Timycha

According to legendary tradition, Timycha ( Greek  warιμύχα ) was a Pythagorean woman from Sparta who lived in the 4th century BC. Lived in southern Italy. Because of her steadfastness, she was glorified as a heroine. It is unclear whether it is a historical figure or a literary fiction. Since her husband Myllias was, according to another tradition, a contemporary of the philosopher Pythagoras , i.e. in the 6th century BC. BC, Myllias and Timycha are possibly two historical personalities of the 6th century, who were transferred to a later time by the legend.

Timycha appears in the biography of Pythagoras , which the Neo-Platonists Porphyrios and Iamblichus wrote. The Pythagoras biography of Porphyry is incomplete, the conclusion is missing; Timycha's story begins at the end of the traditional text and breaks off in the middle of the first sentence. In the case of Iamblichos, however, the legend is reproduced in detail. Both authors refer to the history of philosophy Hippobotos and Neanthes of Kyzikos , whose reports have been lost. In his list of the most important Pythagoreans, Iamblichus named Timycha first.

The legend of the Spartan Timycha and her husband Myllias from Croton is similar to that of Damon and Phintias . Both stories glorify the courage and loyalty of the staunch Pythagoreans, who are put to the test by a tyrant and who do not think of deviating from their principles even in the face of death or torture. The sinister opponent of the Pythagorean heroes is in both cases the tyrant Dionysius II of Syracuse (367–357 and 346–344 BC). He tries to seduce the Pythagoreans into betrayal and wants to impose himself on them as a friend. In contrast to the ultimately bloodless course of Damon and Phintias, Myllias and Timycha are a horror story.

Iamblichos tells the story as follows. Dionysius had failed in his attempts to win Pythagoreans as friends, because as a tyrant he did not meet the character requirements for acceptance into a Pythagorean friendship. Then he tried force; he wanted to arrest and intimidate Pythagoreans in order to make them compliant. He instructed a troop of thirty men, a band of about ten Pythagoreans, who were on their way from Taranto to Metapont , to ambush and take them prisoner. The attacked Pythagoreans saw that resistance was futile and fled. They almost escaped, but on the run they came to a bean field. Since they were not allowed to touch beans because of a religious taboo , their escape route was blocked. Thereupon they fought against the majority of the enemy until they were all dead; none surrendered. On the way home, the tyrant's men came across Myllias and Timycha, who had lagged behind the other Pythagoreans because Timycha was heavily pregnant and could only walk slowly. They captured the two of them and brought them to Dionysios. The couple turned down all of the tyrant's proposals, even participation in his rule. They also refused to tell him the reason for the bean taboo, which was part of secret knowledge. Dionysius then had the two separated, hoping to make the pregnant woman talk under the torture. Timycha bit her tongue off and spat it out in front of the tyrant. She wanted to avoid the danger of becoming weak under torture.

The story combines various elements that were considered typically Pythagorean in antiquity, caused a sensation and aroused the public's curiosity: the absolute secrecy of the Pythagoreans, their absolute reliability, the exclusivity of their association and the mysterious ban on beans, the reason for which has been puzzled. The confrontation of philosophical people with a ruler was a popular subject in ancient times.

literature

• Constantinos Macris: Timycha de Lacédémone (division). In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 6, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2016, ISBN 978-2-271-08989-2 , pp. 1239-1246

Remarks

1. ↑ Porphyrios: Vita Pythagorae 61.
2. ^ Iamblichos: De vita Pythagorica 189–194 (see also 214).
3. ^ Iamblichus: De vita Pythagorica 267.
4. ↑ On the background to the bean ban, see Giovanni Sole: Il tabù delle fave , Soveria Mannelli 2004, p. 19 ff.