Agnodice

Ancient Greece's first recorded female physician who challenged gender norms in medicine

In 4th century BCE Athens, Agnodice disguised herself as a man to study medicine when women faced execution for practicing healing arts. As chronicled by Hyginus, she specialized in gynecology and revealed her gender to patients, becoming wildly popular among Athenian women.

When male physicians accused 'him' of seducing patients, Agnodice lifted her tunic in court—a capital offense for exposing female identity. This daring act sparked protests from her female patients, forcing Athens to legalize women in medicine. Her story, though debated by historians, became a feminist symbol during the Renaissance.

Agnodice's legacy inspired 17th-century midwifery reforms and appears in Christine de Pizan's City of Ladies. Modern scholars like Mary Beard cite her as early evidence of gender role subversion in classical antiquity.