Cynic

Hipparchia of Maroneia

Ἱππαρχία

fl. c. 325 BCE · Maroneia, Thrace; lived in Athens

One of the few women philosophers of antiquity whose life is recorded. She married the Cynic Crates against her family’s wishes and shared his life of public philosophy. Later sources say she wrote works, now lost, so almost nothing of her own thought survives; the one saying kept here is drawn from brief anecdotes in Diogenes Laertius, written centuries later.

Key ideas

Choosing the Cynic life over wealth and social expectation
Rejecting the idea that philosophy is not for women
Sharp, public argument
Living by nature rather than convention

Passages

Paraphrase

When Theodorus mocked her for leaving the loom, Hipparchia replied that she had not decided badly in spending on her education the time she would otherwise have spent at the loom.

Diogenes Laertius, Lives, VI.98

Paraphrase and reference awaiting verification against the source.

Our source is a brief late account.

Cynic (4th c. BCE onward). A radical simplicity that tested every convention against nature, living with as little as possible and speaking freely.