From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordKathairontai literally means they are cleansed or purged, used here for menstruation.
- In this workSoranus records and refutes a claim that menstruation follows a common lunar timing: women are not all purged at the same point, and he observes both earlier and later days, and both waxing and waning phases.
- In this editionSoranus' corrective contrast is strengthened by Kalbfleisch's supplements in the printed Greek.
- A place to readRejects universal lunar synchronization and specifically associates Empedocles with waning moonlight.
Meaning
Kathairontai literally means they are cleansed or purged, used here for menstruation. Katamēnia names the monthly discharge in Aristotle's reproductive report. The vocabulary is physiological and should not automatically be transferred to moral or ritual purification.
Use in the book
Soranus records and refutes a claim that menstruation follows a common lunar timing: women are not all purged at the same point, and he observes both earlier and later days, and both waxing and waning phases. Empedocles is associated with waning moonlight, alongside a related claim assigned to Diocles. The criticism preserves the attribution while rejecting its universality. A8123 gives menstrual flow another role: in Aristotle's account of Empedocles, the heat or coldness of the womb depends on whether the flow is warmer or colder and older or fresher, with consequences for the sex of the developing offspring. This is a distinct causal hypothesis from lunar synchrony. They should not be fused into a complete chain in which a lunar phase reliably determines a child's sex.
Places to read
- A 80 (polemical)Soranus, Gynaecology. Rejects universal lunar synchronization and specifically associates Empedocles with waning moonlight.
- A 81 (polemical)23Aristotle, On the Generation of Animals. Reports menstrual flow as the cause of the womb's thermal condition.
Translation in this edition
Soranus' corrective contrast is strengthened by Kalbfleisch's supplements in the printed Greek. The historical reproductive theories are not medical guidance, and neither notice establishes a modern causal relation between lunar phase and menstrual timing.