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{{Short description|British historian (born 1957)}}
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{{Infobox academic
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| caption = King giving a keynote presentation at Cardiff University in 2016
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'''Helen King''' (born 1957) is a British classical scholar. She is Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at the [[Open University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/people/hk2455 |title=Professor Helen King |work=OU people profiles |publisher=Open University |accessdate=29 August 2016 }}</ref> She was previously Professor of the History of Classical Medicine and Head of the Department of Classics at the [[University of Reading]].<ref name="Erskine2009">{{cite book|last=Erskine|first=Andrew|title=A companion to ancient history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Y_aM_74ENMC&pg=PR15|accessdate=5 March 2011|year=2009|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-3150-6|page=15}}</ref>
'''Helen King''' (born 1957) is a British classical scholar and advocate for the medical humanities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dr. Helen King 'Us And Them, Then And Now: Moving Beyond Difference In The History Of The Female Body'|url=https://www.wpr.org/dr-helen-king-us-and-them-then-and-now-moving-beyond-difference-history-female-body|access-date=31 March 2021|website=Wisconsin Public Radio}}{{dead link|date=January 2024}}</ref> She is Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at the [[Open University]].<ref name="hk2455">{{cite web |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/people/hk2455 |title=Professor Helen King |work=Open University people profiles |accessdate=29 August 2016 }}</ref> She was previously Professor of the History of Classical Medicine and Head of the Department of Classics at the [[University of Reading]].<ref name="Erskine2009">{{cite book|last=Erskine|first=Andrew|title=A companion to ancient history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Y_aM_74ENMC&pg=PR15|year=2009|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-3150-6|page=15}}</ref>


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
King was born in 1957. For King going to university or doing a PhD wasn't inevitable, and she had little notion of what doctoral research involved.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2016/08/15/my-classics-career-prof-helen-king/|title=My Classics Career: Prof. Helen King|date=2016-08-15|work=WCC-UK|access-date=2018-08-04|language=en-GB}}</ref> Nevertheless, she completed her first degree in Ancient History and Social Anthropology at [[University College London]]. She was awarded her doctorate in 1985 for a PhD on [[menstruation]] in [[ancient Greece]] supervised by [[Sarah C. Humphreys|Sarah C. (Sally) Humphreys]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2016/08/15/my-classics-career-prof-helen-king/ |title=My Classics Career |first=Helen |last=King |publisher=Women's Classical Committee |date=15 August 2016 |accessdate=29 August 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=From 'parthenos' to 'gyne': the dynamics of category|last=King|first=Helen|publisher=PhD Thesis, University of London|year=1985|isbn=|location=|pages=5}}</ref> Her thesis was entitled ''From 'parthenos' to 'gyne': the Dynamics of Category.''
King was born in 1957. She completed her first degree at [[University College London]] in Ancient History and Social Anthropology.<ref name="hk2455"/> She gained her doctorate at UCL in 1985 for a PhD on [[menstruation]] in [[ancient Greece]] supervised by [[Sarah C. Humphreys|Sarah C. (Sally) Humphreys]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2016/08/15/my-classics-career-prof-helen-king/|title=My Classics Career|last=King|first=Helen|date=15 August 2016|publisher=Women's Classical Committee}}</ref> Her thesis was entitled ''From 'parthenos' to 'gyne': the Dynamics of Category.''<ref>{{Cite book|last=King|first=Helen|title=From 'parthenos' to 'gyne': the dynamics of category|publisher=PhD Thesis, University of London|year=1985|page=5}}</ref>


