Kallipatira

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Kallipatira (also Kallipateira ; Greek  Καλλιπάτειρα "the one with the brave father") was a daughter of Diagoras from Rhodes , the Olympian (Olympic champion) from 464 BC. Her family had great gymnastic fame, because not only was her father an Olympian, but also her brothers and her son (see Diagoras (family) ). According to tradition, she was one of two married women who attended the ancient Olympic Games .

The oldest, credible tradition reproduces a fragment of Aristotle in which Diagoras' sons Akusilaos , Damagetus and Dorieus as well as the sons of his daughters, Eukles and Peisirrodos , are recorded. Although married women were forbidden from participating in and watching the Olympic Games under penalty of death, Diagoras' daughter Kallipateira still wanted to do so and was initially not allowed by the Hellanodiks . By saying that her family had produced so many Olympians, she managed to get her to attend.

There are various breaks in the tradition of later authors. Many of them give Kallipateira another name, Berenice or Pherenike . Apparently, Kallipateira and Pherenike were sisters, both daughters of Diagoras, and the former gave birth to Eucles and the latter to Peisirrodos.

Valerius Maximus explains that the woman he dubbed Berenice, the daughter of an Olympic champion, was allowed to watch the games at the side of her brothers, who were also Olympic athletes, when her son Eukles took part. Claudius Aelianus similarly states that Pherenike accompanied her son to Olympia and, by referring to the victories of her father and her three brothers, obtained the lifting of the ban on their presence at the Games, which was first pronounced. Pliny the Elder only notes that Berenice was the only woman who had father, brother and son who became Olympic champions.

According to Philostratus , Pherenike was the mother of Peisidorus, as his coach she appeared in Olympia. Since she was so muscular, her gender would not have been determined first. When she was recognized as a woman, she was allowed to live because of the gymnastic reputation of her family, but from now on athletes and coaches had to be naked to prevent such an event from happening again. Of Pausanias it is Kallipateira called, but the author mentions that other sources than they Pherenike designated. She was a widow and sneaked in wearing the guise of a male coach of her son Peisirrodos, who was fighting at the Olympic Games. When he won, she jumped the barrier out of joy, but accidentally stripped off her clothes; this is how their gender became recognizable. Since she was related to so many Olympians, the punishment provided for falling off the Typaion rock was waived, but orders were made that coaches would have to undress from now on.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Aristotle in Scholion at Pindar , Olympia 7, 1.
  2. ^ Wilhelm Kroll : Pherenike. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIX, 2, Stuttgart 1938, Sp. 2034.
  3. ↑ Valerius Maximus 8:15, ext. 4th
  4. ^ Claudius Aelianus, Varia historia 10, 1.
  5. ↑ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia 7, 133.
  6. ^ Philostratos, Gymnastikós 17.
  7. ↑ Pausanias 5: 6, 7-8.
personal data
SURNAME Kallipatira
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kallipateira; Καλλιπάτειρα (ancient Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Relatives of Olympians
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 5th century BC BC or 4th century BC Chr.