ife of reeceT 'ree. civilization) and S*aesar and *hristT '=oman civilization) for a
comprehensive overview of history& And to pursue this subAect with modern historians, I also suggested
Sarah 5& PomeroyUs boo., Soddesses, !hores, !ives, and Slaves+ !omen in *lassical AntiCuity,T as well
as Eorma ,orre oodrichUs boo., SPriestesses&T ree. women were mostly subAugated but =oman women
sometimes ruled the pater familiae and were the power behind the throne in the household and in
political affectation&'-)
6he latter two boo.s, both by female professors are very readable and describe not only ree. social
mores but also the related view on women and se7ual practices& I was also Cuestioned intriguingly 'or
beguiling @) regarding "my feelings on gayness in terms of the humanity#s collective unconscious&"
Although I have read several printed volumes and articles on psychoanalysis by 0r& *arl ?ung, the very
author of the concept of "collective unconscious," I had found little on this subAect that would influence
me one way or the other&
$is magnum opus, Psychology of the Unconscious ';>;D), which I have read and annotated e7tensively
deals with cultural archetypes and personal rebirths as the basis for the cultural mythology, the fear of
death, development of mental illness, and the unconscious see.ing of immortality X even the yearning
for the return to the mother#s womb, achieve entrance in the cycle of rebirth, and attaining immortality&
'/)
Sigmund 8reud, who I have also read e7tensively and ta.en notes on his wor.s, deals with the
unconscious, se7ual repression, ego protective mechanisms X and all derived from mostly studying
repressed Fictorian womenW 8or both ?ung and 8reud, as psychoanalysts who could not ignore the subAect
of homose7uality, the aberration, of course, had a basis on the unconscious associated with guilt,
repression, abnormal deviation, and abnormal adaptation&
In conclusion, this article was written by one of the still3living medical historians who dealt with ancient
ree. homose7uality obAectively as it relates to the modern world, Professor Plinio Prioreschi, M&0&, Ph0&,
from the renown and historic University of Pavia& $e taught more recently at *reighton University in the
U&S& $e has written several tomes on medical history and has addressed this topic at some length, as
seen in this article& As to my personal views, the "proclivity" to male homose7uality is inborn but can be
influenced and modified by culture and morality&
As to the ancient =omans, they abhorred and banned homose7uality because it went against the nature
of thingsB to the ancient ree.s of higher social status, pederasty was fashionable and since they thought
women were inferior, acceptable, only mildly sanctioned by society with a slap of the wrists, and so it
flourished in reece but not in =epublican =ome X MA8
=eferences
;) Plutarch# ,ives of the reat ree.s and =omans ';>/() with ?ohn 0ryden 'translator) and revised by
Arthur $ugh *lough& 6he Modern ,ibrary 'a 0ivision of =andom $ouse)& Eew Qor.&
() 6he !orld of $erodotus ';>1() by Aubrey de SGlincourt& ,ittle 5rown and *o& Page ;>1& =ead also
*hapter ;1, pages ;D<3(2(& Aubrey de Selincourt ';<>/3;>1(), the classical ree. and ,atin scholar and
translator, not only translated $erodotus# $istories but also of Arrians# 6he *ampaigns of Ale7ander and
,ivy#s histories of =ome&
-& 8aria MA& *aesar#s !omen X Mc*ullough#s Idolatry and Politics in Ancient =ome& $aciendapublishing
August ;/, (2;-& !ednesday, August ;/, (2;- Available
from http+HHwww&haciendapub&comHarticlesHcaesars3women3Z"(Z<2Z>/3mcculloughs3&&&
/& ?ung *& Psychology of the Unconscious ';>;D)& "aston Press "dition& Eorwal., *onnecticut& ';>>D)
!e recommend another article by 0r& Prioreschi posted here+
http+HHwww&haciendapublishing&comHmedicalsentinelHonward3obscurantism