==Academic career==
==Academic career==
[[File:'Bodily Fluids Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity 21.jpg|thumb|278x278px|Helen King delivering her keynote lecture, Cardiff University, 2016]]
[[File:'Bodily Fluids Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity 21.jpg|thumb|278x278px|Helen King delivering her keynote lecture, Cardiff University, 2016]]
Having completed her doctorate, King held research fellowships at the universities of [[Cambridge University Press|Cambridge]] and [[Newcastle University|Newcastle]], taught at the [[Liverpool Institute of Higher Education]] for eight years, and moved to Reading on a [[Wellcome Trust]] University Award in 1996. From 2008 she was also Visiting Professor at the [[Peninsula Medical School]] in [[Truro]]. She moved to the Open University to assume the role of Professor of Classical Studies in 2011. She retired in January 2017 and took up the position of Robert E. and Susan T. Rydell Visiting Professor 2017–2018 at [[Gustavus Adolphus College]], St Peter, MN.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/concertFiles/media/2017/Nobel_53_Program_2017.pdf|title=Nobel Conference 2017 Program|last=|first=|date=3 October 2017|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref>
Having completed her doctorate, King held research fellowships at the universities of [[Cambridge University Press|Cambridge]] and [[Newcastle University|Newcastle]], taught at the [[Liverpool Institute of Higher Education]] for eight years, and moved to Reading on a [[Wellcome Trust]] University Award in 1996. From 2008 she was also visiting professor at the [[Peninsula Medical School]] in [[Truro]]. She moved to the Open University to assume the role of Professor of Classical Studies in 2011. She retired in January 2017 and took up the position of Robert E. and Susan T. Rydell Visiting Professor 2017–2018 at [[Gustavus Adolphus College]], St Peter, MN.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/concertFiles/media/2017/Nobel_53_Program_2017.pdf|title=Nobel Conference 2017 Program|date=3 October 2017}}</ref>


King was a Women's Studies Area Advisor to the [[Oxford Classical Dictionary]] (1996). She has been a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (2001), a Landsdowne Visiting Lecturer at the [[University of Victoria]], British Columbia (2002), a Visiting Professor at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] (2005), a Käthe Leichter Visiting Professor in Women's Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Vienna (2014)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genderausschuss.univie.ac.at/index.php?id=78116&L=0|title=Käthe-Leichter-GastprofessorInnen ab 1999|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=14 September 2018}}</ref> and Provost's Distinguished Women Lecturer, Notre Dame, IN (2016).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://provost.nd.edu/diversity/provost-s-distinguished-women-lecturers/|title=Provost’s Distinguished Women Lecturers|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> King has appeared on ''[[History Cold Case]]'', ''Tony Robinson's Gods & Monsters'', and ''Harlots, Housewives & Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3391707/?ref_=nv_sr_6 |title=Helen King |publisher=[[IMDb]] |accessdate=2017-02-22}}</ref> She has contributed to two episodes of [[In Our Time (radio series)]] on [[BBC Radio 4]], speaking on [[Galen]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03c4dys|title=In Our Time, Galen|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref> and [[The Hippocratic Oath]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014gdqq|title=In Our Time, The Hippocratic Oath|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
King was a Women's Studies Area Advisor to the [[Oxford Classical Dictionary]] (1996). She has been a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (2001), a Landsdowne Visiting Lecturer at the [[University of Victoria]], British Columbia (2002), a visiting professor at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] (2005), a Käthe Leichter Visiting Professor in Women's Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Vienna (2014)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genderausschuss.univie.ac.at/index.php?id=78116&L=0|title=Käthe-Leichter-GastprofessorInnen ab 1999|access-date=14 September 2018}}</ref> and Provost's Distinguished Women Lecturer, Notre Dame, IN (2016).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://provost.nd.edu/diversity/provost-s-distinguished-women-lecturers/|title=Provost's Distinguished Women Lecturers}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> King has appeared on ''[[History Cold Case]]'', ''Tony Robinson's Gods & Monsters'', and ''Harlots, Housewives & Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3391707/?ref_=nv_sr_6 |title=Helen King |publisher=[[IMDb]] |accessdate=2017-02-22}}</ref> She has contributed to two episodes of [[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]] on [[BBC Radio 4]], speaking on [[Galen]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03c4dys|title=In Our Time, Galen|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref> and [[The Hippocratic Oath]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014gdqq|title=In Our Time, The Hippocratic Oath|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref> and three episodes of ''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gq54cg Being Roman]'', also on Radio 4, with [[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]].


== Research interests ==
== Research interests ==
With the publication of her book ''[[Hippocrates]]' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece'' (1998), King established herself as the leading authority on the practice and theory of [[History of medicine|ancient medicine]] as relating to women and how it continues to influence thought to the present day.
In September 2024 King published ''[https://profilebooks.com/work/immaculate-forms/ Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the History of Women's Bodies]''. Her book ''[[Hippocrates]]' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece'' (1998)<ref>{{Cite book|last=King|first=Helen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NgeGAgAAQBAJ&q=Hippocrates%27+Woman%3A+Reading+the+Female+Body+in+Ancient+Greece|title=Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece|date=2002-01-04|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-77220-9|language=en}}</ref> analyses the practice and theory of [[History of medicine|ancient medicine]] as relating to women and how it continues to influence thought to the present day. ''Immaculate Forms'' focuses on a similarly broad time period and investigates changing beliefs about the breasts, clitoris, hymen and womb.


In her 2007 book, ''Midwifery, Obstetrics and the Rise of Gynaecology: The Uses of a Sixteenth-Century Compendium'', she examined the uses of ancient medicine in a collection of ancient and medieval works on gynecology produced in three editions, the last being in 1597 by Israel Spach, and the different interpretations of this collection up to [[James Young Simpson]] in the nineteenth century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leong|first=Elaine|date=October 2009|title=Book Review: Midwifery, obstetrics and the rise of gynaecology: the uses of a sixteenth-century compendium|journal=Medical History|volume=53|issue=4|pages=591–592|pmc=2766157|doi=10.1017/S0025727300000582}}</ref>
⚫
She has published on the myths of [[Tithonos]],<ref name="Davidson2009">{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=James|title=The Greeks and Greek Love: A Bold New Exploration of the Ancient World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PijaG8n5Zz8C&pg=PA678|accessdate=5 March 2011|date=2009-05-26|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-0-375-50516-4|page=678}}</ref> on [[mermaid]]s,<ref name="Cordingly2002">{{cite book|last=Cordingly|first=David|title=Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xFtfx96d84UC&pg=PA265|accessdate=5 March 2011|date=2002-03-12|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-0-375-75872-0|page=265}}</ref> and on the myth/fable of [[Agnodice]], "the first midwife".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mistakinghistories.wordpress.com/2017/10/18/agnodice-reading-the-story/|title=Agnodice: reading the story|last=|first=|date=18 October 2017|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> She has investigated how this story was used to give authority to women in medical roles in various historical periods.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The One-Sex Body on Trial|last=King|first=Helen|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9781138247628|location=|pages=}}</ref>


⚫
She has also published on the myths of [[Tithonos]],<ref name="Davidson2009">{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=James|title=The Greeks and Greek Love: A Bold New Exploration of the Ancient World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PijaG8n5Zz8C&pg=PA678|year=2009|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-0-375-50516-4|page=678}}</ref> on [[mermaid]]s,<ref name="Cordingly2002">{{cite book|last=Cordingly|first=David|title=Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xFtfx96d84UC&pg=PA265|year=2002|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-0-375-75872-0|page=265}}</ref> and on the myth/fable of [[Agnodice]], "the first midwife".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mistakinghistories.wordpress.com/2017/10/18/agnodice-reading-the-story/|title=Agnodice: reading the story|date=18 October 2017}}</ref> She has investigated how this story was used to give authority to women in medical roles in various historical periods.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The One-Sex Body on Trial|last=King|first=Helen|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9781138247628}}</ref>
==Professional contribution==
King was a member of the [[General Synod of the Church of England]] from 1985 to 1993 and, as part of the 'Historical' thematic working group, is contributing to the Church's proposed teaching document on human sexuality.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-and-governance/general-synod/bishops/membership-episcopal-teaching-document-and-pastoral-advisory-group#na|title=Membership of the Episcopal Teaching Document and Pastoral Advisory Group|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>


