Theano (philosopher)

Theano is referred to in ancient sources as Pythagoreerin and often as a woman of the philosopher Pythagoras of Samos. Thus, she lived in the late 6th and maybe in the early 5th century BC However, their existence is doubtful. In the Roman period it was regarded as a model of female virtue.

Life

It is first mentioned in the philosopher Theano Dikaiarchos, who lived in the second half of the 4th century and in the early 3rd century BC. He referred to not as a wife, but only as a follower of Pythagoras. In the 3rd century BC, claimed the poet Hermesianax, Pythagoras loved her passionately. As the wife of the philosopher it is expressly stated only in sources of the Roman Empire.

The details of their origin are contradictory; they come from sources of the Roman Empire. One of the Lore has it she was Cretan woman, after another they came from Croton (now Crotone in Calabria, Southern Italy), after another from Metaponto in Basilicata. Her father was said to be a Pythagorean named Brontinos or Brotinos; according to a different indication he was her husband. The vast majority of sources that mention her marriage, reported that she had been the wife of Pythagoras, who settled in southern Italy and around 530 initially, and later lived in Croton in Metapontum. You should have had children, have been handed down for the different names; a son should have been called Telauges, a daughter Myia; also a daughter named Damo is the speech in late sources.

Reception

For posterity, Theano was a legendary figure, a personification of female wisdom and virtue. At this reputation was due primarily to the pseudepigraphical attributed to her ( fake ) letters, which were common in the Roman imperial period. Seven of them have been preserved; five of these are addressed to women. They deal with the duties of a wife and mother of an adequate response to a breach committed by the husband of adultery, of educational issues ( being warned of spoiling the children ) and the use of the servants. The group of three letters long ( at Eubule, Niko rate and Callisto ) is preserved in several manuscripts of four short, which is probably originated much later, only in one; there is no doubt as to the spuriousness of all letters. The publisher Alfons Städele suspected for all letters emergence in the Roman Empire. In addition to the letters Theano were also writings on philosophical topics, especially in the field of theory of virtue attributed, one of which is known except their titles little, as well as a collection of sayings; handed down are individual alleged sayings Theano and the obtained only in Syriac translation Logia Council of Theano, whose Greek original probably came from the Roman Empire.

In the 14th century reported the Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras, the Empress Eudocia Makrembolitissa who lived in the 11th century, had been called a second Theano. From the context it is evident that Theano was regarded in medieval times as a pattern of exquisitely formed woman.

The first edition of the Letters appeared in 1499 at Aldus Manutius in Venice; it was followed by other editions and translations. Christoph Martin Wieland in 1789 published his study The Pythagorean women with a ratio of three Theano ascribed letters which he thought was real. Wieland commented enthusiastically about the alleged letters of Pythagoreerinnen and especially about Theano's virtue.

In Herder's Scattered leaves and in his book God. Some calls ( 1787) occurs on a conversational partner named Theano, whose name he probably chose to Following the ancient Pythagoreerin.

Text editions and translations

• Alfons Städele (ed.): The Letters of Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans. Anton Hain, Meisenheim am Glan 1980, ISBN 3-445-02128-7 ( critical edition with translation )
• Kai Brodersen (ed.): Theano: Letters of an ancient philosopher. Reclam, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-15-018787-6 ( non-critical edition of the letters and of source texts to Theano and attributed to her sayings with translation; includes Wieland's study The Pythagorean women)