Witches, Disgust, and Anti-Abortion Propaganda in Imperial Rome
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23201277 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Debbie Felton (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Pages | 189-202 |
| Publication date | 2016-11-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Ancient Emotion of Disgust (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190604110.003.0010 |
| OpenAlex | W2571741288 |
| ISBN | 9780190604110 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
Witches in Roman literature exhibit a predilection for harming infants in utero. Descriptions connecting witches with the womb express even more disgust than stories about witches killing young children and present the witch as the antithesis of a midwife: rather than helping children be born, witches prevent birth. Roman authors emphasize their physical filthiness, providing a stark contrast to the hygienic mindfulness of midwives as described in ancient medical texts. Although such passages foreground the bestial, uncivilized nature of witches, these disgusting descriptions also add to the marginalization of elderly women in Roman society and evoke a feeling of horror that then becomes subliminally attached to abortion. Abortion was not technically illegal in ancient Rome, but the state strongly disapproved of it. Depicting witches as perversions of midwives added to the propaganda against the practice and may have provided a precedent for medieval depictions of the midwife as witch.
Abortion · Anger · Antithesis · Art · Disgust · Feeling · Literature · Pregnancy · Witch · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Psychology · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Social Psychology · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,43 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2023 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |