Aspasia had set the fashion for hetaarae in Athens to devote attention to
rhetoric and philosophy; consequently, many of the blue-stockings of
Greece belonged to the hetaera class. Some acquaintance with the higher
learning, however, became fashionable also in the retirement of the
gynaeceum, and many maidens and matrons of honorable station employed
their leisure moments in reading the works of philosophers and poets,
and received, if not public, at least private instruction from
professional lecturers.
The variety of intellectual pursuits among the women was marked. Poetry
was their natural field, and philosophy appealed to them as being the
most learned vocation of the times. Even in the Heroic Age, women were
skilled in the uses of plants for purposes of witchcraft and of healing;
and in historic times, when medicine became a science, women engaged in
various medical pursuits. Similar tastes led many also to follow the
different branches of natural science, and in Alexandrian times, when
philology was the prevailing study, history and grammar and literary
criticism became favorite studies with the daughters of the learned.
In a previous chapter, we have described the Lesbian Sappho's seminary
of the Muses, to which maidens flocked from all Hellenic lands for the
study of poetry and art. The natural beauties of the isle of Lesbos, the
luxurious life of the aristocratic classes, the brilliancy and zeal of
Sappho herself, and her ardent affection for her girl friends, were
influences favorable to the pursuits of the Muses and the Graces.
It is not surprising that, amid such surroundings and with such a
teacher, women should acquire a love of poetry and of all that appeals
to the aesthetic nature. There is a vague tradition that there were
seventy-six women poets among the Ancient Greeks.
Unfortunately, the
names of but few of these are preserved to us. We have authentic
information concerning only the nine most distinguished poetesses, to
whom the Greeks gave the title of the Terrestrial Muses.
The second of the nine Terrestrial Muses--for Sappho was, of course, the
first--was the poetess's favorite and most promising pupil, Erinna of
the isle of Telos. She aroused among Greek poets a most respectful and
tender sentiment, and they frequently sounded her praises. Her most
noted production was a poem called _The Distaff_, and the poets compared
it to the honeycomb, which the gracious bee had gathered from the
flowers of Helicon; they perceived in this production of a maiden the
freshness and perfume of spring, and they likened her delicate notes to
the sweet voice of a swan as he sings his death song--a comparison only
too just, for she died at the tender age of nineteen years. A poet of
the Anthology thus laments her untimely taking-off:
"These are Erinna's songs: how sweet, though slight!
For she was but a girl of nineteen years:--
Yet stronger far than what most men can write: Had death delayed, what fame had equalled hers?"
The names of the next two of the Terrestrial Nine are closely associated
with that of Pindar of Thebes,--Myrtis and Corinna, the one the
instructor, the other the rival, of the great composer.
Myrtis was the
eldest of the three, and probably gave instruction to her younger
contemporaries. She later entered the lists in a poetic contest with
Pindar, and for this she was censured by Corinna. The younger woman, who
defeated Pindar five times in poetic contests, gave her rival some good
advice, by which he profited in his later productions.
She reproached
him for devoting too much attention to the form and neglecting the soul
of the poem. When, following her counsel, Pindar brought to her a poem
abounding in mythological allusions, Corinna smiled, and remarked to him
that in future he should "sow by the handful, not with the whole sack."
Pausanias saw the tomb of Corinna in a conspicuous part of her native
town of Tanagra; and also a picture of her in the gymnasium,
representing her binding a fillet about her head in honor of the victory
she had gained over Pindar at Thebes. But he ungallantly ascribes her
victory partly to her dialect--for she composed not in Doric, like
Pindar, but in a dialect which AEolians would understand--and partly to
her beauty; for, judging from her portrait, she was the fairest woman of
her time.
Telesilla of Argos was not only a poet, but an antique Joan of Arc as
well. Being of feeble constitution, she was told by the oracle to devote
herself to the service of the Muses, and in this salutary mental
exercise she found health and preeminence among her fellows. Famous
hymns to Apollo and to Artemis were composed by her. Her love of beauty
also inspired her with noble ideals of patriotism and self-sacrifice,
and in the crisis of the war between her native town and Sparta she
armed her countrywomen and led them forth to victory against the enemy.
