Maternidad, aborto y ciudadanía femenina en la antigüedad

Abstract

Recently, investigations have been focused with great interest in the history of genre, with special attention on demographic control. However, it is the existence and the effectiveness of these control methods what is being analyzed, rather than their hidden meaning. In a general approach to the abortion and contraception in the ancient world, when infanticide was not rare, it will be examined the relationship between maternity and female citizenship, as well as the importance of reproduction either as the physical act itself or as an instrument to fully manage the society. In order to do so it is necessary to study, not only legal or medical books dealing with abortion, but also a whole series of documents linked to the construction of the concept of female in Antiquity. The ambiguous relationship between maternity, abortion and infanticide helps us understand women in that period, their society and eventually even ours.