Introduction

In the study of Ancient Greek philosophy, the work of women is largely missing. A suppression of female voices and a lack of written sources mean that texts attributed to female authors are rare and largely inaccessible. Thanks to recent scholarship, however, new light is being shed on the role of gender in philosophy. In particular, Dr. Dorota Dutsch’s work examining women’s presence in Pythagorean thought is the basis for this digital edition. With it, we hope to bring forward a sample of previously understudied texts and provide a window into Ancient Greek perceptions of female philosophers.

This project is a collection of written fragments attributed to the Pythagorist philosopher Theano, possibly a follower of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras. These fragments were not written by Theano herself; instead they were written many centuries later, according to a Neopythagorean tradition of attempting to recreate earlier philosophical writing. More specifically, this edition contains the English and Greek translations of 4 letters addressed to 4 different women: Eubole, Nicostrate, Calisto, and Timareta. Within the letters, Theano advises them on motherhood, marriage, and domestic duties respectively.

The Greek and English texts used within this edition were translated by Dorota Dutsch and transcribed by our group. Dutsch’s work is based on the standard modern editions of the letters using William Thesleff’s The Pythagorean Texts of the Hellenistic Period (1965) and Adolf Städele’s The Letters of Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans (1980).

Altogether, the following letters are rich sources which provide a new opportunity to interact with the intellectual world of Ancient Greece.

How to Cite:

Anand, Smaya, Hannah Hedrick, and O’Neil, Frances. “The Letters of Theano: Neopythagorean Pseudoepigrapha.” December 5, 2025. https://smaya-a.github.io/pythagorean/.

The Source

Greek

English

# Θεανὼ Εὐβούλῃ [χαίρειν]. 1. Ἀκούω σε τὰ παιδία τρυφερῶς ἄγειν· ἔστι δὲ ἀγαθῆς μη- τρὸς οὐχ ἡ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἐπιμέλεια τῶν παίδων, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ πρὸς τὸ σώφρον ἀγωγή. βλέπε οὖν μὴ οὐ φιλοῦσης, ἀλλὰ κολακευού- σης ἔργον ποιῇς· συμπεριφερομένη γὰρ ἡδονῇ παισὶν ἀκολάστοις οιεῖ. τῇ γὰρ ἡδονῇ νέους συνήθους ἡδονῆς χρὴ οὖν, ὦ φί- λη, τὴν τροφὴν τῶν παίδων μὴ διαστροφήν ἔχειν· ἡ δὲ τροφὴ διαστροφή της φύσεως ἐστίν ὅταν φιλόδησοι μὲν ταῖς ψυχαῖς, ἡδυπαθεῖς δὲ τοῖς σώμασι γίνονται, καὶ ταῖς μὲν φρονίμοις τοῖς δὲ μαλακώτεροι. (10)

# 1. I hear that you are spoiling your children. The task of a good mother, however, is not to endeavor to please her children, but instead to train them in self-restraint. Beware that you don’t act like an indulgent mother rather than a loving one, because pleasure ingrained in children leads to a lack of discipline. For what indeed is more pleasing to the youngsters than an ingrained pleasure? You must, my dear, nurture your children without corrupting their nature. Nurture can corrupt children’s nature when their minds seek, and their bodies experience pleasures, and thus they become intellectually lazy and physically weak. 1

Note on Text and Translations, from Dorota Dutsch

“I have included only the texts of those treatises and letters attributed
to women that I discuss; for a full list of titles and texts, see Table 3. The Greek
text of the treatises below generally follows Thesleff’s edition (1965 = T),
that of the letters and notes, Städele’s (1980 = S). The exceptions are
identified in footnotes. The fragment of Theano to Timareta appears only
in Thesleff. Pages in Thesleff and Städele, respectively, are given at the
beginning of each text in bold and indicated in parentheses in the text.
The division of the fragments of treatises into sections is mine; that of the
letters follows Städele… All translations are mine.”

Theano to Euboule

Note on Theano to Eubole

In this letter, Theano chastises Eubole for spoiling her children. She compares Eubole’s treatment of her children to the luxurious lives of the “progeny of Sardanapalus,” who was supposedly a king who lived and died in excess and decadence. Disclipine and austerity, instead, are recommended. The burden of raising children to become virtuous and capable members of society is placed entirely on Eubole’s shoulders, showing how women in Ancient Greece were defined by their household management skills.

