Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

The People 91
age. The following semihumorous sepulchral inscription in mock
heroic verse testifies to the enduring bond that existed between a
nurse and her former charge:
Mikkos looked after Phrygian Aischre [the name means something like
“Commoner”] all her life, even in old age. When she died he set up this
monument for future generations to see. Thus the old woman departed
from this life, having received due recompense for her breasts.
Unwanted Babies
Despite the keen desire for children, inevitably some pregnancies
were unwanted. One solution was abortion. Although the Hippocratic
Oath contained a prohibition against giving a pessary to
cause an abortion, it is unclear whether the ban was primarily due
to ethical or medical considerations. Moreover, the oath did not ban
abortion altogether, and there is a famous passage in a Hippocratic
text entitled the Nature of the Child, in which a prostitute is encouraged
to jump up and down, while kicking her buttocks with her
heels, in order to expel the fetus (13.1). Abortion would have been
extremely dangerous, particularly if surgery were employed, not
least because of the risk of infection. Soranos recommended it only
if a woman’s life was in danger. The Greeks also had to contend
with the fear of the polluting effect of an aborted fetus. A sacred
law from the sanctuary of Artemis in Kyrene, for instance, decreed
that “if a woman has a miscarriage or abortion when the fetus is
fully formed the household is polluted as if by death [i.e., heavily],
whereas if it is not fully formed, the household is polluted as if by
childbirth [i.e., lightly].” Aristotle, who advocated performing an
abortion only “before the fetus received life and feeling,” seems to
Baby’s feeding bottle. The inscription reads,
“Drink, don’t drop!”