#sosipatra

[supersingh-sbs]

📖 LEARNED WOMEN OF LATE ANTIQUITY #SOSIPATRA OF PERGAMON: "A TOWERING PAGAN INTELLECTUAL" (Part 1) Sosipatra was a late pagan "philosopher" and wife of Eustathius, an orator and occasional diplomat. Eustathius was also a kinsman of Aedesius, a noted neo-Platonic philosopher. 'According to Eunapius in #Lives #of #Philosophers, Sosipatra was a towering pagan intellectual during an age when Christians were doing all they could to expunge paganism. Again according to Eunapius, as great a man as Eustathius was, Sosipatra's wisdom made that of her husband seem insignificant by comparison. Sosipatra was born near Ephesus in Asia Minor. As Eunapius has it, her father was prosperous, and she lived a decorous youth until she was five, when two mysterious strangers, dressed in skins, made their way to her father's estate. There the strangers were employed by the steward to tend to the estate's vines. When the earth brought forth a bounty beyond all expectation, Sosipatra's father suspected the work of the gods. He invited his enigmatic employees to dine with him and showed them every consideration.' (to be continued) #paganism #theurgy #Pergamon #femalephilosophers (at Kew Gardens) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKt5vpBDrf8fX66wnH6wP6GvS6aH3eFdSBp0vA0/?igshid=1i442qyzqnh42

[rsdunnart]

Persona: Sosipatra Element: Psychic Arcana: Priestess

[hodie-scolastica]

Sosipatra

Sosipatra (4th century CE) is one of those women who we’re not really sure if she existed or not. The problem is, beyond a few refutations, we only really have one source on her life, Eunapius’ Lives of the Philosophers, and to be frank, his version reads more like a fairytale than anything else.  She exists within his work more to serve a purpose than to act as a person in her own right.  We do, however, have her reputation.  She was widely known both for her skill at theurgy and for her Neo-Platonist philosophy and teachings, so much so that St. Augustine himself felt the need to account for her.

According to Eunapius, Sosipatra was given over to two elderly teachers at the age of five.  The two men came to her father’s estate and produced an extraordinary harvest.  They promised much greater things if both Sosipatra, already a beautiful child who brought blessings on everything around her, and the estate were given into their care for five years.

On her father’s return, he found his daughter had grown into a highly educated, beautiful girl with psychic and clairvoyant abilities.  She proved her learning to him by recounting to him every step of his journey.  The two men soon left,* leaving Sosipatra to continue her education on her own.  Her father let her live as she wanted and eventually she decided she wished to marry.  She chose Eustathius of Cappadocia, a brilliant philosopher in his own right, as the man worthy to be her husband, telling him that she would bear him three sons and that a high place awaited him after his death in five years but that a higher place would be hers.

Sosipatra’s words came true.  She had three sons by Eustathius before he died five years into their marriage.  After that she moved herself and her family to Pergamon and supported herself there by teaching.  This was also where the famous philosopher Aedesius lived and students would go from his lectures to hers, learning from both of them.  One of these students cleared up the small matter of a love spell at her request.**  Eunapius gives no account of her death, leaving us with the information that only one of her sons followed in her footsteps.

  *Eunapius claims that they were gods in human form. **What is it with 4th century scholarly women and their students falling in love with them?

Sources/Further Reading: Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers 401-418, 4th century CE - Tertullian.org Johnston, Sarah Iles. "Sosipatra and the Theurgic Life" - Academia.edu Sosipatra of Ephesus - Women Philosophers Sosipatra of Pergamum - Suppressed Histories Soispatra - Wikipedia