Menstrual Bleeding according to the Hippocratics and Aristotle
Since Classical Greeks did not dissect human bodies, they had very little evidence on how the female body functioned and the differences between the male and female body organs. Aristotle and Hippocrates each had their own beliefs and ideas on what they thought was the correct structural anatomy and physiological functions of the female body parts. Their formulated theories were “influenced by societal assumptions of the female’” (Dean-Jones, pg 177) and they recorded, through observations, the amount, frequency and consistency of menstrual blood from females. This article, by Leslie Dean Jones, explores Aristotle’s and the Hippocratic’s differing theories on the purpose of menstruation and what they considered to be normal healthy menstruation versus pathological menstruation.
Both the Hippocratics and Aristotle believed that the purpose of menstruation was for women to discharge any extra “unused nourishment” that they had absorbed and retained. They also believed that the female body was one big gland that was loosely textured, spongy, and porous which produced lots of extra fluid in the body that needed to be excreted. The Hippocratics state that a healthy woman produces two kotyls (one pint) of blood in a course of 2–3 days when menstruating, and that any deviations indicates that the woman is unhealthy and infertile. Aristotle, on the other hand, never states exactly what he considered to be a normal volume of blood, only that the flow was heavy.
When it came to the frequency of menstruation, Aristotle believed that all women released their blood at the coldest time of the month (a waning moon) and he states that those women who did not follow that pattern were merely exceptions. The Hippocratics seem to disagree with each other on this. Some texts agree with Aristotle’s theory that menstruation and the moon correlated with each other while other Hippocratic’s did not support the theory. However, they all agreed that there had to have been some sort of regulation of the menstrual cycle.
Clearly, in hindsight, some of the claims that were made were irrational and somewhat strange, however there must have been some driving force that led them to these beliefs. The way we view the male and female body now is completely different than how the ancient doctors viewed it then. When Aristotle claimed that women menstruated synchronously with each other (were on the same cycle) and for the same amount of time, he said that the menstrual cycles corresponded to the lunar cycles and therefore the lunar cycle controlled the menstruation period. What are some of the reasons as to why he and others would believe this? What about the women who didn’t follow the pattern and were “the exceptions”?
Also, the ancients mention that the normal menstruation length was 2–3 days with a discharge of 2 kotyls (1 pint) of blood and that any deviations from this meant the woman was ill or infertile. How does this relate to today? What is the normal menstruation length today (if there is one)? Could those numbers actually have been the norm at the time but we just happened to deviate/evolve? (maybe hormones, drugs, birth control, more active lifestyle?)
Source:
Dean-Jones, Lesley. “Menstrual bleeding According to the Hippocratics and Aristotle.” Transactions of the American philological Association journal of Social History. 1989, 119:177–192
