The pioneer physician Euryphon and his method for determination of the female infertility in ancient Greece

Dear Sir,

Euryphon, from Cnidos in Greece (c. 5th century bc), was among the pioneers to have used the obstetric stool (Greek: μαιϵυτικό δίϕρo) during the common obstetric examination, as well as vaginal fumigation as a diagnostic or therapeutic method (Skevos 1914). His main diagnostic purpose was to determine whether the examinee female was able to conceive and give birth. His method was simple, and primarily requested that the woman should lie down on an obstetric stool. A fumigation of the woman's vagina with odorous substances, such as garlic, rue (Ruta graveolens) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) then followed. If the odour of the burned substances was transmitted through the body's mechanisms to the mouth of the examinee, and the woman could taste the very essence of the fumed herbs, the physician could conclude that she was able to conceive and give birth to a child. In the case of a ‘failed journey’ of the odours, when the woman could not sense nor taste the herbs inside her mouth, then the diagnosis was that of serious and permanent damage of the female genitalia, rendering the female patient unable to be impregnated and consequently as infertile (Skevos 1914; Soranus 1927). While Euryphon used this method before Hippocrates, it is a certainty that it was not a newly discovered practice. The vagina's fumigation, and the use of the obstetric stool were most probably widespread medical tools among the physicians and the midwives of the era. Euryphon was the one who systematised and enriched the fumigation process with various herbs, and used it alongside the obstetric stool during the daily practice (Skevos 1914; Soranus 1927). Euryphon's fumigation became a well known and trusted method and it remained active among the medical community until at least the 7th century ad. Aëtius of Amida (fl. mid-5th century to mid-6th century) used exactly the same method, enriching it with the deposition of an intravaginal pessary (Greek: ϵνδoκoλπικός πϵσσός) of garlic during the night, in order to establish the diagnosis of an infertile woman (Aëtius 1909; Pournaropoulos 1931). Cleopatra Metrodora (c. 7th century ad) also adopted it, using Aëtius’s variant (Kouzis 1945). Euryphon's method was scientifically inexplicable, but it had been performed in such a way that endured for centuries to come. While philosophers, physicians and midwives used and wrote on this specific method, Euryphon became a forgotten name, lost in the flow of time to a point of non existence, still looking for his rightful place in the history of medicine.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.