From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Womb
μήτρα
mētraMētra is the womb, the place of gestation in the selected physiological report.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMētra is the womb, the place of gestation in the selected physiological report.
- In StobaeusThe account associated with Aristotle and Hippocrates discusses offspring emerging after seven or nine months, linking viability with fullness and nourishment.
- In this edition“Womb” is clear; “uterus” is a more anatomical equivalent without changing the ancient theory.
- A place to beginThe womb and umbilical nourishment organize the account of gestational development.
- English renderings
- womb; uterus
Meaning
Mētra is the womb, the place of gestation in the selected physiological report.
Use in the book
The account associated with Aristotle and Hippocrates discusses offspring emerging after seven or nine months, linking viability with fullness and nourishment. The womb provides the setting, while the umbilical connection supplies nourishment. The report’s claims about timing are part of ancient physiology and should retain their historical attribution.
Places to read
- I.42.13.1The womb and umbilical nourishment organize the account of gestational development.
Translation in this edition
“Womb” is clear; “uterus” is a more anatomical equivalent without changing the ancient theory.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 296. “Womb” is the adopted correction from the parallel tradition. The report names those associated with Aristotle and Hippocrates rather than quoting an identified work by either.
From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Womb
μήτραι (mētrai); ὑστέραν (hysteran); τῆς μήτρας (tēs mētras)
Mētra and hystera both designate the womb in these testimonies.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMētra and hystera both designate the womb in these testimonies.
- In this workAristotle places Empedocles among those who locate sex differentiation in the womb: what enters a hot womb becomes male, a cold one female, with the thermal condition attributed to menstrual flow.
- In this editionAristotle's criticism of a merely thermal difference between sexes is his argument against the attribution, not part of Empedocles' own explanation.
- A place to readReports sex differentiation through the womb's heat or coldness.
Meaning
Mētra and hystera both designate the womb in these testimonies. Their different forms occur in reports of thermal conditions, fetal containment, and anatomical obstruction. The terminology belongs to the witnesses' prose and does not establish a systematic distinction between two organs.
Use in the book
Aristotle places Empedocles among those who locate sex differentiation in the womb: what enters a hot womb becomes male, a cold one female, with the thermal condition attributed to menstrual flow. Aëtius gives the womb a different explanatory role in mule infertility, describing it as small, low, narrow, and attached the wrong way so that seed cannot enter or be received. Neither claim should be endorsed as modern reproductive biology. At A702 the womb also supplies a comparison for a plant's relation to earth: plants are parts of earth as embryos in the belly are parts of the womb. This metaphor makes containment and dependence explanatory but does not prove that Empedocles treated earth as possessing a literal reproductive organ. The three uses show why “womb” cannot be reduced to one causal function: it is an environment of development, an alleged obstacle to conception, and a model for earthborn growth.
Places to read
- A 81 (polemical)23Aristotle, On the Generation of Animals. Reports sex differentiation through the womb's heat or coldness.
- A 82 (testimony)Aëtius. Explains mule infertility through the womb's dimensions, attachment, and inability to receive seed.
- A 70 (testimony)2Aëtius. Uses embryos within a womb as an analogy for plants within earth.
Translation in this edition
Aristotle's criticism of a merely thermal difference between sexes is his argument against the attribution, not part of Empedocles' own explanation. The mule account also diverges from the mixture analogy discussed editorially from B92.