Owners of their Own Bodies: Women’s Magic and Reproduction in Greek Inscriptions

This chapter explores epigraphic evidence attesting what ancient Greek women knew about the use of magic for controlling fertility.1 Compared with the literary texts, epigraphy displays a wider array of social interactions in which women were leading protagonists. While undoubtedly there are challenges involved in working with such sources, inscriptions, when available, are crucial for better understand- ing the active female contribution to family health care. Yet scholars interested in ancient women and medicine have not fully explored Greek inscriptions, particu- larly those on curse tablets and amulets. Although inscriptions such as the oracular tablets from Dodona, the healing miracle stories from Epidauros, and the dedica- tions from the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia at Athens have been considered together with the Hippocratic treatises (Flemming 2013, 581–8), curse tablets and amulets remain confined to the desks of historians of religions. Yet these two genres of documents can contribute significantly to the scholarly search for evi- dence of women’s knowledge of reproduction as expressed in healing rituals.