Greek

S V 166, 168; T 195–6; Hercher 603 No. 4

Θεανὼ Εὐβούλῃ [χαίρειν].
1. Ἀκούω σε τὰ παιδία τρυφερῶς ἄγειν· ἔστι δὲ ἀγαθῆς μη-
τρὸς οὐχ ἡ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἐπιμέλεια τῶν παίδων, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ πρὸς
τὸ σώφρον ἀγωγή. βλέπε οὖν μὴ οὐ φιλοῦσης, ἀλλὰ κολακευού-
σης ἔργον ποιῇς· συμπεριφερομένη γὰρ ἡδονῇ παισὶν ἀκολάστοις
ποιεῖ. τῇ γὰρ ἡδονῇ νέους συνήθους ἡδονῆς χρὴ οὖν, ὦ φί-
λη, τὴν τροφὴν τῶν παίδων μὴ διαστροφήν ἔχειν· ἡ δὲ τροφὴ
διαστροφή της φύσεως ἐστίν ὅταν φιλόδησοι μὲν ταῖς ψυχαῖς,
ἡδυπαθεῖς δὲ τοῖς σώμασι γίνονται, καὶ ταῖς μὲν φρονίμοις
τοῖς δὲ μαλακώτεροι. (10)
2. Δεῖ δέ καὶ πρὸς τὰ φοβερὰ γυμνάζειν τὰ τρεφόμενα, κἂν
λυπηθῆναι κἂν πονῆσαι δεῖ, ἵνα μὴ τῶν παθῶν ἡ δούλα τού-
των καὶ περὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς ἥκιστα καὶ περὶ τοὺς πόνους ὀκνη-
ρά, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τὰ καλὰ πρὸ πάντων τιμῶσιν, ὧν μὲν ἀπεχόμε-
νοι, τοῖς δὲ ἐμμένωσιν. οὐδὲ πλησμονικὰ μὲν ταῖς τροφαῖς,
πολυτελεῖς δὲ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς, ἀκόλαστοι δὲ ταῖς ἀνδρῶν παιδαὶ-
ἄπται αὐτὰ ποιεῖν, καὶ παντὶ μέλει λέγειν, παν δ᾽ ἐπιτηδεῖον
ἔδαισαν, ἔτι δὲ φοβούμεν μηδ᾽ ἢν κλάσῃ, φιλοτιμομμένου δὲ,
ἢν γελά, κἂν τὴν τροφὴν πᾶν μὴ κακῶς ἐπὶ γελώσαν,
καὶ τοῦ μέν θέρους ἡδίων, τοῦ δὲ χειμῶνος κάμμα παρέχου-
σαι καὶ πολλὴν χλίδα· ὧν οὔτε πειρχοὶ γε παιδὸς οὐδενὸς
πέφυνται, καὶ τρέφονται μέν ἥδιστα, αὐξονται δὲ οὐχ ἥσσω,
διδάσκεται δὲ παρὰ πολλἁ κρείσσω.
3. Σὺ δ᾽ οἶον Σαρθαναπάλλου γονγὴν τιθύνῃ τὰ τέκνα, τὴν
τῶν ἀρρένων φύσιν θρήπτουσα ταῖς ἡδοναῖς. τί γὰρ ἂν ποι-
(168) ήσειε τῆς παιδὸς, ὃ ἂν μὴ τάχιον φαγὴν καλεῖς, κἂν ἐσθίῃ,
τὰ πέπυρα τῶν ὄψων ζητεῖ, κἂν καῦμα <ᾖ> παρέτια, κἂν
ψύχος, <**> πτοηματίζει, κἂν ἐπιτιμᾷ τις, ἀντιμάχεται, κἂν
μὴ πρὸς ἡδονην ὑπηρετεῖ, λυπεῖται, κἂν μὴ μαλακία δυσκολαί-
νει, καὶ κακοχολοῖ πρὸς ἡδονὴν καὶ βαταλίζεται περαγομένη- (30)
νον;
4. Ἐπιμελῶς δὴ, ὦ φίλη, εἰδυῖα ὅτι τὰ σπαταλῶντα τῶν παί-
δων, ὅταν ἀκόμια πρὸς ἄνδρας, ἀνδρόποδα γίνεται, τὰς τοι-
αύτας ἡδονὰς ὁρῶμεν, καὶ τὴν τροφὴν ἀυστηράν, μὴ τρυφερὰν
ὅπου ποιοῦσα καὶ ἔσχα καὶ λυμὸν καὶ δάιλος ἐγγίνεται, ἐπὶ δὲ
καὶ ψύχος καὶ θάλπος καὶ αἰδὸς τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν συνηλιχῶν ἢ τῶν
ἐπιστάτω· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ γεννικὰ εἶναι συμβαίνει κατὰ ψυχὴν
ἀναπνεύειν ἢ ἐπιτιμούμενα. ὁ γὰρ πονῶν, φίλη, προϊστου-
σάν τινες τοὺς παιδὸς εἰσι τελευθούσης ἀρετῆς, εἰς ἐμ-
βαρεῖς ἀποχωροῦσι τῆς ἡδονῆς βαρὴν οἰκεῖσθαι φέρου- (40)
φορούμεναι τὸν καρπὸν ἐλλεπούσιν, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς τρυφῆς οἱ παῖ-
δες ὑβρεως καὶ πολλῆς ἀχρειότητος κακίαν γενήσωσιν.

