Women in the Socratic Tradition

Book

Women in the Socratic Tradition

Edited by: Carolina de Melo Bomfim Araújo

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2025

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This book is in the series

Volume 2 | Socratic Studies

About this book

Socrates represents an important turning point not only in the history of philosophy, but also in the morality of gender inequality, for he advanced the unprecedented thesis that the virtue of men and women is the same. The arguments supporting such a thesis, however, are controversial: different authors understand Socrates' legacy differently; the arguments do not necessarily account for the universality implied in the thesis; and, in challenging conventions, Socratic literature tends to blur gender distinctions. Be that as it may, these sources undeniably present women as exemplars of the philosophical life. This volume brings together a group of highly qualified scholars to provide a careful analysis of this evidence and a detailed assessment of the Socratic debate on gender, divided into three sections: Socratic Women; Socratics on Women; and Socratic Philosophy as a Woman. It sheds light on a topic rarely explored in scholarship on Socratism: women both as philosophers and as a philosophical motif.

Reappraising the role of women in the birth of Greek philosophy
A fresh look at Socratism and its gender debate
In-depth source analysis of Socrates' inspired critique of social norms in 5th/4th-century B.C.E. Athens

Author / Editor information

Carolina Araújo, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

By the same author: Plato's Power (Brill, 2025)

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Publicly Available

Frontmatter
I

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Acknowledgments

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Contents
VII

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Abbreviations

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Frontmatter
XVII

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Introduction
1
Carolina Araújo

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Part I: Socratic Women
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Rhodogyne and the Tradition of the Amazon Type
13
Francesca Pentassuglio

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Panthea’s Portrait in Xenophon’s Cyropaedia: Kalokagathia, Philia, Eros, and Leadership
37
Vitor de Simoni Milione

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Aspasia’s Eidolon in Plato’s Menexenus
59
Mateo Duque

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Xanthippe’s Harshness: At the Root of Socrates’ Endurance and Paideutic Mission
79
Alessandro Stavru

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The Myrto Enigma: A Wife on the Side?
103
David Lévystone

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The Wife of Ischomachus and the Two Aspasia in Xenophon’s Oeconomicus
145
Etienne Helmer

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Theodote and Socrates’ Other Girlfriends
161
Francisco J. Gonzalez

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Hipparchia’s Philosophical Contributions and Her Originality
181
Jérémy Bredin

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Part II: Socratics on Women
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Women in Antisthenes
203
Aldo Brancacci

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Xenophon’s Women: Women’s Virtue and Women’s Body
225
Fiorenza Bevilacqua

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Aristippus’ View of Women: Misogyny or Theoretical Tension?
245
Giovanna De Paoli

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Plato’s Women: Extending the Socratic Insight
271
Irina Deretić and Nicholas D. Smith

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Undermining Elite Self-Conceptions: Aspasia in the Platonic Menexenus and Theodote in Xenophon’s Memorabilia
299
Wolfgang-Rainer Mann

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Women in Common: The Socratic Debate
321
Carolina Araújo

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Part III: Socratic Philosophy as a Woman
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Was Socrates a Woman?
347
Gabriel Danzig

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Socrates, Hestia, and the Hearth of the City
371
Thomas W. Moody

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Female Container-Metaphors in Plato and Xenophon: The Chōra and the Oikos
391
Laurin Mackowitz

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Female and Feminine in Plato’s Symposium
407
Cristina de Souza Agostini

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The Pregnant Soul and Labor Pains: Female Medical Imagery in Plato
431
Silvio Marino

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The Mother and Her Child: The Paradoxes of a Socratic Metaphor
453
Michele Solitario

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About the Authors

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Index Nominum

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Index Locorum

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

August 21, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9783111692456

Hardcover published on:

August 21, 2025

Hardcover ISBN:

9783119149280

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

16

Main content:

513

Illustrations:

4

Coloured Illustrations:

1

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111692456

eBook ISBN: 9783111692456

Hardcover ISBN: 9783119149280

Keywords for this book

Women; Socrates; Gender

Audience(s) for this book

Researchers, Postgraduates, Undergraduates

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Walter de Gruyter GmbH
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Women in the Socratic Tradition

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Abbreviations

Frontmatter

Introduction

Rhodogyne and the Tradition of the Amazon Type

Panthea’s Portrait in Xenophon’s Cyropaedia: Kalokagathia, Philia, Eros, and Leadership

Aspasia’s Eidolon in Plato’s Menexenus

Xanthippe’s Harshness: At the Root of Socrates’ Endurance and Paideutic Mission

The Myrto Enigma: A Wife on the Side?

The Wife of Ischomachus and the Two Aspasia in Xenophon’s Oeconomicus

Theodote and Socrates’ Other Girlfriends

Hipparchia’s Philosophical Contributions and Her Originality

Women in Antisthenes

Xenophon’s Women: Women’s Virtue and Women’s Body

Aristippus’ View of Women: Misogyny or Theoretical Tension?

Plato’s Women: Extending the Socratic Insight

Undermining Elite Self-Conceptions: Aspasia in the Platonic Menexenus and Theodote in Xenophon’s Memorabilia

Women in Common: The Socratic Debate

Was Socrates a Woman?

Socrates, Hestia, and the Hearth of the City

Female Container-Metaphors in Plato and Xenophon: The Chōra and the Oikos

Female and Feminine in Plato’s Symposium

The Pregnant Soul and Labor Pains: Female Medical Imagery in Plato

The Mother and Her Child: The Paradoxes of a Socratic Metaphor

About the Authors

Index Nominum

Index Locorum

Women in the Socratic Tradition

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Abbreviations

Frontmatter

Introduction

Rhodogyne and the Tradition of the Amazon Type

Panthea’s Portrait in Xenophon’s Cyropaedia: Kalokagathia, Philia, Eros, and Leadership

Aspasia’s Eidolon in Plato’s Menexenus

Xanthippe’s Harshness: At the Root of Socrates’ Endurance and Paideutic Mission

The Myrto Enigma: A Wife on the Side?

The Wife of Ischomachus and the Two Aspasia in Xenophon’s Oeconomicus

Theodote and Socrates’ Other Girlfriends

Hipparchia’s Philosophical Contributions and Her Originality

Women in Antisthenes

Xenophon’s Women: Women’s Virtue and Women’s Body

Aristippus’ View of Women: Misogyny or Theoretical Tension?

Plato’s Women: Extending the Socratic Insight

Undermining Elite Self-Conceptions: Aspasia in the Platonic Menexenus and Theodote in Xenophon’s Memorabilia

Women in Common: The Socratic Debate

Was Socrates a Woman?

Socrates, Hestia, and the Hearth of the City

Female Container-Metaphors in Plato and Xenophon: The Chōra and the Oikos

Female and Feminine in Plato’s Symposium

The Pregnant Soul and Labor Pains: Female Medical Imagery in Plato

The Mother and Her Child: The Paradoxes of a Socratic Metaphor

About the Authors

Index Nominum

Index Locorum

Bibliographic data