Elephantis


Elephantis was a Greek poet and physician apparently renowned in the classical world as the author of a notorious sex manual. Due to the popularity of courtesans taking animal names in classical times, it is likely Elephantis is two or more persons of the same name. None of her works have survived, though they are referenced in other ancient texts.

Works

According to Suetonius, the Roman Emperor Tiberius took a complete set of her works with him when he retreated to his resort on Capri.
One of the poems in the Priapeia refers to her books:
And an epigram by the Roman poet Martial, which Smithers and Burton included in their collection of poems concerning Priapus, reads:
"Novae figurae" has been read as "novem figurae", and so some commentators have inferred that she listed nine different sexual positions.
Pliny references her performance as a midwife, and Galen notes her ability to cure baldness.
She also wrote a manual about cosmetics and another about abortives.