English

1. I hear that you are spoiling your children. The task of a good mother,
however, is not to endeavor to please her children, but instead to train them
in self-restraint. Beware that you don’t act like an indulgent mother rather
than a loving one, because pleasure ingrained in children leads to a lack of
discipline. For what indeed is more pleasing to the youngsters than an
ingrained pleasure? You must, my dear, nurture your children without
corrupting their nature. Nurture can corrupt children’s nature when their
minds seek, and their bodies experience pleasures, and thus they become
intellectually lazy and physically weak. ¹
2. We should train the children we raise to face fear – even if this means
they may have to grieve and suffer – so that they do not become slaves to
such emotions, eager for pleasures and intolerant of hardship, but instead
develop the utmost reverence for what is right, abstain from pleasures and
withstand hardships. You should not make them gluttonous for food,
spoiled with diverse pleasures, and wild through their unrestrained childish
games, or allow them to say and try everything they want, while you are
afraid when they cry, are proud when they laugh, laugh when they hit the
nurse or insult you, provide shade in the summer and heat in the winter, and
many other luxuries. Poor children know none of these (luxuries) and are
brought up more easily, grow up not the worse for it, and turn out much
stronger.
3. You, however, nurse your children like the progeny of Sardanapalus,
weakening the nature of your sons through luxurious living. What can
become of a child who cries if he does not eat soon enough; who, when he
eats, seeks pleasure in fancy food; who is exhausted when it is hot, shakes
and collapses when it is cold; who argues when someone criticizes him,
suffers when someone doesn’t satisfy his whims, is annoyed whenever he is
not chewing, wastes time on idle pleasures, and wanders around endlessly
mumbling to himself?
4. Therefore, my dear, knowing that spoiled children when they grow up
to be men, become slaves (scil. to passion), be careful to take away such
pleasures, by making their meals austere rather than luxurious, allowing
them to endure hunger and thirst, and even cold, heat, and shame before
their peers and superiors. For only in this way can they become noble in
spirit whether they are praised or reprimanded. For hardships, my friend,
are a sort of dye mordant to which children are exposed when their virtue is
perfected, and those who have been dipped long enough wear the hue of
virtue as something of their own. So, make sure, my dear, that because of
(your) indulgence, your children do not acquire the vices of insolence and
utter worthlessness, in the same way that poorly tended vines bear inferior
fruit.

Theano to Nicostrate

Note on Theano to Nicostrate

In this letter, Theano advises Nicostrate on how to handle her husband’s infidelity. He has been having an affair with a hetaera, a type of high-class courtesan. Theano urges Nicostrate not to act in anger against her husband’s “madness,” and instead take the high road. She uses the story of Medea, who brutally killed her children and her husband’s new wife after he abandoned her, as a caution. This advice reflects the lack of socially acceptable options that Greek women had when it came to marriage.