==Church of England==
[[File:Helen King - Greek and Roman Medicine.jpg|thumb|Front cover image of Helen King, Greek and Roman Medicine (2001)]]
King was a member of the [[General Synod of the Church of England]] from 1985 to 1993 and from 2021 to 2026.<ref>{{Cite web|date=12 October 2021|title=Oxford Diocese: governance|url=https://www.oxford.anglican.org/who-we-are/governance/general-synod-2021/|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120102158/https://www.oxford.anglican.org/who-we-are/governance/general-synod-2021/ |archive-date=20 January 2022}}</ref> As part of the 'Historical' thematic working group, she contributed to the Church's 2020 teaching document on human sexuality.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-and-governance/general-synod/bishops/membership-episcopal-teaching-document-and-pastoral-advisory-group#na|title=Membership of the Episcopal Teaching Document and Pastoral Advisory Group|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Living in Love and Faith: Doing history|url=https://modernchurch.org.uk/prof-helen-king-living-in-love-and-faith-doing-history|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=16 December 2020|website=Modern Church}}</ref> She supports [[same-sex marriage]].<ref name="Questions">{{cite web |title=Questions to Candidates: Professor Helen King |url=https://www.oxford.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/King-Questions-to-Candidates-Form-2021-Revised.pdf |website=Diocese of Oxford |access-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128062227/https://www.oxford.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/King-Questions-to-Candidates-Form-2021-Revised.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2021 |date=November 2021}}</ref>

She has also spoken about the history of Christianity in a podcast for the [[Historical Association]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 April 2014|title=Christianity in imperial Rome|url=https://www.history.org.uk/historian/module/7215/podcast-christianity-in-imperial-rome|access-date=31 March 2021|website=Historical Association}}</ref>


==Select publications==
==Select publications==
* ''Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece'' (1998); {{ISBN|0415138957}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000-07-20.html|title=Review of 'Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece'|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
* ''Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece'' (1998); {{ISBN|0415138957}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000-07-20.html|title=Review of 'Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece'|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
*''Greek and Roman Medicine'' (2001). {{ISBN|9781853995453}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Riddle|first=John M.|date=2004-06-15|title=Greek and Roman Medicine (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/169366|journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine|language=en|volume=78|issue=2|pages=465–466|doi=10.1353/bhm.2004.0096|issn=1086-3176}}</ref>
*''Greek and Roman Medicine'' (2001). {{ISBN|9781853995453}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Riddle|first=John M.|date=2004-06-15|title=Greek and Roman Medicine (review)|journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine|language=en|volume=78|issue=2|pages=465–466|doi=10.1353/bhm.2004.0096|s2cid=71848716|issn=1086-3176}}</ref>
*''The Disease of Virgins: Green Sickness, Chlorosis and the Problems of Puberty'' (2004); {{ISBN|0-203-48710-9}}
*''The Disease of Virgins: Green Sickness, Chlorosis and the Problems of Puberty'' (2004); {{ISBN|0-203-48710-9}}
* ''Health in Antiquity'' (2005); {{ISBN|9780415220651}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2006/2006-08-15.html|title=Review of 'Health in Antiquity'|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
* ''Health in Antiquity'' (2005); {{ISBN|9780415220651}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2006/2006-08-15.html|title=Review of 'Health in Antiquity'|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
* ''Midwifery, Obstetrics and the Rise of Gynaecology: The Uses of a Sixteenth-Century Compendium'' (2007); {{ISBN|9780754653967}}
* ''Midwifery, Obstetrics and the Rise of Gynaecology: The Uses of a Sixteenth-Century Compendium'' (2007); {{ISBN|9780754653967}}
* ''Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe'' (with Manfred Horstmansoff and Claus Zittel 2012); {{ISBN|978-90-04-22918-1}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2013/2013-09-55.html|title=Review of 'Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe'|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
* ''Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe'' (with Manfred Horstmansoff and Claus Zittel 2012); {{ISBN|978-90-04-22918-1}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2013/2013-09-55.html|title=Review of 'Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe'|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
* ''La Médecine dans l' Antiquité grecque et romaine'' (with Véronique Dasen, 2008); {{ISBN|9782970053668}}
* ''La Médecine dans l' Antiquité grecque et romaine'' (with Véronique Dasen, 2008); {{ISBN|9782970053668}}
* ''The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical and Early Modern Evidence'' (2013); {{ISBN|978-1-4094-6335-1}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2014/2014-09-15.html|title=Review of 'The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical and Early Modern Evidence'|accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
* ''The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical and Early Modern Evidence'' (2013); {{ISBN|978-1-4094-6335-1}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2014/2014-09-15.html|title=Review of 'The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical and Early Modern Evidence'|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |accessdate=2018-05-22}}</ref>
*''Hippocrates Now: The 'Father of Medicine' in the Internet Age'' (2019); {{ISBN|9781350005891}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hippocrates-now-9781350005891/|title=Bloomsbury Classical Press|date=9 July 2019}}</ref>
*''Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the History of Women's Bodies'' (2024) <nowiki>ISBN 9781788163873</nowiki>

