Agnodice's Legacy

Agnodice’s legacy is a very peculiar one, and whether it is true or not has been debated over and over, time and time again. Any and everything we know about her life comes from the Latin author, Gaius Julius Hyginus. He wrote her story in his collection titled, “Fabulae”, which is the only surviving record of her existence. Fabulae roughly translated can mean “fable” or “story”, hinting that Hyginus’ accounts of Agnodice’s life and accomplishments have a possibility of being fictional. Even the name, Agnodice, translated from Ancient Greek means “chaste before justice.” This is another reason some believe that Agnodice is a mythical character created by Hyginus, as giving such characters names that coincide with their tale was done commonly
She was born to a wealthy family into the very patriarchal society of Athens, Greece. Men dominated every aspect of Greek life. They were the doctors, lawyers, government officials, and women were just… women. They had a sort of restricted free will; they did not share the same rights as men at this time. It is well-known that, “women were prohibited… from ever ‘achieving the status of fully autonomous beings’… she could not inherit property or engage in any but the most small scale business transactions.” (Radek-Hall) Often women were not even allowed to leave their home without the permission of the man of the house. Legally, women were seen as the property of their fathers, and when they were married off they became the property of their husband. The misogyny that was so prominent in Greek culture was enforced by law as well, not just by societal standards. Agnodice grew up in the midst of all of this and she knew that change was
Originally, she was a wive’s tale; only the women knew of her. Then, the doctors of Athens noticed that her — or rather, “his” — services were in high demand among all these women who had adamantly refused any help from doctors in the past. It was suspicious to them that these women would only trust Agnodice, especially because the men were ignorant to her secret. “...They accused Agnodice of seducing their patients. They also claimed that the women had feigned illness in order to get visits from [her].” (“Agnodice