Greek

S VI 170, 172, 174; T 198–200; Hercher 604 No. 5

Θεανὼ Νικοστράτῃ [χαίρειν].
1. Ἤκουον τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρός σου παράνοιαν, ὅτι τὴν ἑταίραν
ἔχει, σὺ δὲ ὅτι ζηλοτυπεῖς αὐτόν. ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ φίλη, πολλοὺς
ἔγνωκα τῆς αὐτῆς νόσου· θηρεύονται γὰρ ὡς ἔοικεν ὑπὸ τῶν
γυναικῶν τούτων καὶ κατέχονται καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσι νοῦν. σὺ δὲ
ἄθυμος εἶ καὶ νύκτα καὶ μεθ’ ἡμέραν καὶ ἀδημονεῖς καὶ μη-
χανᾷ τι κατ’ αὐτοῦ. μὴ σύ γε, ὦ φίλη· γαμετῆς γὰρ ἀρετή
ἐστιν οὐχ ἡ παρατήρησις τἀνδρός, ἀλλ’ ἡ συμπεριφορά· συμ-
περιφορὰ δέ ἐστι τὸ φέρειν ἄγνοιαν. εἶθ’ ἑταίρᾳ μὲν πρὸς
ἡδονὴν ὁμιλεῖ, γαμετῇ δὲ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον· συμφέρον δὲ κα- (10)
κοῖς κακὰ μὴ μίσγειν μηδὲ παρανοίᾳ παράνοιαν ἐπάγειν.
2. Ἔνια δὲ ἁμαρτήματα, φίλη, ἐλεγχόμενα μὲν ἐπὶ πλέον ἀν-
ερεθίζεται, σιωπώμενα δὲ παύεται μᾶλλον, ὡς τὸ πῦρ ἡσυχίᾳ
φασὶ σβέννυσθαι. ἐὰν γὰρ βουλόμενόν σε λεληθέναι δοκεῖν
ἐλέγχουσα ἀφαιρήσῃς τὸ παρακάλυμμα τοῦ πάθους, καὶ φανε- (15)
ρῶς ἁμαρτήσεται. σὺ δὲ τὴν φιλίαν ἡγῇ <**> τοῦ ἀνδρὸς οὐκ
ἐν τῇ καλοκαγαθίᾳ· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ χάρις τῆς κοινωνίας. νόμι-
ζε οὖν πρὸς μὲν τὴν ἑταίραν ῥαθυμήσοντα πορεύεσθαι ἐκεῖ-
νον, σοὶ δὲ συμβιώσαντα παρεῖναι, καὶ σὲ μὲν φιλεῖν κατὰ
γνώμην, ἐκείνην δὲ τῷ πάθει. (20)
3. Βραχὺς δὲ ὁ τούτου καιρός· ἅμα γὰρ ἀκμὴν ἔχει καὶ κό-
ρον, καὶ παρίσταται ταχὺ καὶ παύεται. ὀλιγοχρόνιος γὰρ ὁ
(172) ἔρως ἐστι πρὸς ἑταίραν ἀνδρὶ μὴ σφόδρα κακῷ· τί γάρ ἐστι
ματαιότερον ἐπιθυμίας ἀπολαυούσης ἀδίκου; διὸ καὶ μειῶν
τὸν βίον καὶ διαβάλλων τὸ εὔσχημον αἰσθανθήσεταί ποτε·
οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐπιμένει φρονῶν αὐθαιρέτῳ βλάβῃ. καλούμενος
οὖν ὑπὸ τῶν πρός σε δικαίων καὶ τὰς περὶ τὸν βίον ἐλαττώ-
σεις ὁρῶν [αἰσθήσεταί ποτέ σου] καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς καταγνώ-
σεως ὕβριν οὐ φέρων ταχὺ μεταγνώσεται.
4. Σὺ δέ, φίλη, ζῆθι οὐχ ἑταίραις ἀποκρινομένη, τῇ μὲν εὐ- (30)
ταξίᾳ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα διαφέρουσα, τῇ δὲ ἐπιμελείᾳ πρὸς τὸν
οἶκον, τῇ δὲ συναλλαγῇ περὶ τὰς χρωμένας, τῇ δὲ φιλοστορ-
γίᾳ περὶ τὰ τέκνα. οὐ ζηλοτυπητέον οὖν σοι πρὸς ἐκείνην
(πρὸς γὰρ τὰς ἐναρέτους ἐκτείνειν τὸν ζῆλον καλόν), ἑαυ-
τὴν δὲ παρεκτέον ἐπιτηδείαν ταῖς διαλλαγαῖς· τὰ γὰρ καλὰ
ἤθη καὶ παρ’ ἐχθροῖς εὔνοιαν φέρει, φίλη, καὶ μόνης καλο-
καγαθίας ἔργον ἐστὶν ἡ τιμή, ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ δυνατὸν ἀνδρὸς
ἐξουσίαν καθυπερέχειν γυναικὶ καὶ τιμᾶσθαι πλέον ἢ θερα-
πεύειν †τὸν ἐχθρόν.
5. Καρτερούμενος γοῦν ὑπὸ σοῦ μᾶλλον αἰσχύνεται, τάχιον (40)
δὲ διαλλαγῆναι θελήσει, προσπαθέστερον δὲ φιλοστοργήσει
συνεγνωκὼς τὴν ἀδικίαν τὴν εἰς σέ, κατανοῶν τε τὴν προσ-
οχὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ βίου καὶ πεῖραν τῆς στοργῆς λαμβάνων τῆς πρὸς
αὑτόν. ὥσπερ δὲ αἱ κακοπάθειαι τοῦ σώματος ἡδείας τὰς ἀνα-
παύσεις ποιοῦσιν, οὕτως αἱ διαφοραὶ τῶν φίλων οἰκειοτέρας
τὰς διαλλαγὰς φέρουσιν.
6. Σὺ δὲ καὶ τὰ βουλεύματα τοῦ πάθους ἀντίθες· νοσοῦντος
γὰρ ἐκείνου καὶ σὲ παρακαλεῖ νοσεῖν ταῖς λύπαις, καὶ ἁμαρ-
τάνοντος περὶ τὸ εὔσχημον καὶ σὲ περὶ τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτά-
(174) νειν, καὶ καταβλάπτοντος τὸν βίον καὶ σὲ καταβλάπτειν τὸ (50)
συμφέρον. ἀφ’ ὧν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν συντετάχθαι δόξεις καὶ κολαζο-
μένη ἐκεῖνον καὶ σεαυτὴν κολάζειν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἀφεμένη πο-
ρεύσῃ, ἑτέρου ἄρα πειραθήσῃ ἀνδρὸς τοῦ προτέρου ἀπαλλαγεῖ-
σα, κἂν ἐκεῖνος ἁμάρτῃ τὰ ὅμοια, πάλιν ἄλλου (οὐ φορητὴ
γὰρ νέαις χηρεία), ἢ μόνη μενεῖς ἀπ’ ἀνδρὸς οἷόν περ ἄζυξ.
7. Ἀλλ’ ἀμελήσεις τοῦ οἴκου καὶ καταφθερεῖς τὸν ἄνδρα; ἐπ-
ωδύνου ἄρα βίου συνδιαιρήσῃ τὴν βλάβην. ἀλλ’ ἀμυνεῖ τὴν
ἑταίραν; περιστήσεταί σε φυλαττομένη, κἂν ἀμύνῃ, μάχιμός
ἐστιν οὐκ ἐρυθριῶσα γυνή. ἀλλὰ καλὸν ὁσημέραι μάχεσθαι πρὸς
τὸν ἄνδρα; καὶ τί πλέον; αἱ γὰρ μάχαι καὶ αἱ λοιδορίαι τὴν (60)
μὲν ἀκολασίαν οὐ παύουσιν, τὴν δὲ διαφορὰν ταῖς προκοπαῖς
αὔξουσιν. τί δέ; βουλεύσῃ τι κατ’ ἐκείνου; μή, φίλη. ζηλο-
τυπίας κρατεῖν ἡ τραγῳδία ἐδίδαξε δραμάτων ἔχουσα σύνταξιν,
ἐν οἷς παρηνόμησε Μήδεια. ἀλλ’ὥσπερ τῆς νόσου τῶν ὀφθαλ-
μῶν ἀπέχειν δεῖ τὰς χεῖρας, οὕτως καὶ σὺ τοῦ πάθους χώρι-
ζε τὴν προσποίησιν· διακαρτεροῦσα γὰρ θᾶττον τὸ πάθος σβέ-
σεις.