== See also ==

* [[Diophantus of Abae]]


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*{{cite web|title=Helen King|url=https://open.academia.edu/HelenKing|publisher=The Open University - Academia.edu|language=en}}
*{{cite web|title=Helen King|url=https://open.academia.edu/HelenKing|publisher=The Open University - Academia.edu|language=en}}
*[https://www.sas.ac.uk/videos-and-podcasts/classics/ancient-magic Ancient Magic] - Helen King speaking at an event on Ancient Magic at the [[Institute of Classical Studies]] on Wednesday 31 October 2018


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:English classical scholars]]
[[Category:English classical scholars]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:British women classical scholars]]
[[Category:Women classical scholars]]
⚫
[[Category:Classical studies]]
[[Category:British Anglicans]]
[[Category:British Anglicans]]
⚫
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Members of the General Synod of the Church of England]]

Latest revision as of 00:46, 3 August 2024

Helen King
Professor King in 2016
Born1957 (age 67–68)
Academic background
Alma materUniversity College London
Academic work
DisciplineClassics
Sub-disciplineAncient medicine
InstitutionsUniversity of Reading
Open University

Helen King (born 1957) is a British classical scholar and advocate for the medical humanities.[1] She is Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at the Open University.[2] She was previously Professor of the History of Classical Medicine and Head of the Department of Classics at the University of Reading.[3]

Early life and education

[edit]

King was born in 1957. She completed her first degree at University College London in Ancient History and Social Anthropology.[2] She gained her doctorate at UCL in 1985 for a PhD on menstruation in ancient Greece supervised by Sarah C. (Sally) Humphreys.[4] Her thesis was entitled From 'parthenos' to 'gyne': the Dynamics of Category.[5]

Academic career

[edit]
Helen King delivering her keynote lecture, Cardiff University, 2016

Having completed her doctorate, King held research fellowships at the universities of Cambridge and Newcastle, taught at the Liverpool Institute of Higher Education for eight years, and moved to Reading on a Wellcome Trust University Award in 1996. From 2008 she was also visiting professor at the Peninsula Medical School in Truro. She moved to the Open University to assume the role of Professor of Classical Studies in 2011. She retired in January 2017 and took up the position of Robert E. and Susan T. Rydell Visiting Professor 2017–2018 at Gustavus Adolphus College, St Peter, MN.[6]

King was a Women's Studies Area Advisor to the Oxford Classical Dictionary (1996). She has been a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (2001), a Landsdowne Visiting Lecturer at the University of Victoria, British Columbia (2002), a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin (2005), a Käthe Leichter Visiting Professor in Women's Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Vienna (2014)[7] and Provost's Distinguished Women Lecturer, Notre Dame, IN (2016).[8] King has appeared on History Cold Case, Tony Robinson's Gods & Monsters, and Harlots, Housewives & Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls.[9] She has contributed to two episodes of In Our Time on BBC Radio 4, speaking on Galen[10] and The Hippocratic Oath[11] and three episodes of Being Roman, also on Radio 4, with Mary Beard.

Research interests

[edit]

In September 2024 King published Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the History of Women's Bodies. Her book Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece (1998)[12] analyses the practice and theory of ancient medicine as relating to women and how it continues to influence thought to the present day. Immaculate Forms focuses on a similarly broad time period and investigates changing beliefs about the breasts, clitoris, hymen and womb.

