Hermaphrodites and the understanding of sexual difference in the early seventeenth century

  • Palmira Fontes da Costa (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Centro Interuniversitário de História da Ciência e Tecnologia
Keywords: hermaphrodites, history of medicine, Rodrigo de Castro, Caspar Bauhin, Jean Riolan

Abstract

In this paper, I compare the ways in which three seventeenth-century physi-cians, Rodrigo de Castro, Caspar Bauhin and Jean Riolan, dealt in their works with the anatomical and social problems posed by the hermaphroditic body. I show that early seventeenth-century medical discourses on hermaphrodites have recourse to a diverse synthesis of theories, sources and medical cases and that they are influenced by cultural anxieties over the disruptive power of sexual ambiguity.

Published
2021-06-16