As a memorial of this noble action, her statue was erected in the temple
of Aphrodite at Argos.
Praxilla of Sicyon was placed by ancient critics by the side of Anacreon
for the softness and delicacy of her verses, and she was honored in her
native city with a statue from the hand of Lysippus. She sang beautiful
songs of Aphrodite and retold in passionate verse the legend of Adonis.
The next name on this immortal list takes us to Locris, in Italy, and
down to the fourth century before Christ. Like Sappho, Nossis "of
womanly accents" is a love poetess, and twelve epigrams attributed to
her are found in the Anthology. Her poetry was symbolized by the
_fleur-de-lis_ with its penetrating perfume. In praising the portrait of
her child she sees the reflection of her own beauty, and in the epitaph
which she composed for her tomb she declares herself equal to Sappho;
hence humility cannot be classed among the many virtues which caused her
to be adored by her contemporaries.
The little poems of Anyte of Tegea and Moero of Byzantium, the last two
of the Terrestrial Nine, are often symbolized by the lilies for their
purity and delicacy. These poets flourished in the third century of our
era. Antipater surnames Anyte "a feminine Homer"; rather should she be
called "a feminine Simonides," though even this is too high praise. Her
soul was simple and pure, and her sweet sentiments are reflected in a
style as limpid as a running stream. Charm and freshness characterize
her invitation to some passer-by to repose under the trees and taste of
the cool water; deep and melancholy emotions pervade the poem in which
she bewails the death of a young maiden; and a masculine philosophy of
life is manifest in the epitaph of a slave whom death has made equal
with the Great King. Moero's range was not so great, nor her touch so
delicate. A heroic poem, _Mnemosyne_, was the most ambitious of her
works; she also composed elegies and epigrams, and two of the latter
have been preserved to us, revealing a soul sensitive to natural beauty.
Here and there, other names and occasional verses of Greek poetesses are
found--Cleobuline of Rhodes, Megalostrata and Clitagora, of Sparta, and
others; but they did not attain the fame of the Terrestrial Muses.
As the verses of the Greek women were to be sung to the accompaniment of
the lyre, the daughters of the Muses were as celebrated in music as they
were in poetry. Nor were the maidens of Greece without distinction in
other arts. It is in part to a Corinthian maiden that legend ascribes
the invention of modelling in clay. Cora, daughter of Butades, is about
to say farewell--perhaps forever--to her lover, who is going on a long
journey. The light of a lamp throws his shadow on the wall, and, to
preserve at least this image of him, she deftly sketches the outline of
the shadow. Her father, with the instinct of an artist, observes the
outline and fills it in with potter's clay, and then bakes the model
which he has obtained. There are no names recorded of Greek women who
were sculptors, but doubtless in the studio of many an artist a
daughter delighted in assisting him at his work.
Many Greek women distinguished themselves in painting.
Timarete, the
daughter of Micon, produced an image of Artemis, which was long to be
seen at Ephesus; it was one of the most ancient monuments of this art,
and the goddess was probably represented under a strange and symbolic
form, such as she had in her sanctuary in Ephesus.
Eleusis possessed a
painting made by Irene, daughter of Cratinus, representing the figure of
a young girl, perhaps a priestess initiated into the mysteries of the
great goddesses. Calypso, Alcisthene, Aristarete, and Olympias are the
names of other female painters, whose memories at least have been
preserved.
The most celebrated of all, however, was Lalla, a native of the city of
Cyzicus, to which Apollo had accorded the gift of arts.
Though she
worked with extreme rapidity, this did not detract from the merits of
her work, and she was considered the first painter of her time. Painting
with pencil and on ivory were equally familiar to her.
