Seed from the brain (Alcmaeon of Croton 24 A 13 D-K1) Sexual and cognitive development from childhood to adolescence in Greek and Roman antiquity

Abstract

The conceptualization of the body shared by natural philosophers, physicians, and lawmakers gave rise to a series of significant and enduring socio-political consequences. Humoral physiology established the foundational assumptions of women’s biological inferiority relative to the male body model, delineating the spaces of marginalization in relation to the attainment or loss of those levels of completeness deemed necessary to fulfill one’s social duties according to sex and age. Likewise, the reflection on the encephalo-myelogenic origin of seed, attributed to Alcmaeon of Croton, and its connection to the division of human life into hebdomads appears to have deeply influenced juridical formalization of socio-political roles based on biological criteria. This contribution thus seeks to bring together three interconnected issues within a unified framework: spermatogenesis as a marker of sexual and intellectual maturation; the hebdomadal division of life; and the transition from childhood to adolescence in both Greek and Roman law.