Elisa Groff: To Be, or Not to Be Sterile: that is a Question of Wellbeing in the Sixth Century AD

In Book 16 of his Tetrabiblos, the Byzantine physician Aetius of Amida (6thc.) differentiates distinctly between the sterile and the infertile woman. He conceptualises sterility not asa disease but as a range of facts that affect body and mind,as a condition that makes men and/or women temporarily incapable of conceiving, and as one that can be also medically induced by contraceptives (atokía) in women who cannot delivery safely. He diagnoses infertility, however, as a permanent condition for which a woman is not able to bring a pregnancy to term.Strikingly,the therapy in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) prescribed by Aetius includes along with bodily therapies, the restoringof an overall state of physical, mental and emotional wellbeing in both the man and the woman.Therefore this paper will focus on Aetius’ chapters 16.16 about the woman “who is unfit to conceive”and 16.26 “On the causes for which men and women may not conceive”.The discussion of the contents will demonstrate the complexity of Byzantine medical approaches to SRH and suggest links between sixth-century health care and modern concerns.