The portraits
which she painted were principally of persons of her own sex. Pliny
mentions a portrait, which was at Naples during his life, in which Lalla
had represented an old woman. He adds that she had reproduced in this
her own picture reflected in a mirror. There has been found at Pompeii a
painting of an artist which is believed to be a portrait of Lalla,
probably painted by herself. It represents a young woman seated on a
stool on a little porch, with her eyes fixed on a statue of Bacchus,
which she is reproducing on a tablet held by a child. In her right hand
is a pencil, which she plunges into a small box evidently containing her
colors; in her left hand she holds a palette. Her garments are elegantly
draped around her; a band encircles her waving hair, which falls over
her neck and shoulders, A deep, intellectual look illuminates her
delicate features. If this be really a picture of Lalla, she was
wonderfully beautiful.
Not only in poetry and the fine arts, but also in philosophy and
intellectual pursuits did the Greek woman show herself capable of great
achievements. In the schools of Pythagoras, established at Croton in
Magna Graecia, women were freely admitted and took a prominent part in
the exercises, together with their husbands and brothers.
There is a tradition that the ascendency of Pythagoras at Croton was so
great that the ladies of the city brought their rich apparel, their
jewels, necklaces and bracelets, to the temple of Hera, and dedicated
them as an offering to domestic virtue, vowing that henceforth prudence
and modesty, not luxurious apparel, were to be the true ornaments of
their sex. Whether this story be true or not, there is no doubt that
Pythagoras had a large number of women among his disciples, and that the
"Pythagorean Women" attained throughout the Greek world a great and
enviable reputation. Pythagoras's friendly attitude toward the sex was
probably in part the result of his cordial relations with the Delphian
priestess Aristoclea, renowned for her amiability and her wisdom, with
whom he carried on a learned correspondence. The general results of his
teachings upon woman were a high ideal of feminine morality, careful
attention to household duties, and the elevation of the conception of
motherhood, especially in the careful rearing of children.
Existing fragments of the works of "Pythagorean Women"
indicate their
lofty views of moral perfection and harmony, and their practical
judgment in everyday affairs. _Sophrosyne_ is constantly commended as
the chief feminine virtue, a term connoting moderation, self-containedness, modesty, and wifely fidelity--in a word, all that
is essentially womanly.
The Neo-pythagorean philosopher, Iamblichus, in his biography of
Pythagoras mentions fifteen celebrated women of the School. Other
writers name other female adepts in Pythagorean philosophy, who lived
during and after the time of Pythagoras. The number was so large that
the comic poets Alexis and Cratinus the Younger, who, like most
Athenians, had a genuine contempt for blue-stockings, made them the
object of much drollery and ridicule.
Of all the Pythagorean Women, none attained such exalted rank as
Pythagoras's wife, the high-minded Theano. She combined virtue and
wisdom in such perfect harmony that she was regarded in antiquity not
only as the foremost representative of feminine scholarship, but also as
the brilliant prototype of true womanhood. Of the life of Theano we know
only a few characteristic incidents, and these give insight into her
character mainly by relating "sayings" uttered by her on certain
occasions. She was once asked for what she wished to be distinguished.
She replied by quoting a verse of Homer (II. 1:31):
"Minding the spindle
and tending my marriage bed." Another time, she was asked what most
became a wife; she answered: "to live entirely for her husband."--Again,
she was asked what was love; "the sickness of a longing soul," was her
answer. Once, while she was throwing off her mantle, it happened that
her arm was exposed. A gentleman, struck by its beauty and shapeliness,
exclaimed: "What a beautiful arm!" "But not for the public gaze,"
replied the wise Theano, while she hastily adjusted her robes. This
remark has been quoted by Plutarch, by two Church Fathers, Clement of
Alexandria and Theodoret, and by the Byzantine authoress Anna Comnena,
as a noteworthy apothegm, tending to promote womanly modesty and
reserve.
