Acreta

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Acreta est clausura vulve mulieris aliquando sibi connata aliquando accidentalis Theodorus priscianus capitulo de eadem egritudine.


Apparatus:

Acreta ABCH efjp | De atretis Theod.Prisc.
mulieris | m͞liebris f
connata | conata B
{connata} aliquando om. p
{connata aliquando} vero add. f


Translation:

Acreta is the failure of the female genital to open; sometimes she may be born with it, sometimes it is a consequence of other factors as Theodorus Priscianus states in his chapter on the same affliction.


Commentary:

Acreta:
Greek ἄτρητος /átrētos/ consists of α- /a-/ {alpha privativum, similar to the English prefix "un-"} + τρητός /trētós/ {"perforated, with a hole in it"} resulting in the meaning "not perforated, without aperture; with imperforate anus; of a virgin" (LSJ). The word is Latinized atretus. Simon's form Acreta is due to an early misreading of 't' as 'c' and is the nom. sg. of the feminine form of the adjective, i.e. atreta {"atretic female"}.

Simon is alluding to Theodorus Priscianus' Euporiston, 3, 4, ed. Rose (1894: 232): De atretis {"On atretic {females}"}, where it says:
Contingit interea frequenter certa et specialis haec passio feminarum ut aut naturaliter aliquando clausae nascantur aut vulneribus praeeuntibus cictrice interveniente clausae fiant aut praesentis indignationis interventu penitus concludantur - "This affliction particular to females happens nevertheless frequently, where they are either born sometimes naturally without vulvar opening or they become blocked due to previously acquired wounds with scarring occurring that causes closing or they close up due to the occurrence of an existing internal injury".

According to Rose's edition, the misreading acreta is not attested in any of the manuscripts consulted transmitting Theodorus, but this misreading was most likely already present in Simon's copy.


Medical remarks:

Theodorus Priscianus is most likely speaking of atresia, an affliction where a bodily orifice or a similar passage is abnormally closed or absent, in this case vaginal or vulvar atresia [[1]], either congenital or acquired due to injury.


WilfGunther (talk) 17:45, 22 April 2016 (BST)


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