#hipparchia

[wild-e-eep]

A grayling - Hipparchia semele - flashing its eyes at me.

[myrachidh]

Butterfly ~The Freyer's Grayling ~ Hipparchia fatua ~ Le Grand faune ~ Karavomilos, Kefalonia, Greece ~ Hellas #Butterfly #TheFreyer'sGrayling #Grayling #Hipparchia #Hipparchiafatua #LeGrandfaune #faune #Karavomilos #Kefalonia #Greece #Hellas #Ellada #butterflies #papillons #insects #insectsofinstagram #Wildlife #wildlifephotography ~ https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachidh/albums (at Karavomilos Kefalonia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5GwcK6AXWk/?igshid=oi8nepqrgbjd

[lionofchaeronea]

Wall painting from the garden of the Villa Farnesina, depicting the married Cynic philosophers Crates and Hipparchia. Artist unknown; 1st cent. CE (?) Now in the Museo delle Terme, Rome.

[pirineodiversityproject]

Woodland grayling (Hipparchia fagi)

[sivavakkiyar]

letters from Crates to Hipparchia, his wife, both “students” of Diogenes

you know, pretty good for 326 BC! For starters tho, he should read bell hooks, and

[honorthegods]

Diogenes by John William Waterhouse, 1882. Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Image: Wikimedia Commons (X). License: Public Domain

Today, April Fool’s Day, I’m thinking about the Cynic philosophers of Ancient Greece. Cynics were sometimes derided as fools. They rejected social convention and lived simply, thereby gaining the freedom to speak critically about materialism, social status, religious practices, and public corruption.

Diogenes taught that virtue came from living in accordance with nature and reason. He was often accused of being shameless, because he not only embraced poverty and hardship but often mocked the thoughtlessness and  hypocrisy of social convention.

The Cynic philosophers Crates and Hipparchia. Wall painting, 1st century CE, from the garden of the Villa Farnesina, Museo delle Terme, Rome. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (X). License: Public Domain.

Crates of Thebes was a student of Diogenes. He was known for teaching that wealth is merely a tool to be used, not to be mourned when it is gone, and that justice, virtue, and philosophy are tools one always possesses no matter what happens in life.

Hipparchia of Maroneia was a Thracian woman who first learned about philosophy from her brother, a student of Aristotle. She became a student of Crates, perhaps informally, and insisted on marrying him, counter to the protests of her parents and also the objections of her intended spouse.

As a woman philosopher, and particularly as a Cynic, Hipparchia’s mere existence generated controversy, but her marriage to Crates also defied social conventions. Their atypical marriage was apparently one of equals. They owned only their garments, staffs, and packs, begged for food and money, slept and had sex without shame in the stoas and porticoes (the Cynics taught that no act which is not shameful in private becomes shameful by being performed in public). Hipparchia defied norms by continuing to teach and perform physical labor during her pregnancies. While it’s difficult to say for certain, since many of the anecdotes told about her may have been embroidered, she is said to have raised her children in austerity, and educated them in philosophy. She is the only woman philosopher mentioned in the 3rd century CE Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertes.

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Featured image: “Diogenes” by John William Waterhouse, 1882. Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Image: Wikimedia Commons (X). License: Public Domain.

Image description: An imaginary scene from ancient Greece. To the viewer’s left, three vibrantly clothed young women stand on a sunny stone staircase. To the right of the stairs, the philosopher Diogenes, in dark garments, sits in the shade of a large ceramic vessel or tub filled with straw, apparently his bed. He is gazing off into the distance in contemplation, a scroll held in both hands at the level of his knees. One of the young women has set down her basket and is leaning over the banister near Diogenes, perhaps seeking to engage his attention. Another woman, standing a few steps higher on the stairs, looks down at her, head tilted with an amused expression.

[tensetrips]

wall painting of Crates and Hipparchia, Villa Farensia, Rome

[tensetrips]

You are no weaker by nature, any more than bitches are weaker than male dogs. Female liberation will then be justified on grounds of nature, since it is acknowledged that slavery in general, if not based on proven inferiority, exists by mere convention.

Crates of Thebes, in a letter to his wife, Hipparchia