Theano was both prose writer and poetess. Of a long epic poem written by
her in hexameters we have not even a fragment; of her philosophical
works, there are still extant three letters of great charm and a
fragment of a philosophic and didactic work _On Piety_.
This fragment is
too short for us to distinguish in it anything more than the highly
developed reasoning power of the author; in her letters, however,
discussing the rearing of children, the treatment of servants, and the
suppression of jealousy, the sentiments are forceful, and the style has
a familiar grace and tenderness. The relics that we have abound in
axiomatic expressions, emphasizing womanly virtues and manifesting the
lofty morality and high culture of the writer.
After the death of Pythagoras, Theano, in conjunction with her two sons,
Telauges and Mnesarchus, kept up the secret order; and Theano, as
teacher and as writer, promulgated her husband's doctrines. The time and
circumstances of her death are unknown.
Theano's three daughters followed in their mothers footsteps. Myia, the
most distinguished, had been so carefully reared and was of such
preeminent virtue that she was chosen as a virgin to lead the chorus of
maidens, and as a wife the chorus of matrons, at all the sacred
festivals of Croton, and she knelt at the head of her companions before
the altars of the gods. She was the wife of Malon, the celebrated
athlete, also of the Pythagorean order; their union was in all respects
a happy one. Myia was also a writer, but we have only one letter
attributed to her. Her work in the spirit of her father was so brilliant
that she spread the fame of his teachings throughout all Hellenic lands.
There was probably an extensive literature about her in antiquity, for
Lucian, several centuries later, says he had much to tell of her, but
that her history was already generally known.
Not without distinction were also Myia's sisters, of whom Arignote
attained a great reputation as a philosopher and writer of epigrams,
while Damo distinguished herself by her fidelity to her father's dying
request. The story goes that he consigned to her his most precious
treasure,--his memoirs,--with the injunction that she should keep them
secret from all who were not of the family. Though offered large sums
for them, she never yielded, preferring poverty to disobedience. At her
death she turned the works over to her daughter Bistalia, with the same
mandate her father had given herself. The granddaughter remained equally
faithful, and these invaluable works perished with the family. Some
ancient writers mention as another daughter of Pythagoras, Theano the
Younger, of Thurii, but, according to Suidas, she was a daughter of
Lycophron. She was a clever philosopher and a prolific authoress.
Other Pythagorean Women of whom we know more than the mere name are
Phintys, Perictyone, Melissa, Ptolemais, and Timycha.
Phintys wrote a
book _On Womanly Virtue_; Perictyone--often erroneously identified with
the mother of Plato--composed a work _On Wisdom_, much prized by
Aristotle, and another _Concerning the Harmony of Women_,--that is,
concerning the accord of life and thought, of feelings and actions, the
right relations between body and spirit. Fragments of these works show
the Pythagorean idea concerning the mission of woman.
They connect the
duties of woman with the propensities and faculties peculiarly her own.
To the men, they leave the defence of the country and the administration
of public affairs; to the women, they assign the government of the
home, the guardianship of the family hearth, and the education of
children. Personality is regarded as the dominating virtue of
man--chastity, of woman.
Melissa is known only by a short fragment on feminine love of adornment;
and Ptolemais was a specialist in music and an authority on the
Pythagorean theory of music in its relation to life. Of Timycha we have
a characteristic story. She lived in the time of Dionysius of Syracuse.
A party of Pythagorean pilgrims, while on their way to Metapontum to
celebrate certain rites, were attacked by a band of Syracusans. They at
first fled; but when they saw they must pass through a field of beans,
they suddenly stopped and fought till the last one was killed. The
Syracusans shortly after came upon Mylias of Croton and his wife,
Timycha, who, on account of her delicate condition, had been left behind
by the rest of their party. They were arrested and brought before the
tyrant. Dionysius promised them liberty and an escort to their
destination if they would tell him why the deceased Pythagoreans refused
to tread on the beans. But they refused to tell.