In her 2007 book, Midwifery, Obstetrics and the Rise of Gynaecology: The Uses of a Sixteenth-Century Compendium, she examined the uses of ancient medicine in a collection of ancient and medieval works on gynecology produced in three editions, the last being in 1597 by Israel Spach, and the different interpretations of this collection up to James Young Simpson in the nineteenth century.[13]

She has also published on the myths of Tithonos,[14] on mermaids,[15] and on the myth/fable of Agnodice, "the first midwife".[16] She has investigated how this story was used to give authority to women in medical roles in various historical periods.[17]

Church of England

[edit]

King was a member of the General Synod of the Church of England from 1985 to 1993 and from 2021 to 2026.[18] As part of the 'Historical' thematic working group, she contributed to the Church's 2020 teaching document on human sexuality.[19][20] She supports same-sex marriage.[21]

She has also spoken about the history of Christianity in a podcast for the Historical Association.[22]

Select publications

[edit]
  • Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece (1998); ISBN 0415138957[23]
  • Greek and Roman Medicine (2001). ISBN 9781853995453[24]
  • The Disease of Virgins: Green Sickness, Chlorosis and the Problems of Puberty (2004); ISBN 0-203-48710-9
  • Health in Antiquity (2005); ISBN 9780415220651[25]
  • Midwifery, Obstetrics and the Rise of Gynaecology: The Uses of a Sixteenth-Century Compendium (2007); ISBN 9780754653967
  • Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe (with Manfred Horstmansoff and Claus Zittel 2012); ISBN 978-90-04-22918-1[26]
  • La Médecine dans l' Antiquité grecque et romaine (with Véronique Dasen, 2008); ISBN 9782970053668
  • The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical and Early Modern Evidence (2013); ISBN 978-1-4094-6335-1[27]
  • Hippocrates Now: The 'Father of Medicine' in the Internet Age (2019); ISBN 9781350005891[28]
  • Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the History of Women's Bodies (2024) ISBN 9781788163873

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dr. Helen King 'Us And Them, Then And Now: Moving Beyond Difference In The History Of The Female Body'". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved 31 March 2021.[dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b "Professor Helen King". Open University people profiles. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  3. ^ Erskine, Andrew (2009). A companion to ancient history. John Wiley and Sons. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4051-3150-6.
  4. ^ King, Helen (15 August 2016). "My Classics Career". Women's Classical Committee.
  5. ^ King, Helen (1985). From 'parthenos' to 'gyne': the dynamics of category. PhD Thesis, University of London. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Nobel Conference 2017 Program" (PDF). 3 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Käthe-Leichter-GastprofessorInnen ab 1999". Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Provost's Distinguished Women Lecturers".[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Helen King". IMDb. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  10. ^ "In Our Time, Galen". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  11. ^ "In Our Time, The Hippocratic Oath". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  12. ^ King, Helen (4 January 2002). Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-77220-9.
  13. ^ Leong, Elaine (October 2009). "Book Review: Midwifery, obstetrics and the rise of gynaecology: the uses of a sixteenth-century compendium". Medical History. 53 (4): 591–592. doi:10.1017/S0025727300000582. PMC 2766157.
  14. ^ Davidson, James (2009). The Greeks and Greek Love: A Bold New Exploration of the Ancient World. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 678. ISBN 978-0-375-50516-4.
  15. ^ Cordingly, David (2002). Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-375-75872-0.
  16. ^ "Agnodice: reading the story". 18 October 2017.
  17. ^ King, Helen (2013). The One-Sex Body on Trial. Routledge. ISBN 9781138247628.
  18. ^ "Oxford Diocese: governance". 12 October 2021. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Membership of the Episcopal Teaching Document and Pastoral Advisory Group". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  20. ^ "Living in Love and Faith: Doing history". Modern Church. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Questions to Candidates: Professor Helen King" (PDF). Diocese of Oxford. November 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Christianity in imperial Rome". Historical Association. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Review of 'Hippocrates' Woman: Reading the Female Body in Ancient Greece'". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  24. ^ Riddle, John M. (15 June 2004). "Greek and Roman Medicine (review)". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 78 (2): 465–466. doi:10.1353/bhm.2004.0096. ISSN 1086-3176. S2CID 71848716.
  25. ^ "Review of 'Health in Antiquity'". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  26. ^ "Review of 'Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Changing Concepts of Physiology from Antiquity into Early Modern Europe'". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  27. ^ "Review of 'The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical and Early Modern Evidence'". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  28. ^ "Bloomsbury Classical Press". 9 July 2019.
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