Hipparchia of Maroneia
A woman can live the same free, simple life and speak her mind as openly as any man – which she did, against all convention.
Placement
Cynic philosopher who left a wealthy family for the Cynic life on the streets of Athens, together with Crates of Thebes: the same frugal life and the same freedom of speech for a woman as for a man.
Key ideas
- Cynic way of life
- Freedom of speech (parrhesia)
- A woman among the philosophers
Teachers: Crates of Thebes
Influence
Influenced by 2
Diogenes of Sinope
influenced by
Through Crates, Diogenes’ pupil, Hipparchia took up the Cynic life Diogenes had modelled – poverty, life in public, free speech – on equal terms with men. Diogenes Laertius VI.85, VI.96–98; IEP “Cynics”
Evidence: AI draft
Diogenes of Sinope › c. 412–323 BCE
Crates of Thebes studied with
studied with
Her shared Cynic life with Crates is attested by his contemporary Menander (Twin Sisters, quoted in Diogenes Laertius 6.93); how she became his pupil is told only by Diogenes Laertius (6.96–98). Menander, Didymai (in Diogenes Laertius 6.93); Diogenes Laertius 6.96–98
Evidence: AI draft
Crates of Thebes › c. 365–285 BCE
Position
None of her writings survives, though the Suda credits her with philosophical treatises and questions addressed to Theodorus; what we know comes from anecdotes and from later letters, forged in the name of Crates, that are addressed to her. Yet the anecdotes make a philosophical point: she lived the Cynic programme of self-sufficiency, shamelessness and freedom of speech exactly as a man would. At a banquet she silenced the philosopher Theodorus with a syllogism of his own kind – if Theodorus does no wrong when he strikes Theodorus, Hipparchia does no wrong when she strikes Theodorus. For the Cynics, convention, including the one that confines women, has no authority against nature. Her example was cited by later writers on women and philosophy.
Life & context
Hipparchia came from a wealthy family of Maroneia in Thrace and lived in Athens in the late 4th century BCE. According to Diogenes Laertius, she fell in love with the Cynic Crates of Thebes, a pupil of Diogenes, rejected richer suitors and threatened to kill herself unless her parents let her marry him. She adopted his dress and way of life, lived with him in public and bore him children. Her dates are approximate.
Main works
- No writings survive (the Suda lists treatises and questions to Theodorus); the “Cynic Epistles” attributed to Crates and addressed to her are later forgeries (1st–2nd century CE)
Appears in
- Journey ‘From Gargi to Oluwole’ · Stop 2 of 10
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