THE GREEKS believed many herbal potions had a contraceptive effect. Theophrastus (circa 300 BC) and De materia medica of Dioscorides (AD 40-80) listed many recipes using such ingredients such as the leaves or bark of hawthorn, ivy, willow and poplar to make contraceptive drinks. Juniper berries, it was believed, when placed on the penis or in the vulva, could produce temporary sterility. "Misy", an apparent reference to copper sulphate, was recommended in the Hippocratic works by a disciple who wrote, "If a woman does not wish to become pregnant, dissolve in water misy as large as a bean and give it to her to drink. For a year she will not become pregnant".

The Greeks also supplemented potions by taking recourse to various barrier methods of contraception. Dioscorides suggested anointing the genitals with cedar gum and applying alum to the uterus. Today, these substances would be regarded ineffective, inasmuch as they cannot immobilise sperm. Aristotle, on the other hand, recommended in his Historia Animalum the "anointing of that part of the womb on which the seed falls with oil of cedar, or with an ointment of lead or with frankincense commingled with olive oil." This would make the womb "smooth" and convert it into an inhospitable environment for contraception, he added sagely.

Though Greek women may have attempted the rhythm method, the results presumably were poor because the Greeks believed conception occurred either immediately before or after menstruation.

When all else failed, the Greeks would turn to magic, in the form of protective amulets and talismans. Dioscorides credited an amulet of asparagus root with ensuring barrenness and concoctions of a mule's kidney and the urine of a eunuch were believed to inhibit potency.

Greek medical texts discussed numerous abortion techniques, including the use of perforations, pessaries, oral potions, suppositories, fumigations and poultices. In addition, jumping, excessive coitus, fever, vomiting and bleeding were believed to cause miscarriages. Greek physicians were aware miscarriages could be induced, but they were cautious in attempting this, "for the uterus may ulcerate or inflame".