03-26-2008, 02:08 PM
When I made my edition of Synesius' treatise Dio, I was surprised to read that the good scholar from Cyrene knew that his pregnant wife would give birth to a son. As far as I know, you need to take X-ray photos or similar to establish the gender of an unborn baby.
However, I can not exclude the possibility that in Antiquity (just like today) there were pseudo-scientific theories. I consulted a modern obstetrician, who told me she believed that when ladies experience pregnancies that are different from earlier pregnancies, they may indeed make a reasonable guess that the next baby will have a different gender. She also says that boys are heavier than girls, and that pregnant women sometimes believe that they can feel this.
Leaving the accuracy of these theories aside: what beliefs did the ancients have? Has anyone of us RATs read Dioscorides?
However, I can not exclude the possibility that in Antiquity (just like today) there were pseudo-scientific theories. I consulted a modern obstetrician, who told me she believed that when ladies experience pregnancies that are different from earlier pregnancies, they may indeed make a reasonable guess that the next baby will have a different gender. She also says that boys are heavier than girls, and that pregnant women sometimes believe that they can feel this.
Leaving the accuracy of these theories aside: what beliefs did the ancients have? Has anyone of us RATs read Dioscorides?