by Dr. Chiara Blanco (Newcastle University)

The academic conference ‘The Epistemology of Ancient Embryology’ took place over three days from the 1st to the 3rd of July 2024 at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge in a hybrid format, and it included a total of 14 speakers and a peak of 53 attendants (22 in person and 31 online) from all over the world.

The conference explored ancient theories concerning the formation and development of the embryo, and how ancient physicians and philosophers sought to address this complex issue by applying their own doctrines and beliefs. This latter, particularly fascinating, aspect entailed a discussion of a plethora of different methodological solutions adopted by ancient thinkers, from analogies mostly based on artifacts, plants and other animals, to cosmological and mathematical calculations. Thus the conference provided a platform to compare different ancient views about the topic, while highlighting connections and the development of such ideas in the ancient world; its epistemological angle, along with its focus on interactions between different authors, which went beyond Classical antiquity, and also embraced ancient Egypt and China, constitutes a true novelty for the field.

Caterina Pellò (Geneva) opened the conference with a paper discussing some of the most relevant aspects of Presocratic embryology, such as the nature of the generative seed and resemblance, with a particular focus on Parmenides and Democritus, followed by Nathasja Roggo-van Luijn (Mainz), who discussed the use and relevance of analogies in the Hippocratic corpus, with a particular emphasis on Diseases of Women 1, On Generation and On the Nature of the Child. George Kazantzidis (Patras) continued the discussion of Hippocratic embryology with a specific focus on the role of marvel and precision in medical accounts, and how they affect the treatises’ narrative plot, by addressing the specific case of the seven-month foetus; Vishnya Knezhevich (Belgrade) investigated Philolaus’ embryology by positioning his view within ancient Greek embryological debates and through a comparison with Hippocratic literature. Alesia Preite (Heidelberg) presented an account of Platonic embryology as inferred from the Timaeus, by examining the relevance of marrow and its relation with the soul.

Four foetal positions in uterus – Full-figure anatomy of pregnant woman labelled with ailments, Wellcome Collection, via Wiki:Media Commons

With Nora Woodcock (Princeton) and Mariska Leunissen (North Carolina, Chapel Hill) the focus of the discussion shifted to Aristotelian embryology: Woodcock investigated the role of eggs in Aristotle’s biology by comparing it with that of the uterus, whereas Leunissen gave an account of the influences of female knowledge of embryology, both through experience and old-wives tales and superstitions, on Aristotelian biological works. Aistė Čelkytė (Leiden) examined Neopythagorean embryological theories, thus introducing a new ancient methodological framework for the study of the embryo, that is mathematical calculations.

Sophia Connell (Birkbeck University of London) examined the complex account of Galen’s reproductive gynaecological theories, while seeking to unpack the multiple sources of his information, from medical hearsay, to Hippocratic influence, which betray the author’s lack of observation. George Karamanolis (Vienna) investigated the issues pertaining early Christian beliefs about the soul of the embryo, which also entails ethical issues, and in particular the question as to whether the human soul is present from the time of conception. Chiara Blanco (Newcastle) explored medical and biological influences on first-century BCE Roman poet Lucretius, and how he merges Hippocratic and Aristotelian theories with his own atomistic philosophical framework. 

Anne Behnke Kinney (Virginia) and Lisa Raphals (University of California Riverside) explored embryological theories from ancient China; Kinney explored cosmological influences on the development of the foetus and how they affect notions of medical, social, and ritual practice; starting from an examination of recently excavated Chinese texts on embryology from the fourth, third and second century BCE, Raphals examined the relevance of factors of time, space and nurture in birth prognostication, which entails issues of fortune, nature and character. Finally, Cathie Spieser (Fribourg) focused on embryological theories in ancient Egypt, such as the conception of the embryo as an egg and the representation of life development through a matrix vase, by showing their interaction with ancient Greek knowledge.

The conference ended with a final discussion led by the organisers which involved speakers and attendants alike and reiterated the main preliminary results and most relevant observations which emerged from the conference, along with multiple connections between the different papers, and provided the first step towards the publication of the conference proceedings. The crosspollination of ideas within ancient Greece, between Greece and Rome, and even beyond, proved the existence of fertile ground for a broader interdisciplinary discussion about ancient medical, philosophical and mathematical theories, narrative style and the use of analogies, and methodology more broadly, which will be the object of our volume.