#hipparchia

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

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.