English

1. I have heard about your husband’s madness; he apparently keeps a hetaera
and you are jealous of him. I have known, my dear, many men with this
disease. It would seem that they are hunted down and captured by such
women and lose their mind. You, however, despair night and day, and in
your distress plot against him. Don’t do this, my dear! The virtue of a wife
lies not in keeping a close watch on her husband’s affairs, but in being his
companion. And companionship means tolerating his error. Your husband
associates with the hetaera for pleasure, with his wife for what is beneficial
(scil. for him). And it is beneficial not to join misery to misery and not to add
madness to madness.
2. Certain transgressions, my dear, when examined are made even worse,
but when passed over in silence instead they come to an end, just as they say
that fire dies out when undisturbed. If you expose him, when he wants you
to appear not to have noticed, you will lift the veil of his disease and he will
be openly doing wrong. You think that the love of your husband . . . is not up
to the moral standard:² for this (high standard) is expected of your rela-
tionship. Consider then, that while he visits the hetaera for pleasure, he stays
with you as your lifelong companion and that, while his love for you is
rational, his love for her is driven by passion.
3. And an affair of passion is short-lived; as soon as it peaks it becomes too
much; it begins and ends quickly. A man who is not entirely evil will not be
in love with a hetaera for long. For what is more fruitless than a desire
enjoyed unfairly? Therefore, at some point he will realize that he is dimin-
ishing his assets and offending decency. No one consciously continues to be
self-destructive. Called back to you, then, by a sense of fairness towards you,
seeing how his assets have diminished [for at some point he will take note of
you], and unable to bear the contempt that comes with moral condemna-
tion, he will soon change his mind.
4. As for you, my dear, don’t spend your life responding to hetaerae but
distinguish yourself by your tactful behavior towards your husband, by care
for the household, friendly behavior towards your acquaintances, and tender
love for your children. You should not compete with this woman (for it is
commendable to extend good rivalry only towards those who are virtuous),
but rather prepare yourself to make conciliatory gestures. Noble character
incites good will even among enemies, my dear, and only upright standards
can achieve respect, and, in this way, it is possible for a woman to surpass her
husband’s authority and be respected instead of serving the enemy.³
5. If you tolerate his behavior, he will be more ashamed and will desire
reconciliation sooner. He will love you even more tenderly when he recog-
nizes his unfair treatment of you, realizes that you take care of his property,
and has proof of your love for him. In the same way that the unpleasant
sensations of the body render the moments of respite all the more pleasant,
discord among friends leads to more intimate moments of reconciliation.
6. You, however, must resist the prompts of passion. For it demands that
you fall ill from sorrow because of your husband’s illness, that you disregard
decency because of his disregard of morals, that you act against your best
interests because he is ruining his life. If you yield,⁴ you will give the
impression that you have joined him in battle, and by chastising him you
also chastise yourself. If you break up with him and leave, you will test
another husband, having left the first one, and, should he err in similar
matters, again, another husband (for being single is unbearable for young
women). Or perhaps you will remain alone without a husband, like a spinster.
7. So, are you going to neglect your house and ruin your husband? If so, you
shall choose a life of pain and suffering. You say that you are defending
yourself against the hetaera? She will be careful to avoid you, and were she to defend
herself, a woman who does not blush can put up a fight. So, is it good to quarrel
with your husband every day? And what is gained? Quarrels and insults do not
put an end to irresponsibility, but progressively increase discord. What else?
Are you going to plot against him? Please don’t, my dear. The tragedy that
contains the sequence of events in which Medea became a criminal has taught
us to control jealousy. Just as when one’s eyes are sick, one has to keep one’s
hands away from them, so you too avoid interfering with his illness. Through
endurance you will put an end to his illness sooner.

Theano to Callisto

Note on Theano to Callisto

In this letter to Callisto, Theano instructs Callisto on how to manage household slaves. She recommends treating them fairly, being neither too strict nor too lenient. Interestingly, Theano advises the woman to seek advice from older married women. In Ancient Greece, women would commonly marry very young, sometimes as young as 14, and would immediately be thrust into responsibilities that they were ill-prepared to undertake. While a wife would often learn these duties from her husband, Theano posits that women must instead look to other women for this ethical education.

