The substantial “silence” of Soranus of Ephesus, a famous gynaecologist active in the Trajan-Hadrian period, on the birth of “monstrous” foetuses raises some inescapable questions. According to some scholars, physicians generally did not deal with the subject because they were unable to find concrete cures for these peculiar pathologies, while according to others, the practitioners’ silence was due to the fact that the births of “monstrous” foetuses were only of relevance from a paradoxical and/or mythological point of view, but had no scientific relevance. Now, as much as these motivations may at first glance appear agreeable, both the many references to cases of hermaphroditism, sex change, and male motherhood in the De mirabilibus of Phlegon of Tralles, a freedman of the emperor Hadrian and a contemporary of Soranus, and the “burning” affair of Favorinus of Arelate, a famous rhetorician with an undefined sex and a “fringe” intellectual in the Hadrian age, as well as the sources of law concerning the prevailing sex of the hermaphrodite, his ability to act as a witness in a will and to establish posthumous heirs, must, however, lead us to reflect on the existence of “other” – social, political and juridical – conditioning, which may have influenced Soranus’ “silence” on such a delicate subject as teratology, to which instead Galen of Pergamum – an illustrious physician, much younger than his colleague from Ephesus – reserved even minimal attention, pointing out how the “so-called” hermaphrodites would have aroused the interest of sculptors rather than doctors, in not coincidental chronological concomitance with the types of the “Sleeping Hermaphrodite” and the “Standing Hermaphrodite”, well known through the famous copies conserved in Paris (Louvre, from the Villa Borghese), Rome (Villa Borghese, Museo delle Terme), St. Petersburg (Hermitage, from Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli), London (British Museum), Florence (Museo degli Uffizi), Berlin (Altes Museum).
Il sostanziale “silenzio” di Sorano di Efeso, celebre ginecologo attivo in età traianeo-adrianea, sulla nascita di feti “mostruosi” pone alcuni ineludibili interrogativi. Secondo alcuni studiosi i medici non avrebbero affrontato in genere l’argomento perché incapaci di individuare cure concrete per queste peculiari patologie, mentre secondo altri il silenzio dei professionisti sarebbe dipeso dal fatto che le nascite di feti “mostruosi” avrebbero avuto risalto unicamente dal punto di vista paradossografico e/o mitologico, ma non avrebbero rivestito alcuna rilevanza sul piano scientifico. Ora, per quanto queste motivazioni possano di primo acchito apparire condivisibili, sia i molteplici riferimenti ai casi di ermafroditismo, di cambio di sesso, di maternità maschile nel De mirabilibus di Flegonte di Tralles, liberto dell’imperatore Adriano e contemporaneo di Sorano, sia la vicenda “scottante” di Favorino di Arelate, celebre retore dal sesso indefinito e intellettuale “di fronda” in età adrianea, sia ancora le fonti del diritto concernenti il sesso prevalente dell’ermafrodito, la sua capacità di fungere da testimone in un testamento e di istituire eredi postumi devono tuttavia indurre a riflettere sull’esistenza di condizionamenti “altri” – sociali, politici e giuridici –, che potrebbero aver inciso sul “silenzio” di Sorano in merito ad un tema delicato come quello della teratologia, cui invece Galeno di Pergamo – illustre medico, ben più giovane del collega di Efeso – riserverà una sia pur minima attenzione, segnalando come i “cosiddetti” ermafroditi avrebbero suscitato l’interesse degli scultori piuttosto che quello dei medici, in non casuale concomitanza cronologica con i tipi dell’“Ermafrodito dormiente” e dell’“Ermafrodito stante”, ben noti attraverso le famose copie conservate a Parigi (Louvre, da Villa Borghese), Roma (Villa Borghese, Museo delle Terme), San Pietroburgo (Hermitage, da Villa di Adriano a Tivoli), Londra (British Museum), Firenze (Museo degli Uffizi), Berlino (Altes Museum).
Tra dismorfosi e dissenso: Favorino di Arelate alla corte di Adriano
Margherita Cassia
2023-01-01
Abstract
The substantial “silence” of Soranus of Ephesus, a famous gynaecologist active in the Trajan-Hadrian period, on the birth of “monstrous” foetuses raises some inescapable questions. According to some scholars, physicians generally did not deal with the subject because they were unable to find concrete cures for these peculiar pathologies, while according to others, the practitioners’ silence was due to the fact that the births of “monstrous” foetuses were only of relevance from a paradoxical and/or mythological point of view, but had no scientific relevance. Now, as much as these motivations may at first glance appear agreeable, both the many references to cases of hermaphroditism, sex change, and male motherhood in the De mirabilibus of Phlegon of Tralles, a freedman of the emperor Hadrian and a contemporary of Soranus, and the “burning” affair of Favorinus of Arelate, a famous rhetorician with an undefined sex and a “fringe” intellectual in the Hadrian age, as well as the sources of law concerning the prevailing sex of the hermaphrodite, his ability to act as a witness in a will and to establish posthumous heirs, must, however, lead us to reflect on the existence of “other” – social, political and juridical – conditioning, which may have influenced Soranus’ “silence” on such a delicate subject as teratology, to which instead Galen of Pergamum – an illustrious physician, much younger than his colleague from Ephesus – reserved even minimal attention, pointing out how the “so-called” hermaphrodites would have aroused the interest of sculptors rather than doctors, in not coincidental chronological concomitance with the types of the “Sleeping Hermaphrodite” and the “Standing Hermaphrodite”, well known through the famous copies conserved in Paris (Louvre, from the Villa Borghese), Rome (Villa Borghese, Museo delle Terme), St. Petersburg (Hermitage, from Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli), London (British Museum), Florence (Museo degli Uffizi), Berlin (Altes Museum).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.