Vitae philosophorum
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.
Hipparchia too, sister of Metrocles, was captured by their doctrines. Both of them were born at Maroneia.
She fell in love with the discourses and the life of Crates, and would not pay attention to any of her
The girl chose and, adopting the same dress, went about with her husband and lived with him in public and went out to dinners with him. Accordingly she appeared at the banquet given by Lysimachus, and there put down Theodorus, known as the atheist, by means of the following sophism. Any action which would not be called wrong if done by Theodorus, would not be called wrong if done by Hipparchia. Now Theodorus does no wrong when he strikes himself: therefore neither does Hipparchia do wrong when she strikes Theodorus. He had no reply wherewith to meet the argument, but tried to strip her of her cloak. But Hipparchia showed no sign of alarm or of the perturbation natural in a woman.
And when he said to her:
she replied, It is I, Theodorus,—but do you suppose that I have been ill advised about myself, if instead of wasting further time upon the loom I spent it in education? These tales and countless others are told of the female philosopher.Is this she
- Who quitting woof and warp and comb and loom?[*](Eur. Bacch. 1236.)
There is current a work of Crates entitled Epistles,
Not one tower hath my country nor one roof,
- But wide as the whole earth its citadel
- And home prepared for us to dwell therein.
He died in old age, and was buried in Boeotia.