Greek

S VII 174, 176, 178; T 197–8; Hercher 605 No. 6

Θεανὼ Καλλιστοῖ.
1. Ταῖς νεωτέραις ὑμῖν ἡ μὲν ἐξουσία παρὰ τοῦ νόμου δέδο-
ται τῶν οἰκετῶν ἄρχειν ἅμα τῷ γήμασθαι, ἡ δὲ διδασκαλία πα-
ρὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἀπαντᾶν ὀφείλει περὶ τῆς οἰκονομίας ἀεὶ
παραινούντων. καλῶς γὰρ ἔχει πρότερον μανθάνειν ἃ μὴ γιγνώ-
(176) σκετε, καὶ τὴν συμβουλὴν οἰκειοτάτην τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἡγεῖ-
σθαι· ἐν τούτοις γὰρ παρθενοτροφεῖσθαι δεῖ νέαν ψυχήν. ἀρ-
χὴ δέ ἐστιν οἴκου πρώτη γυναιξὶν ἀρχὴ θεραπαινῶν. ἔστι δέ,
ὦ φίλη, μέγιστον ἐπὶ δουλείᾳ εὔνοια· αὕτη γὰρ οὐ συναγορά-
ζεται τοῖς σώμασιν ἡ κτῆσις, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ὑστέρου γεννῶσιν αὐ- (10)
τὴν οἱ συνετοὶ δεσπόται.
2. Δικαία δὲ χρῆσις αἰτία τούτου, ἵνα μήτε διὰ τὸν κόπον
κάμνωσι μήτε ἀδυνατῶσι διὰ τὴν ἔνδειαν· εἰσὶ γὰρ ἄνθρωποι
τῇ φύσει. ἔνιαι δὲ κέρδος τὸ ἀκερδέστατον ἡγοῦνται, τὴν τῶν
θεραπαινῶν κακουχίαν, βαρύνουσαι μὲν τοῖς ἔργοις, ὑποστελ- (15)
λόμεναι δὲ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων· εἶτα ὀβολιαῖα κέρδη περιποιού-
μεναι μεγάλοις ζημιοῦνται τιμήμασι, δυσνοίαις καὶ ἐπιβου-
λαῖς κακίσταις. σοὶ δὲ πρόχειρον ἔστω τὸ μέτρημα τῶν σιτί-
ων πρὸς τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῆς ἐριουργίας τοῖς ἐφ’ ἡμέραν πόνοις.
3. Kαὶ πρὸς μὲν τὴν δίαιταν οὕτως· πρὸς δὲ τὰς ἀταξίας τὸ (20)
σοὶ πρέπον, οὐ τὸ ἐκείναις συμφέρον ἐξυπηρετητέον. τιμᾶν
μὲν γὰρ δεῖ θεραπαίνας τὸ κατ’ ἀξίαν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὠμὸν οὐκ
οἴσει τῷ θυμῷ χάριν, τὸ δὲ μισοπόνηρον οὐχ ἧττον ὁ λογισμὸς
βραβεύει. ἐὰν δὲ ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς κακίας ἀνίκητος ᾖ, ἐξορι-
στέον μετὰ πράσεως· τὸ γὰρ ἀλλότριον τῆς χρείας ἀλλοτρι-
ούσθω καὶ τῆς κυρίας. ἔστω δέσοι γνώμη το ῦδε πρόεδρος,
καθ’ ἣν γνώσῃ τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς τῆς ἁμαρτίας πρὸς τὸ τῆς κα-
ταγνώσεως δίκαιον, τὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων μέγεθος πρὸς τὸ
κατ’ ἀξίαν τῆς κολάσεως.
4. Δεσποτικαὶ δὲ καὶ συγγνώμη καὶ χάρις ἐφ’ ἡμαρτημένοις ζη-
μίας ἀπαλλάττουσαι·⁵ οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ πρέπον ἐπὶ τοῦ οἰκείου (30)
(178) κατὰ τὸν τρόπον διαφυλάξει. ἔνιαι γάρ, ὦ φίλη, ὑπ’ ὠμότη-
τος καὶ μαστίζουσι τὰ τῶν θεραπαινῶν σώματα, θηριούμεναι
διὰ ζῆλον ἢ θυμόν, οἷον ὑπομνηματογραφούμεναι τὴν ὑπερβο-
λὴν τῆς πικρίας· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀνηλώθησαν χρόνῳ διαπονούμεναι,
αἱ δὲ φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐπορίσαντο, τινὲς δὲ ἐπαύσαντο τοῦ
ζῆν αὐτόχειρι θανάτῳ μεταστᾶσαι, καὶ λοιπὸν ἡ τῆς δεσποίνης
μόνωσις ὀδυρομένης τὴν οἰκείαν ἀβουλίαν ἔρημον μετάνοιαν
ἔχει.
5. Ἀλλ’, ὦ φίλη, ἴσθι μιμουμένη τὰ ὄργανα, ἃ <δια>φωνεῖ (40)
μᾶλλον ἀνειμένα, ἐκρήττεται δὲ μᾶλλον ἐπιτεινόμενα. καὶ
γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν θεραπαινῶν ταὐτόν· ἡ μὲν ἄγαν ἄνεσις διαφωνί-
αν ἐμποιεῖ τῆς πειθαρχίας, ἡ δὲ ἐπίτασις τῆς ἀνάγκης διά-
λυσιν τῆς φύσεως. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου δεῖ νοεῖν· μέτρον δ’
ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἄριστον. [ἔρρωσο.]

