Des nourrices grecques a Rome?
In Roman society, parents often entrusted their newborn to a wet nurse, usually a slave or a lower-class freeborn woman, who normally lived with them. It was advised to choose with care the right person, as milk is not a neutral bodily substance but transmits many properties, physical and moral. Sor...
| Published in: | Paedagogica Historica Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 699 - 714 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Dec2010
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=55815677&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 55815677 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00309230 J54 jtl: Paedagogica Historica issn: 00309230 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2010 vid: 46 iid: 6 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 55815677 10.1080/00309230.2010.526330 ppf: 699 ppct: 15 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 221KB tig: atl: Des nourrices grecques a Rome? aug: au: Dasen, Véronique affil: Séminaire d'archéologie classique, rue Pierre‐Aeby 16, CH‐1700, Fribourg, Switzerland su: Wet nurses Infant nutrition Roman civilization Greek civilization to 146 B.C. Breastfeeding Child care History Rome Greece sug: subj: Rome Greece Wet nurses Infant nutrition Roman civilization Greek civilization to 146 B.C. Breastfeeding Child care History keyword: child‐care child-care education elite families manumission medicine milk nurse nursling nutrix slave swaddling wet‐nurse wet-nurse ab: In Roman society, parents often entrusted their newborn to a wet nurse, usually a slave or a lower-class freeborn woman, who normally lived with them. It was advised to choose with care the right person, as milk is not a neutral bodily substance but transmits many properties, physical and moral. Soranus devotes an entire chapter to the meticulous inspection of the nurse's milk and temper. The nurse's character must be checked as thoroughly as her physical health. The mind of the newborn, compared with wax, is from the start and forever impressed positively or negatively. Mnesitheus and others even advise choosing a woman resembling physically the mother, or a handsome person; Favorinus and others reject violently the recourse to wet nursing as immoral; submitting the child to the pernicious influence of a foreign non-kin person implies the destruction of family ties. Wet nurses had to follow a specific diet and to accept giving up their sexual life, which would corrupt the milk in case of a new pregnancy. Roman upper-class families attributed different qualities to nurses according to their ethnic origin: Egyptians were allegedly fond of children, Thracians robust and devoted, Spartans tough. The best were the Greeks, because they would teach Greek language - and culture - to their nurslings. The nurse's social function was extensive. Her role did not stop at the weaning period. Much evidence shows that she was a lifelong companion. In positive circumstances, she could construct non-kin relationships and became, through connections not of blood but of milk, a member of an extended family. Funerary inscriptions and literary sources show that some nurses were rewarded by freedom. Breast-feeding also created milk-ties between the nurslings, who could gain social elevation thanks to this bonding. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: French refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Paedagogica Historica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Paedagogica Historica holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2010 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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