Straightening the Uterus with Epicurus

Abstract

Despite Lucretius’ observations about fertility and marriage at the end of book 4, the Epicurean view on procreation is to a great extent still uncharted territory, due to the shortage of textual evidence other than Lucretius. An important, but often neglected source of information can be found in the few remaining columns of the, unfortunately rather badly preserved, Herculaneum papyrus PHerc. 908/1390, conventionally known as the treatise On Procreation. This paper aims to draw attention to the Gynecological treatise of Soranus of Ephesus as a hitherto unnoticed textual parallel for col. 6-7 of our papyrus. Additionally, I will use these columns to shed some light on the background for Lucretius’ observations in DRN 4.1263-1277, where he discusses the importance of adopting the proper coital position during intercourse.