Leontion (philosopher)

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Leontion ( Greek  Λεόντιον ) was a in the late 4th and / or early 3rd century BC. Living Athenian hetaera , distinguished by beauty, spirit and high education .

Leontion was a follower, perhaps also a lover, of the Greek philosopher Epicurus . She dared to defend the philosophy of Epicurus in a (lost) work written in good Attic against Theophrastus , and was therefore literarily attacked by, for example, Cicero and Pliny the Elder . Diogenes Laertios mentions that Epicurus addressed letters to them and also provides a short fragment.

A friend of Epicurus, Metrodorus , had a relationship with Leontion and also had a son with her. A daughter of Leontion named Danaë was a confidante of the Seleucid queen Laodike ; but this later had Danaë murdered because of a quarrel.

The fact that Cicero praised Leontion's style and that it did not otherwise completely fall into oblivion suggests a highly intelligent woman. However, the tradition about her is so bad that her life and work can only be vaguely captured.

literature

  • Tiziano Dorandi: Léontion d'Athènes. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Volume 4, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-271-06386-8 , p. 93
  • Bernhard Kytzler : women of antiquity. From Aspasia to Zenobia. Insel, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1997, ISBN 3-458-33598-6 , p. 102 f.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cicero, Vom Wesen der Götter 1, 93.
  2. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia , foreword 29 .
  3. ↑ Diogenes Laertios, On Lives and Teachings of Famous Philosophers 10: 5-7.
  4. Jump up ↑ Diogenes Laertios, On the Lives and Teachings of Famous Philosophers 10:23.
  5. ↑ Phylarchos , FGrH 81 F 24 in Athenaios 593 vol.
  6. ↑ Bernhard Kytzler : Women of Antiquity , p. 103.
personal data
SURNAME Leontion
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Athenian hetaera
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 4th century BC BC or 3rd century BC Chr.