Agnodice is not generally believed to be a historical figure, but her story has been frequently deployed as a precedent for women practising midwifery or medicine, or as an argument against either of these. Her story is told by the Roman author Gaius Julius Hyginus in his Fabulae. According to Hyginus, Agnodice studied medicine under Herophilus, and worked as a physician in her home ci Agnodice or Agnodike is a legendary figure credited as the first female midwife or physician in ancient Athens.