1. Men were thought to embody higher, spiritual elements, such as

mind
authority and responsibility
inner SPIRIT

2. Only men carried male semen which was considered to be the active principle in conception. Only men produced seed and therefore only men were responsible for procreation. (Lucretius, On the nature of things, 4. 1037.)

1. Women embodied lower earthly qualities. They were emotional and unreliable, less intelligent and drawn to earthly pleasures.

2. It was believed that men cast their semen into a woman’s womb as seed into the earth. Galen (130-200) , On natural faculties, 1, 6.

The process of embryonic development was activated by the semen and nourished by the blood of the mother.

“I also am mortal, like all men a descendant of the first-formed child of earth; and in the womb of my mother I was moulded into flesh, within the period of ten months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage”.
Wisdom of Solomon (2nd cent. BC) 7.1

man over woman

male child

female child

lost sperm