Olympias of Thebes

Olympias of Thebes was a Greek midwife who lived in the first century B.C.E.^[1] She was also a writer.^[1] She was distinguished among the ancient Greeks for her medical writings and medical ability.^[2][3]

Pliny wrote that Olympias stated that mallows "with goose grease ... cause abortion" and that she could cure a type "of barrenness. . . by bull's gall, serpents' fat, copper rust and honey, rubbed on the parts before intercourse".^[1]

It is also likely that Dioscorides knew about her work.^[1]

References

1. Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie; Joy Dorothy Harvey (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. Taylor & Francis. pp. 962–. ISBN 978-0-415-92040-7.
2. James Read Chadwick (1879). The Study and Practice of Medicine by Women. A.S. Barnes & Company. pp. 444–.
3. Jessie Boucherett. The Englishwoman's review (of social and industrial questions) [ed. by J. Boucherett].