English

1. The right to manage household slaves is given by custom to you younger women as soon as you are married. Nonetheless, instruction by older women, who are always offering advice in everything that concerns domestic affairs, is necessary. It is proper first to recognize what you don’t know and to consider the advice of older women most suitable. In these things a young mind must be educated from girlhood. The first domestic responsibility for women is the management of slave women, and the most important aspect in dealing with slaves is, my dear, their good will. For this is not something purchased as (our) property along with their bodies, but intelligent owners create it afterwards.
2. And it is obtained through such fair treatment that they are neither exhausted by overwork nor lose strength because of deprivation. They are human beings by nature. Some women consider what is least profitable as a profit: the mistreatment of slave women, burdening them with chores while decreasing their rations. Securing petty profits in this way, they pay huge penalties: ill will and treachery of the worst kind. You, however, will have a convenient measure for the rations of food: in proportion to the amount of wool produced by a day’s work.
3. This is all you need to do about their diet. As for lack of discipline, you must see to what suits you, not what is convenient for them. You should value slave-women according to their merit. Cruelty will not instill gratitude in their minds, while rational treatment assures discipline no less efficiently. If, however, it is impossible to suppress the excess of their malice, one must drive it out by means of selling them. Let the estranged slave, become (formally) estranged from the owner. ⁶ In this, let it be your chief concern that you establish first the fact of the offence, with the aim of giving a just verdict, second the magnitude of the offense, with the aim of giving an appropriate punishment.
4. It is worthy of a woman who is in control to forgive and cancel punishment for transgressions; in doing so she shall uphold decency in a way that is true to her character. Some women, my dear, out of savagery actually whip the bodies of the slave women, and turn into beasts through jealousy or anger, as though carving (scil. into the slaves’ bodies) their extreme bitterness. Some servants have been killed through being worn out over time, others have sought salva-tion through escape, yet others died, having ended their lives with their own hands. Then at last the solitude of the mistress who bewails her own lack of judgment finally brings a change of mind—too late.
5. But you, my dear, mindfully imitate (the art of tuning) string instru- ments, which are out of tune when excessively loose and snap when strung too tight. The same holds true for the slave women: excessive leniency produces dissonance of discipline; severity inevitably destroys their lives. Finally, one needs to keep in mind that “measure is best in all things.” [Farewell.]

Theano to Timareta (Fragment)

Note on Theano to Timareta

This letter, in contrast to the others, is just a fragment of text. Further complicating study of Ancient Greek texts, many did not survive, or only partially survived, and this is an example of the latter. Alexis, a Greek comic poet, and one of his works are mentioned. The fragment also identifies Theano as the wife of Pythagoras, which is interesting as her identity and relationship to Pythagoras is unclear and often disputed.

Greek

T 200 No. 7; Poll. Onom. 10.21.5–9. . τὸν οἰκοδεσπότην καὶ τὴν οἰκοδέσποιναν . . . ταῦτα ἄμφω εὗρον ἐν Θεανοῦς τῆς Πυθαγόρου γυναικὸς ἐπιστολῇ πρὸς Τιμαρέταν γραφείσῃ. ὁ δὲ οἰκοδεσπότης ἔστι κα Ἀλέξιδος ἐν Ταραντίνοις. . .

English

οἰκοδεσπότης “the master of the house” and οἰκοδέσποινα “the mistress of the house” I found both compound nouns in the letter that Theano the wife of Pythagoras has written for Timareta; οἰκοδεσπότης is also used in Alexis’ The People of Tarentum.

About this Source

The four letters included in this edition belong to a body of writings known as the Pythagorean pseudepigrapha, produced during the first and second centuries CE.⁷ Although these texts claim authorship by figures associated with the early Pythagorean community of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, none of them are genuinely archaic. Instead, they were created several centuries after Pythagoras lived, in a cultural moment when interest in the Pythagorean past was being revived. These letters are part of a larger effort by later authors to construct a coherent tradition that stretched back to Pythagoras and his followers, despite the absence of any authenticated writings from the historical founder himself.⁸

Pythagoras is unusual among major philosophical figures as he left no written texts. His teachings were transmitted orally, and later generations encountered only indirect references to what he believed or taught. This absence created an intellectual vacuum. By the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Pythagoras had acquired an almost legendary reputation, and authors began to fill in the gaps by producing letters, treatises, and sayings attributed to him and those around him.⁹ These writings were not intended as outright forgeries in a modern sense. Rather, they functioned as imaginative reconstructions, attempts to give shape to a philosophical lineage that had become central to later thinkers.

The letters attributed to Theano fit exactly within this context. Theano appears in later biographical traditions as either the wife or student of Pythagoras, although there is no contemporary evidence for her existence.¹⁰ By the Roman period, she had become an idealized figure associated with the domestic and ethical dimension of Pythagoreanism. Attaching new writings to her name provided a way for authors to explore topics related to women’s conduct, household authority, and moral education while grounding those ideas in a supposedly ancient foundation. These texts therefore reveal as much about the period in which they were composed as about the past they claimed to represent.

