Women hold up half the sky

Women play an important role in society. Educating women is equal to educating society. Educated women can contribute to the economic development of the country and act as role models for the younger generation.

Here is the story shared on Facebook about Agnodice who cut her hair and entered Alexandria medical school dressed as a man.

In ancient Greece, women were forbidden to study medicine for several years until someone broke the law. Born in 300 BCE, Agnodice cut her hair and entered Alexandria medical school dressed as a man. While walking the streets of Athens after completing her medical education, she heard the cries of a woman in labor. However, the woman did not want Agnodice to touch her although she was in severe pain, because she thought Agnodice was a man. Agnodice proved that she was a woman by removing her clothes without anyone seeing her and helping the woman deliver her baby.

The story would soon spread among the women and all the women who were sick began to go to Agnodice.

The male doctors grew envious and accused Agnodice, whom they thought was male, of seducing female patients. At her trial, Agnodice stood before the court and proved that she was a woman but this time, she was sentenced to death for studying medicine and practicing medicine as a woman.

Women revolted at the sentence, especially the wives of the judges who had given the death penalty. Some said that if Agnodice was killed, they would go to their deaths with her. Unable to withstand the pressures of their wives and other women, the judges lifted Agnodice’s sentence, and from then on, women were allowed to practice medicine, provided they only looked after women. Thus, Agnodice made her mark in history as the first Greek female doctor, physician, and gynecologist. This plaque depicting Agnodice at work was excavated at Ostia, Italy.

Staff Reporter