Sosipatra

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Sosipatra (* probably around 300; † after 362) was a late ancient Greek philosopher. She was married to the philosopher Eustathios and was one of the Neoplatonists who clung to the traditional religion and opposed Christianity.

source

Sosipatra is known exclusively from the writing Life Descriptions of the Philosophers and Sophists of Eunapios of Sardis ; no other source mentions her name. Eunapios, who describes some events from her life, gives an impression of the extraordinary reputation she enjoyed in the circles of the Neoplatonists of Asia Minor. His detailed narration, in which he glorifies Sosipatra, is literarily embellished and has legendary features. He attributes to Sosipatra not only qualities that were expected of a philosopher personality in late ancient Neoplatonism, but also superhuman abilities. He contrasts the ideal figure of the philosopher with the Christian ideal of holiness, with whom the Neo-Platonists rivaled, as an alternative.

Life

Sosipatra came from the area of Ephesus in the southwest of Asia Minor . Her parents were wealthy. By 320 at the latest she married the Cappadocian philosopher Eustathios, who was one of the leading exponents of Neoplatonism at the time. He had received his philosophical training in Syria at the school of the famous Neo-Platonist Iamblichus and had then returned to his homeland in Cappadocia. There he took over the administration of the property of his relative Aidesios , who was also a Neoplatonist and student of Iamblichus. Aidesios left Cappadocia and founded his own philosophy school in Pergamon .

Sosipatra had three sons with Eustathios. At first she lived with her husband in Cappadocia, but after a while she and the children moved to Pergamon. There she gave philosophy lessons and practiced theurgy ( making contact with the world of the gods through special ritual acts). It is not known whether she only taught orally or also wrote works. Aidesios, with whom she was friends, took care of the upbringing of her sons. Older research assumed that Eustathios died five years after the wedding and that she only went to Pergamon as a widow after his death. This seemed to emerge from a puzzling passage in the work of Eunapius. Aidesios died in 355 at the latest, and Eustathios was certainly still alive in 362. Therefore the unclear formulation of Eunapios is interpreted differently today; apparently Sosipatra left her husband and settled in Pergamon while he was still alive.

When Sosipatra died is unknown; in any case, she survived her husband, who is still attested to as living in 362.

Only one of Sosipatra's sons, Antoninos, achieved a certain prominence. He lived in Canopus in Lower Egypt and gathered a crowd of supporters of Neoplatonism around him. He is said to have foretold the destruction of the serapeum of Alexandria , which occurred after his death in 391.

Source editions

  • Giuseppe Giangrande (ed.): Eunapii vitae sophistarum . Istituto poligrafico dello stato, Rome 1956

literature

Overview display

  • Richard Goulet: Sosipatra d'Éphèse. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 6, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2016, ISBN 978-2-271-08989-2 , pp. 488-490

Investigations

  • Silvia Lanzi: Sosipatra, la teurga: a “holy woman” iniziata ai misteri caldaici . In: Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni 28, 2004, pp. 275–294
  • Antonino M. Milazzo: Fra racconto erotico e fictio retorica: la storia di Sosipatra in Eunapio (vs 6,9,3-17 Giangr.) . In: Cassiodorus 3, 1997, pp. 215-226
  • Roger Pack: A Romantic Narrative in Eunapius . In: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 83, 1952, pp. 198-204
  • Robert J. Penella: Greek Philosophers and Sophists in the Fourth Century AD Studies in Eunapius of Sardis . Francis Cairns, Leeds 1990, ISBN 0-905205-79-0

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ For the presumed course of these events, see Robert J. Penella: Greek Philosophers and Sophists in the Fourth Century AD Studies in Eunapius of Sardis , Leeds 1990, pp. 53–56; Richard Goulet: Eustathe de Cappadoce . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, Paris 2000, pp. 369–378, here: 370 f. Cf. Ariel Lewin: Il filosofo Eustazio nelle Vitae Sophistarum di Eunapio di Sardi . In: Scripta Classica Israelica 7, 1983/84, pp. 92-94.
  2. ↑ Eunapios of Sardis: Vitae philosophorum et sophistarum 6,8,3-4.
  3. ↑ Eunapios of Sardis: Vitae philosophorum et sophistarum 6,10,6–6,11,12. See Richard Goulet: Antoninus . In: Richard Goulet (Ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 1, Paris 1989, pp. 257 f. (No. 221).
personal data
SURNAME Sosipatra
BRIEF DESCRIPTION late antique philosopher, neo-platonist
DATE OF BIRTH at 300
DATE OF DEATH after 362