Salpe
Salpe is a first-century BC Greek midwife whose work is known through the writing of Pliny the Elder.[1]
Pliny's account
Salpe was a Greek midwife, or obeterix, from Lemnos.[1][2] Her name is Greek, and it was also the name of a fish.[1] Salpe's medical remedies were described by Pliny the Elder, and he is the single source for knowledge about Salpe.[1][2] Atheneus also wrote about a Salpe who came from Lesbos and wrote paignia, or frivolous works. It is possible that these are the same person.[1]
Salpe's remedies
Pliny described Salpe's remedies for sunburn, stiffness, dog bites and sore eyes.[1] He also includes information on an aphrodisiac, a depilatory cream, and a way to stop a dog from barking.[1] Two of her key ingredients are saliva and urine, both were believed to have both natural and supernatural powers.[1] Salpe is often likened to Laïs, as they both agreed on the magical powers of menstrual fluid against rabies and intermittent fevers.[1][2] The mix of herbal cure and belief in the magical potency of certain substances is typical of medicine of the time.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Plant, edited by I.M. (2004). Women writers of ancient Greece and Rome : an anthology (University of Oklahoma Press ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 115–116. ISBN 0806136219.
- 1 2 3 Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (1986). Women in science : antiquity through the nineteenth century : a biographical dictionary with annotated bibliography (2. print. ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 156. ISBN 026215031X.