Dionysius's curiosity
was all the more excited, and he had the husband taken aside, that he
might question the wife alone, feeling convinced that he could compel
her to answer his question. Threatened with the torture, and fearing
lest in her weakness she might be overcome, Timycha bit out her tongue
rather than reveal the secrets of her order.
In these Pythagorean Women, we observe the perfect blending of
intellectual beauty with moral elevation. Perhaps no later age has
presented a higher ideal of feminine perfection. Their system of culture
taught them how to pursue at the same time the most abstruse
philosophical speculations and the most insignificant duties of
practical life, and the higher learning in their hands never led to a
sacrifice of true womanliness.
Passing from Croton to Athens, Socrates, the father of the various
philosophical schools, had no female disciples, so far as we are
informed; but he is credited with saying that he learned the ait of love
from the priestess Diotima, and that of eloquence from Aspasia. Xenophon
also recounts a lengthy conversation of Socrates with the hetsera
Theodota concerning the art of winning men. His most eminent disciple,
Plato, had numerous pupils of the gentler sex. Plato possessed in large
measure the _ewig weibliche_, which Goethe deems an essential element in
all great men. As a young man he was given to composing love poems, but
the names of his youthful sweethearts are not known. His visits to
Southern Italy made him sympathetic with woman's literary aspirations;
and when he opened the door of the Academy to them, women flocked to his
lecture room from various cities of Hellas. It was the first known
instance in Athens of women engaging in philosophy.
The female members of the Academy did not attain to such distinction as
did the Pythagorean Women. The latter were of Dorian blood, and lived,
according to the rules of their order, in the greatest simplicity and
industry; the former were chiefly of Ionian stock and were more inclined
to lives of ease and luxury. Consequently, they did not cultivate those
domestic virtues which made the Pythagorean Women so superior. Athens
was not the place for feminine ambition to receive proper recognition,
and the honorable maids and matrons could not, if they wished, pursue
the study of philosophy in association with the male sex; hence the
feminine element of the Academy was composed of strangers, who were
attracted to Athens by the fame of the philosopher.
Of Plato's immediate family, only his sister Potone, the mother of his
pupil and successor Speusippus, appears to have engaged in
philosophical studies. Of the strangers associated with the Academy,
under Plato and later under Speusippus, two gained especial
distinction--Axiothea and Lasthenia.
Axiothea, who was also called Phlisia, was a native of Phlius, a small
Peloponnesian town in the district of Sicyon, whence came the poetess
Praxilla. The story goes that some works of Plato fell into the maiden's
hands, and she read them with great zeal and industry.
His _Republic_
finally aroused her enthusiasm to such a pitch that her desire for
personal instruction from the philosopher could no longer be resisted.
So she assumed masculine attire, made the journey alone to Athens, and
was received into the Academy. She continued the use of men's clothing,
and for a long time concealed her sex, becoming one of the most
prominent and zealous members of the school. Plato was so impressed with
her ability that, as tradition says, he would postpone his lectures if
Axiothea chanced to be absent. When he was asked the reason for such an
interruption, he replied: "The intellect sufficient to grasp the subject
is not yet present"--meaning Axiothea. She frequented the Academy also
under Speusippus, and became herself a teacher of philosophy. Nothing
but What is commendable is known of her, but her reputation has suffered
from the association of her name with that of Lasthenia.
The latter came
from Arcadia to Athens to hear Plato, attracted, as was her fellow
student, by the fame of the philosopher. The prevailing life of the
stranger-women in Athens, however, undermined her moral principles, and
she played in the Academy a similar role to that played by Leontium
later among the Epicureans. Speusippus himself was her lover. Though
better known for her adventures as a hetaera, she also possessed some
reputation as a philosopher. Dionysius once wrote to Speusippus: "One
can also learn philosophy from your Arcadian pupil."
The Cyrenaic School, founded by Aristippus, the forerunner of the
Epicurean in its doctrine of pleasure, naturally attracted women,
especially courtesans, into its membership. The celebrated Lais the
Elder was