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Hippocrates: Excision of the Fetus

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Excision of the Fetus is a brief surgical and obstetric text of the Hippocratic Corpus, the collection of Greek medical writings transmitted under the name of Hippocrates of Cos. It describes procedures for removing a dead fetus that cannot be delivered normally, including dismemberment within the womb, and then turns to other difficulties in childbirth, such as shaking the patient to aid delivery and treating prolapse of the womb.

This short work is a stark witness to the dangers of childbirth in antiquity and to the limited means physicians had to save the mother when labour failed. It belongs with the Hippocratic gynaecological writings and helps show how Greek doctors approached obstetric emergencies with manual and mechanical techniques.

About this edition. The Greek text comes from the Eulogikon open corpus of public-domain editions (standard reference: Littré VIII). Every word has been analyzed with odyCy, a neural language model for Ancient Greek — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from the Liddell–Scott–Jones Greek–English Lexicon (LSJ).

Ancient Greek · Science & Medicine
Excision of the Fetus
Hippocrates · every word parsed
1
Ἢν οὖν ἐξίσχῃ τὴν χεῖρα τὸ ἔμβρυον πλάγιον παραπεσὸν, τῆς χειρὸς ἐπιλαβόμενος προάγειν ἔξω ἐπιχείρει ὡς μάλιστα, παραδεῖραι δὲ τὸν βραχίονα, καὶ ἀποψιλώσας τὸ ὀστέον, ἰχθύην περίδησον περὶ τοὺς δακτύλους τῆς χειρὸς τοὺς δύο, ὅκως μὴ ἀπολισθάνοι ἡ σάρξ· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὸν ὦμον περισάρκισον καὶ ἄφελε κατὰ τὸ ἄρθρον· ἔπειτα τὴν κεφαλὴν κατὰ φύσιν παρώσας, ὑπεξάγειν ἔξω τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ἐμβρύου· τῷ δὲ δακτύλῳ τὸ ἔμβρυον εἴσω ἀπῶσαι· ἢ μαχαιρίῳ διὰ τῶν πλευρέων ἢ διὰ τῆς κληῗδος, ὅκως τὴν φῦσαν ἀφῇ καὶ ξυμπέσῃ τὸ ἔμβρυον καὶ ἡ ἔξοδος αὐτέῳ εὐπετεστέρη ᾖ· τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν, ἢν μὲν δύνησαι κατὰ φύσιν ἔξω ὦσαι· ἢν δὲ μὴ, ξυμφλάσαι, καὶ οὕτως ὑπεξαγαγεῖν ἔξω τὸ ἔμβρυον. Ἔπειτα θερμῷ πολλῷ καταχέας καὶ ἀλείψας ἐλαίῳ, κατακεῖσθαι κελεύειν ἐπαλλάξασαν τὼ πόδε, καὶ μεταπῖσαι οἶνον γλυκὺν καὶ λευκὸν κεράσας εὐζωρότερον, καὶ ῥητίνην, μέλιτι διατρίψας, μίξας τῷ οἴνῳ, διδόναι πιεῖν· τὰ δʼ ἄλλα θεραπεύειν ὥσπερ λεχὼ, κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα. Ὅταν δὲ τῇ τικτούσῃ γυναικὶ πλάγιον παραπέσῃ τὸ ἔμβρυον, γίνεται δὲ ὁκόταν στρέφηται τοιόνδε, ὁ ὀμφαλὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον περιελίσσεται καὶ ἐπίσχει τὴν ἔξοδον τοῦ ἐμβρύου, καὶ ἐς τὸ ἰσχίον ἐπεμβάλλει τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ ἡ χεὶρ ὡς ἐπιτοπουλὺ ἔξω γίνεται. [5]
Ἢν μὲν οὖν ἤδη τεθνηκὸς ἔξω γένηται, τοῦτο προσημαίνει· ᾗσι δὲ μὴ ἔξω ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ ἐμβρύου, ὡς ἐπιτοπουλὺ ζῇ τὸ ἔμβρυον· κίνδυνος δὲ καὶ οὕτως. Ἔνιαι δὲ καὶ τὰ λόχια πρὸ τοῦ ἐμβρύου ἀφιᾶσιν, ὥστε ἀναγκαῖον τὴν ὠδῖνα ξηρὰν εἶναι καὶ ἐπίπονον· ὅσαι δὲ τὰ λόχια μὴ προκαθαίρονται, ῥᾷον ἀπαλλάττουσιν ἐν τῷ τόκῳ.
Ἀνασείειν δὲ δεῖ ὧδε· σίνδονα ὑποστορέσαντα, ἀνακλῖναι τὴν γυναῖκα, καὶ ἑτέρην ἐπιβαλεῖν ὅκως ἂν τὸ αἰδοῖον κεκρυμμένον ᾖ, καὶ περικαλύψαι περὶ ἑκάτερον τὸ σκέλος τὴν σίνδονα καὶ περὶ ἑκάτερον τὸ γυῖον· γυναῖκας δὲ δύο λαβέσθαι τοῦ σκέλεος ἑκατέρου, καὶ τῆς χειρὸς ἑκατέρης ἑτέρας γυναῖκας δύο· ἔπειτα διασείειν λαβούσας ἐγκρατέως, μὴ ἔλασσον ἢ δεκάκις· ἔπειτα δὲ ἐς κλίνην ἀνακλῖναι τὴν γυναῖκα ἐπὶ κεφαλήν· τὰ δὲ σκέλεα ἄνω ἔχειν, καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας πάσας λαβέσθαι τοῖν σκελέοιν, ἀφείσας δὲ τὰς χεῖρας· ἔπειτα σείειν πολλάκις ποιεῖν τὰς γυναῖκας ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους, ἀναβολὰς ἐπὶ τὴν κλίνην, ὅκως ἐς τὴν εὐρυχωρίην ἐπανασεισθὲν τὸ ἔμβρυον στραφῇ καὶ δύνηται ἐπὶ φύσιν ἰέναι. Καὶ ἢν ἔχῃ δίκταμνον κρητικὸν, μεταπῖσαι δός· εἰ δὲ μὴ, κάστορος ἐνεψῆσαι τῷ οἴνῳ χίῳ. Ἢν δὲ αἱ ὑστέραι ἔξω χωρέωσι, ἤν τε ἐκ πόνου, ἤν τε ἐκ τόκου, ἢν μὲν οὖν παραλάβῃς νεωστὶ παθούσας, ἄξιον ἐπιχειρεῖν· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἐῇν. [10]
5
Ποιέειν δὲ χρὴ ὧδε· ἐπιταμὼν τὸν ὑμένα τῆς ὑστέρης κατὰ φύσιν καὶ κατὰ πλάγιον, τρῖψαι ὀθονίῳ ὡς φλεγμαίνῃ, κᾆτα ἀλείψας φώκης ἐλαίῳ ἢ πίσσῃ, καταπλάσας ἅμα κυτίνοισι, καὶ μαλθακοὺς σπόγγους οἴνῳ ῥήνας, προσθεὶς, ἀναδῆσαι ἐκ τῶν ὤμων· καὶ ἀνακείσθω ὡς ἀνωτάτω τὰ σκέλεα ἔχουσα, ἐσθιέτω δὲ σιτία μέτρια. [5]
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Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Liddell, Scott & Jones (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: odyCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
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