Sages Without Beards: Women in Greek Philosophy

Under Contract with Princeton UP

In popular imagination, Greek philosophy has a certain look: it’s the province of an older man, be he Socrates or Plato or Aristotle, with a clique of followers, a nice baritone voice, and the seemingly mandatory impressive facial hair.

But did all Greek philosophers really look like this? In particular: were there women in the Greek philosophical tradition? The answer is yes; indeed, we have the names of over one hundred female Greek philosophers. Starting with a bang, we have Perictione, Plato’s mother, reported to be a Pythagorean essayist–two extant works bear her name. We have Theano (an early thinker in math and metaphysics); Hipparchia (exponent of radical Cynicism); and Hypatia (groundbreaking astronomer, and latter-day feminist icon). And there’s so much more: Aspasia (Socratic interlocutor, political powerplayer, and courtesan); Arete (head of the Cyrenaic school); and five female Stoic logicians—all sisters. Last and certainly not least, we have a group of Epicurean women whose names, Leontion, Boidion, and Mammarion sound suspiciously like stripper names (we might translate them with something like “Kitty,” “Bambi,” and “Tits”)—inviting us to reflect on whether these names are real, slanderous, or somewhere in between.

These massively interesting figures seldom figure in standard histories, or the popular imagination. This book will fill that gap, exploring the contributions of these fascinating characters on topics ranging from mathematics and metaphysics to love and marriage. And it will show that—misleading ancient and contemporary stereotypes aside—women have always had a place in philosophy, from the very beginning.

A (blurry) photograph of an inscription documenting the activities of female Epicureans at a temple in Attica. SEG XVI 300. Figure 2 from: Mitsos, M. T. 1953–1954. “Ἐπιγραφαὶ ἐξ Ἀμφιαρείου II.” ArchEph 92/93.2: 158–161.