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'{{Short description|British historian (born 1957)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Use British English|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = | name = Helen King | honorific_suffix = | image = 'Bodily Fluids Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity 32 (cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Professor King in 2016 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1957}} | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | death_cause = | discipline = [[Classics]] | sub_discipline = [[Ancient medicine]] | movement = <!-- Should match the ideological movement or denomination (for religious), "school" of thought etc. (e.g. "Anglican", "Postmodernist", "Socialist" or "Green" etc. --> | religion = <!-- Religion should be supported with a citation from a reliable source --> | denomination = <!-- Religious denomination should be supported with a citation from a reliable source --> | education = | alma_mater = [[University College London]] | thesis_title = | workplaces = [[University of Reading]]<br />[[Open University]] | notable_works = | awards = }} '''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== 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== [[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|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|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> == Research interests == 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 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> ==Church of England== 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== * ''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)|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}} * ''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}} * ''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}} * ''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== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== *{{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}} {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Helen}} [[Category:Academics of Liverpool Hope University]] [[Category:Academics of the Open University]] [[Category:Academics of the University of Reading]] [[Category:Alumni of University College London]] [[Category:British historians]] [[Category:British women historians]] [[Category:English classical scholars]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:British women classical scholars]] [[Category:British Anglicans]] [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:Members of the General Synod of the Church of England]]'