Editing Disability (section)

=== Antiquity ===
Historically, scholars have often assumed that disabled individuals were unsupported and marginalized within their communities, based on the belief that ancient agricultural societies had to be strategic with their limited resources for survival.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Sneed |date=2021 |title=Disability and Infanticide in Ancient Greece |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/844023 |journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens |volume=90 |issue=4 |pages=747 |doi=10.2972/hesperia.90.4.0747|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For instance, some historians argue that ancient Greeks actively practiced ableism through [[infanticide]], as suggested in the writings of [[Plutarch]], [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]].<ref name=":13" />

In ''The Life of Lycurgus'' of Plutarch’s ''[[Parallel Lives]]'', he describes infanticide as a common practice in [[Sparta]], where the lawgiver decreed that newborn infants be taken to the ''[[lesche]]'', likely a public building, for examination by elders.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |title=Plutarch, Lycurgus, chapter 16 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0047:chapter=16 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> If an infant was ‘ill-bred and deformed,’ it would be sent to the ''apothetai'', meaning ‘exposure places,’ a pit beneath [[Taygetus|Mount Taygetus]].<ref name=":14" /> Plutarch suggested this practice occurred because a deformed infant would be seen as a liability to Sparta, a city-state known for its strict martial ethos.<ref name=":15">{{Cite thesis |last=Sneed |first=Deborah |title=The Life Cycle of Disability in Ancient Greece |date=2018 |publisher=UCLA |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9jg5z235#author |language=en}}</ref> While Plutarch’s account provides valuable insights into Spartan society, its reliability is questionable, as he lived 700 years after the events he described. Even Plutarch acknowledged that his accounts were open to dispute for this very reason.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plutarch, Lycurgus, chapter 1 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plut.+Lyc.+1&fromdoc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0047 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

Similarly, in ''[[Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]'', Plato argues that, in an ideal state, rulers must ensure the breeding of the best men and women while discouraging those deemed inferior from reproducing.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |title=Plato, Republic, Book 5, section 460c |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0168:book=5:section=460c |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> He asserts that if the children of inferior parents, or any other parents, were deformed, they should be ‘hidden away in a secret and unknown place, as is fitting.’<ref name=":16" /> In ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'', Aristotle advocates that ‘the bodies of offspring should conform to the wishes of the lawgiver,’ ideally being healthy and strong, which implies a similarly ableist stance to that of Plato.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aristotle, Politics, Book 7, section 1335a |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0058:book=7:section=1335a |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> He further proposes that a law should exist to prevent the raising of deformed infants, implying his endorsement of killing disabled infants.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aristotle, Politics, Book 7, section 1335b |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0058:book=7:section=1335b |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

However, these claims represent the philosophical ideals of Greek thinkers and do not necessarily reflect the actual practices of ancient Greece, as neither work was intended to serve as factual records.<ref name=":15" /> In fact, there is considerable evidence suggesting that individuals with deformities were well cared for in antiquity.

At the [[Windover Archeological Site]], one of the skeletons was a male about 15 years old who had [[spina bifida]]. The condition meant that the boy, probably paralyzed below the waist, was taken care of in a [[hunter-gatherer]] community.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Robin |title=Florida's First People: 12,000 Years of Human History |year=1994 |isbn=1-56164-032-8 |pages=25|publisher=Pineapple Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Milanich |first=Jerald T. |title=Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida |year=1994 |isbn=0-8130-1273-2 |pages=75|publisher=University Press of Florida}}</ref>

Disability was not viewed as a means of divine punishment and therefore disabled individuals were neither exterminated nor discriminated against for their impairments. Many were instead employed in different levels of Mesopotamian society including working in religious temples as servants of the gods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kağnici |first=Gökhan |date=December 28, 2018 |title=Insights from Sumerian Mythology: The Myth of Enki And Ninmaḫ and the History of Disability |journal=Tarih İncelemeleri Dergisi |language=en |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=429–450 |doi=10.18513/egetid.502714 |s2cid=165868664 |issn=0257-4152|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In [[Ancient Egypt]], staffs were frequently used in society. A common usage for them was for older persons with disabilities to help them walk.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Loebl |first1=W Y |last2=Nunn |first2=J F |date=August 1997 |title=Staffs as Walking Aids in Ancient Egypt and Palestine |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=90 |issue=8 |pages=450–454 |doi=10.1177/014107689709000811 |pmid=9307002 |pmc=1296463 |issn=0141-0768}}</ref>

