When physically or mentally impaired children were born, the parents were faced with a difficult decision. They could raise their handicapped child to try and reach adulthood, or
they could dispose of the infant by either killing it or leaving it exposed to the elements to die. This act of killing newborn children is known as infanticide and was a common practice in the ancient world, especially in Athens and Sparta (Edwards, 1). There are only a few ancient sources that discuss the topic of infanticide; these coming from Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, and Soranus. Plato describes a utopia of sorts in his Republic and states that the offspring of healthy parents were raised, while the progeny from inferior parents were secreted away (460C).
Aristotle takes a more drastic and harsh view stating, "As to exposing or rearing the children born, let there be a law that no deformed child shall be reared " (Politics, 1335B). In his account of Lycurgus, Plutarch makes reference to the Spartan system of examining and rearing newborn children. The newborns were examined by the elders of society and if the babies were deemed to be healthy and strong, they were ordered to be reared.
If the child was deformed or weak, they were sent to a ravine at the foot of a mountain to die. Spartans believed that one with a disability from birth would be disadvantageous to the state. The final example from ancient sources comes from Soranus' Gynecology. A set of criteria was listed to decide whether a child was worth rearing (2.6). Some of these requirements were the mother's health during the pregnancy, length of pregnancy, the strength of the child's cry, and having complete body parts.
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