Activity

Women and Science in Greece

Characters:

Theano of Crotone

Theme: The role of women

Competencies

Competence in Linguistic Communication

Personal, social and learning to learn competence

Citizen Competition

Subjects and year by Educational System

Spain > Classical culture > 4th ESO > Classical roots of today's world. History and socio-political evolution

Enunciation

<img title="Women's Legacy logo" src="//inclusion.womenslegacyproject.eu/images/LogoWL.svg" /><hr />Read the following excerpts written by different authors about Theano of Crotone, a Pythagorean philosopher and mathematician in the 6th century BC. They show different facets of her personality. Answer the questions. &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; A- Long did the charms of fair Theano bind the Samian Pythagoras, who laid bare the tortuous mysteries of geometry; who all the mazes of the sphere unfolded, and knew the laws which regulate the world, the atmosphere which doth surround the world.
English translation of Athenaeus of Naucratis. The Deipnosophists, or the Banquet of the Learned, 13.71. Retrieved from Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists. Or Banquet Of The Learned Of Athenaeus. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854.&nbsp; &nbsp; B- About this dignity [Theano], the following apothegm is said: Having been asked a woman about how many days has a wife to wait since her union to her husband until she can go the temple of Demeter, she answered:  "With her own husband at once, with another man never".
Our own translation from: Clemente de Alejandr&iacute;a, Stromata. 19, 121.3&nbsp; &nbsp; C- About wife's shyness, Diogenes Laertius stated that Theano "advised a woman going in to her own husband to put off her shame with her clothes, and on leaving him to put it on again along with them".&nbsp;
Translation of Diogenes Laertius. Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 8 43. Retrieved from Lives of Eminent Philosophers. Diogenes Laertius. R.D. Hicks. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1972 (First published 1925).&nbsp; &nbsp; D- Theano, in putting her cloak about her exposed her arm. Somebody exclaimed, "A lovely arm." "But not for the public," said she. And she ought to be modest and guarded about saying anything in the hearing of outsiders.&nbsp;
Translation of Plutarch, Conjugalia Praecepta, 142C by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. 2.&nbsp; &nbsp; E- [...] but the ornaments of Theano, Cleobulina, [...] and of all other women who have been admired and renowned, you may wear about you without price, and, adorning yourself with these, you may live a life of distinction and happiness.
Translation of Plutarch, Conjugalia Praecepta, 145E-F by Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. 2.&nbsp;
1- In these texts, Theano is shown from an androcentric perspective, which recognises male order and undervalues women. What examples can you find? Do you consider that the themes dealt with in the texts are still present today? Could you find current advertisements that show these ideas?
2- Theano wrote several treaties on mathematics, philosophy, physics, medicine, even cosmology. Look up for information about Theano, cite the name of some treatise and write a short review about her role as educator in the Pythagorean school. &nbsp;
3- Look up for information about the theorem and the golden ratio and explain why it is identified with the Greek letter phi.
4- Give examples of the golden ratio in ancient buildings and in nature.

Observations and context

Crotone was in Theanus' time a colony of Magna Graecia.

Enheduanna (25th century BC) was a predecessor of Theano of Crotone. She is considered to be the first woman in the history of science and the first one to sign her work, in cuneiform; as well the Egyptian physician Peseshet or the Assyrian perfumers like Taputti, who paved the way for later women.

Some of Theano's contemporaries are other women in the Pythagorean school that were born around 500 BC, such as Damo, Myia and Arignote of Crotona, considered to be daughters of Theano and Pythagoras by several authors. Even though there is not much information about them, some other women belonging to this group were Babelica of Argos, Beo of Argos, Quilonis, Equecratia de Fliunte, Ecelo and Ocelo of Lucania, Habrotelia of Tarento, Cleecma, Cratesiclea, Lastenia of Arcadia, Pisirroda of Tarento, Fintis, Teadusa, Timica and Tirsenis of Sibaris.

Following Theano, we can find Aglaonice (3rd century BC, known for her ability to predict eclipses) and Hypatia (4th century AD).

Women and Science in Greece

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