The presence of women in the Pythagorean pseudepigrapha is striking, given the broader context of ancient Greek intellectual life. Classical Greek philosophy was overwhelmingly male, and women were generally excluded from institutions of learning and public discourse.¹¹ Their lives were shaped by expectations of modesty, obedience, and domestic management. Yet the Neopythagorean corpus includes multiple female figures such as Theano, Damo, Myia, and Melissa, who appear as confident moral authorities. Their writings address household management, childrearing, and ethical behavior, all framed as philosophical duties. The content of the letters also reveals the way Neopythagorean writers conceived of philosophical authority. Rather than focusing on abstract metaphysics or mathematics, the letters explore how to live a proper life. They treat quotidian actions (speech, dress, childrearing, etc.) as morally significant, which reflects a broader Pythagorean interest in shaping the soul through disciplined habit.¹² While these texts do not prove that women actively participated in philosophical circles, they do show that later authors imagined a Pythagorean tradition in which female instruction was plausible, even desirable.

This imagined past worked to legitimize contemporary social roles. Roman imperial culture valued household order as the foundation of civic stability, and the Pythagorean letters reflect this emphasis. Theano’s advice frequently links personal virtue to household management, implying that ethical behavior begins in the private sphere. By situating such claims in the voice of an ancient woman philosopher, the texts embed Roman ideals about domestic authority in a tradition represented as timeless.¹³ The strategy is effective: readers are encouraged to treat these moral directives as inherited wisdom rather than recent invention.

The pseudonymous format was crucial to this projection. By attributing their writings to figures like Theano, later authors created the illusion of continuity with the ancient past. Modern scholarship has shown that many of these letters were written by educated men during the Roman imperial period, not by women.¹⁴ However, their authors’ decision to write in the voices of women gives us insight into how gender was conceptualized within later philosophical contexts. Women in these texts are depicted as moral authorities within the household, and their authority derives from virtues such as moderation, self-control, and protectiveness over the family unit. The Pythagorean letters thus perform a cultural function: they offer models of behavior that align domestic hierarchy with philosophical legitimacy.

There is also a wider cultural reason for the choice of the letter form. Letters were a common vehicle for philosophical instruction during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Philosophers such as Epicurus and Seneca used letters to convey ethical teaching in a concise and personal way. The letter format allowed Pythagorean writers to present advice as though it were directed to real addressees, reinforcing the impression of authenticity. The practical tone of these letters contrasts with the more speculative style of other ancient philosophical genres, making them appear accessible and direct.¹⁵

It is important to recognize that the inclusion of women in these texts does not necessarily reflect real opportunities for female philosophical agency. The letters depict women acting within boundaries that male authors considered appropriate. They are authoritative only insofar as they reinforce domestic order. The texts do not present women debating metaphysics or participating in politics. Rather, they situate women as stewards of household virtue, responsible for maintaining social stability. This limited scope suggests that although women could be imagined within the philosophical tradition, their imagined roles remained constrained by the assumptions of their time.

Nonetheless, the letters should not be dismissed as strictly reflecting tradition. They complicate our understanding of ancient intellectual history by showing that women were not entirely absent from philosophical narratives. Even if their voices were constructed, the fact that writers felt compelled to include them indicates a shift in how philosophical authority was conceived. The Pythagorean tradition, real or invented, provided a space in which women could appear as philosophical agents, however narrowly defined. The resulting texts offer a rare window onto ancient beliefs about gender, ethics, and authorship, and reveal how cultural memory can reshape the past to serve present needs.

About this Edition

The four letters in this edition are Neopythagorean pseudepigrapha: later compositions presented as advice from Theano, a figure whom later sources describe as a Pythagorean philosopher associated with ethical and domestic instruction. Although the letters claim an earlier origin, they were written in the first or second century CE and reflect how later authors imagined Theano’s voice rather than preserving the words of a historical individual.

The Greek and English texts used here were provided by Professor Dorota Dutsch, whose translations we reproduce without alteration. Dutsch based her work on the standard modern editions of the Pythagorean letters, using William Thesleff’s The Pythagorean Texts of the Hellenistic Period (1965) and Adolf Städele’s The Letters of Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans (1980). Both scholars relied on fragments preserved in a fifth-century CE anthology compiled by Johannes of Stobi, who assembled excerpts of philosophical writings for his son.¹⁶

In her own approach, Dutsch focuses on presenting the material in a format that reflects how these texts operated within the Pythagorean tradition rather than attempting to reconstruct an earlier version. She selects only the works attributed to women that she examines in her research and generally follows Thesleff for treatises and Städele for letters, retaining Städele’s section divisions and adding her own only when needed for clarity. Her aim is to preserve the character of the surviving texts while making their structure and purpose accessible to modern readers. All translations are her own. We have kept her footnotes, marking them with a “-DD” to distinguish them from ours.

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Zhmud, Leonid. The Papyrological Tradition on Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans. In Christian Vassallo, Presocratics and Papyrological Tradition: A Philosophical Reappraisal of the Sources, Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the University of Trier (22-24 September 2016). Berlin: ISSN. pp. 111-146. https://philarchive.org/rec/ZHMTP.

Credits and Acknowledgments

Our deepest gratitude to Professor Dorota Dutsch and Professor Annie Lamar for providing us with these texts and their expertise. Thank you as well to Professor John Randolph for his feedback and guidance.

About MinDoc 1.0

This site was built using MinDoc 1.0, a prototype digital documentary edition template developed for classroom use by members of SourceLab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The original project team included Liza Senatrova, John Randolph, Caroline Kness, and Richard Young.

References