In [[Ancient Greece]], regardless of gender, age, or rank, deformed citizens were largely acknowledged, embraced, and accommodated in various aspects of society. This is illustrated in the ''[[Hippocratic Corpus]]'', a collection of treatises written by physicians during the late 5th and 4th centuries B.C.E. as a practical manual.<ref name=":13" /> Therefore, it offers a more accurate depiction of how the Greeks treated disabled people. For instance, many of the treatises describe the conditions and treatments for infants with congenital anomalies or impairments, such as weasel-arm, [[clubfoot]], and [[Cleft lip and cleft palate|cleft conditions]].<ref name="tlg,0627">{{Cite web |title=Hippocrates, De articulis, Part 53 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0627,010:53 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hippocrates, De articulis, Part 12 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hp.+Art.+12&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0248 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hippocrates, De articulis, Part 62 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hp.+Art.+62&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0248 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Ironically, among these, the practice of infanticide or the harming of deformed infants is never mentioned.<ref name=":13" />

In fact, these Hippocratic physicians treated a wide range of patients throughout the Greek-speaking world from the 5th century BCE onwards. Many of them expressed neutrality, if not optimism, toward deformed infants, striving to cure them while documenting their conditions.<ref name=":13" /> This suggests that it may not have been normal in ancient Greece to kill deformed infants, presenting a reality that contrasts with the views of Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient philosophers.

Additionally, the depiction of disabled adults or gods was common in the literature of ancient Greece. In [[Homer]]’s ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'', [[Hephaestus|Hephaistos]], a god and renowned craftsman, is described as being ‘lame in both legs,’ and he is mentioned 41 times in the ''Iliad'' and 19 times in the ''Odyssey.''<ref name=":15" /> In Book 2 of the Iliad, Homer provides a detailed description of [[Thersites]]’ deformity, including his bandy legs, lame foot, hunched shoulders, and balding pate, calling him ‘the ugliest man who came beneath [[Ilion, Greece|Ilion]].’<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homer, Iliad, Book 22 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134:book=22 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> This suggests that ancient Greeks acknowledged disabled adult civilians, as disability, whether congenital or acquired, was common due to the harsh realities of ancient life and warfare.<ref name=":15" />

In addition to literary evidence, archaeological evidence is crucial in unfolding ancient Greeks’ attitude towards deformed individuals. One that is most related to the discussion of infanticide in Ancient Greece is the [[Agora]] Bone Well, in which archaeologists found a large number of skeletons, including those of infants.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last1=Liston |first1=Maria A. |title=The Agora Bone Well |last2=Snyder |first2=Lynn M. |last3=Rotroff |first3=Susan I. |date=2018 |publisher=American School of Classical Studies at Athens |isbn=978-0-87661-550-8 |series=Hesperia |location=Princeton (N. J.)}}</ref> Since the median age at death for these infants was only eight days old, it gives rise to the assumption that infanticide could be a possible explanation.<ref name=":17" /> However, scholars cannot determine whether the infants were intentionally killed or whether they died of natural causes, which was particularly common, especially during the first eight days after birth.<ref name=":13" /> 

Moreover, archaeologists have discovered a significant number of feeding bottles throughout the [[Hellenic world]], dating back to the [[Bronze Age|Late Bronze Age]].<ref name=":15" /> Many of these were found in the tombs of infants and young children. While scholars debate whether these bottles were used as aids for weaning infants or as symbols of condolence with no practical purpose, the shape of the bottles is particularly suited for feeding infants with cleft conditions.<ref name=":15" /> Depending on the severity, such infants would have had difficulty extracting milk from a nipple.<ref name=":15" /> This suggests that the ancient Greeks may have invested extra care and resources in raising disabled infants, rather killing them.

Contrary to previous beliefs, Greek men with disabilities or physical infirmities were generally exempt from military campaigns and battles.<ref name=":13" /> In ''[[Memorabilia (Xenophon)|Memorabilia]]'', [[Xenophon]] suggests that men with bodily weakness or illness were considered liabilities in battle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xenophon, Memorabilia, Book 3, chapter 12 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.%20Mem.%203.12&lang=original |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Additionally, during the [[Battle of Thermopylae]], the Spartan king and commander [[Leonidas I|Leonidas]] excused [[Eurytus]] and [[Aristodemus (died 479 BC)|Aristodemus]] from fighting, as both of them were suffering from severe eye sickness, demonstrating that men unfit for war were not forced to participate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Herodotus, The Histories, Book 7, chapter 229 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126:book=7:chapter=229 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> However, in exceptional cases, disabled or injured men might be called upon to take on suitable roles that would contribute to the war effort.<ref name=":13" />

In terms of personal life, there is no evidence to suggest that disabled Greeks were barred from marriage or reproduction. This likely stemmed from the belief that deformed parents did not necessarily produce deformed offspring.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aristotle: History of Animals IX |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/aristotle/histanimals9.html |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> However, disabled individuals may have faced greater challenges in finding a suitable partner, as they were sometimes rejected by the family of a potential spouse.<ref name=":13" /> 

Regarding their economic situation, disabled Greeks—regardless of gender or social rank—worked in a variety of positions and professions. According to [[Lysias]], a disabled man who uses two canes to walk ‘plies a craft’ and runs a shop, demonstrating that disabled individuals were not deprived of the ability to support themselves.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lysias, On the Refusal of a Pension, section 6 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Lys.+24+6&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0154 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> In ''On Joints,'' [[Hippocrates]] describes  people with arm disabilities also being engaged in ‘handiwork,’ provided they were still able to operate tools.<ref name="tlg,0627"/> Plato also mentions, in ''[[The Laws (Plato)|Laws]]'', that slaves who acquired disabilities later in life could be reassigned to other suitable roles, a principle that, logically, should also apply to free individuals in Greece.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plato, Laws, Book 11 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0166:book=11#:~:text=As%20regards%20club-collections,11,no%20legal%20actions%20are%20possible. |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

Ancient Greeks were also subjected to a wide range of physical consequences of aging, causing impairments and disabilities.<ref name=":15" /> Therefore, ancient Greeks put great effort into assisting elderly people in their communities. In some Greek states, children were legally required to care for their elderly parents, which might have included parents who were physically or mentally impaired.<ref name=":15" /> According to Aristotle, people who failed to do so would be imprisoned.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, chapter 55 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0046:chapter=55 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Provisions that enabled individuals with impaired mobility to access temples and healing sanctuaries were made in ancient Greece.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sneed |first1=Debby |date=August 2020 |title=The architecture of access: ramps at ancient Greek healing sanctuaries |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=94 |issue=376 |pages=1015–1029 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2020.123 |issn=0003-598X |doi-access=free}}</ref> Specifically, by 370 B.C., at the most important healing sanctuary in the wider area, the [[Temple of Asclepius, Epidaurus|Sanctuary of Asclepius]] at [[Epidaurus]], there were at least 11 permanent stone ramps that provided access to mobility-impaired visitors to nine different structures.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Geggel |first1=Laura |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Ancient Greeks may have built 'disability ramps' on some temples |url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/ancient-greeks-may-have-built-disability-ramps-on-some-temples |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729070806/https://www.foxnews.com/science/ancient-greeks-may-have-built-disability-ramps-on-some-temples |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=August 7, 2020 |website=LiveScience}}</ref> On top of this, disabled Athenians who were unable to support themselves received monetary assistance from the state, sufficient to cover their basic needs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lysias, On the Refusal of a Pension, section 13 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Lys.+24+13&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0154 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> This indicates that some forms of charity and social welfare existed in [[Athens]].

Disability was also common among individuals of high status in ancient Greece. In the 6th century BCE, [[Croesus]], the King of Lydia, had two sons, one of whom was either deaf or mute.<ref name=":18">{{Cite web |title=Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1, chapter 34 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.%201.34&lang=original |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> He spent a considerable amount of wealth in an unsuccessful attempt to cure this son, even consulting the oracle of [[Apollo]] at [[Delphi]].<ref name=":18" /> Eventually, Croesus rejected the disabled son, choosing to favor only his able-bodied son, Atys, instead.<ref name=":18" /> Similarly, [[Agesilaus II|Agesilaus]], a Spartan king in the 4th century BCE, was lame in one leg but still became a general and fought in major battles.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Penrose |first=Walter D. |date=June 2015 |title=The Discourse of Disability in Ancient Greece |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/589385 |journal=Classical World |language=en |volume=108 |issue=4 |pages=499–523 |doi=10.1353/clw.2015.0068 |issn=1558-9234|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Macedonian king, [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]], also suffered from multiple physical impairments during his conquests; he lost one eye, fractured his collarbone, and shattered one hand and leg.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Demosthenes, On the Crown, section 67 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Dem.%2018.67&lang=original |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

In conclusion, ancient Greeks demonstrated notable empathy and acceptance toward their disabled peers, contrary to the views presented in the writings of Plato and Aristotle. Literary accounts from Hippocratic physicians and archaeological evidence support the idea that the Greeks made efforts to cure and assist disabled individuals, including deformed infants, whom Plutarch claimed were promptly killed in Sparta. Since disability was not uncommon, it was frequently mentioned in literature and poetry. Disabled individuals, regardless of social rank, were largely integrated into society, thanks to the variety of roles and duties available in personal life, the economy, and the military.