Arete of Cyrene (; el, Ἀρήτη; fl. 5th–4th century BC) was a

Cyrenaic The Cyrenaics or Kyrenaics ( grc, Κυρηναϊκοί, Kyrēnaïkoí), were a sensual hedonist Greek school of philosophy founded in the 4th century BCE, supposedly by Aristippus of Cyrene, although many of the principles of the school are belie ...

philosopher who lived in

Cyrene, Libya Cyrene ( ) or Kyrene ( ; grc, Κυρήνη, Kyrḗnē, arb, شحات, Shaḥāt), was an ancient Greek and later Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya. It was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities, known as the pentapol ...

. She was the daughter of

Aristippus of Cyrene Aristippus of Cyrene (; grc, Ἀρίστιππος ὁ Κυρηναῖος; c. 435 – c. 356 BCE) was a hedonistic Greek philosopher and the founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy. He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very differen ...

Life and teachings

Arete learned philosophy from her father, Aristippus, who had himself learned philosophy from

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

. Arete, in turn, taught philosophy to her son - Aristippus the Younger - hence her son was nicknamed "Mother-taught" ( el, μητροδίδακτος). Arete reportedly took over the leadership of the School of Cyrene upon her father's death. She is mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius, Strabo,

Aelius The gens Aelia, occasionally written Ailia, was a plebs, plebeian family in Ancient Rome, Rome, which flourished from the fifth century BC until at least the third century AD, a period of nearly eight hundred years. The archaic spelling ''Ailia'' ...

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...

Theodoret of Cyrus Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus ( grc-gre, Θεοδώρητος Κύρρου; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pi ...

, Aristocles and in the '' Suda''. Diogenes records that among her pupils were

Theodorus the Atheist Theodorus the Atheist ( el, Θεόδωρος ὁ ἄθεος; c. 340 – c. 250 BCE), of Cyrene, was a Greek philosopher of the Cyrenaic school. He lived in both Greece and Alexandria, before ending his days in his native city of Cyrene. As a C ...

and

Anniceris Anniceris ( grc-gre, Ἀννίκερις; fl. 300 BC) was a Cyrenaic philosopher. He argued that pleasure is achieved through individual acts of gratification which are sought for the pleasure that they produce, but he also laid great emphasis on t ...

. While no credible historic source has survived on Arete's teachings, the tenets of the School of Cyrene which her father founded are known. It was one of the first to advance a systematic view on the role of pleasure and pain in human life. The

s argued that discipline, knowledge, and virtuous actions are more likely to result in pleasure. Whereas negative emotions, such as anger and fear, multiplied pain. Towards the end of Plato's ''Protagoras'' it is reasoned that the "salvation of our life" depends upon applying to pleasures and pains a "science of measurement". The School of Cyrene provided one of the first approaches to hedonism, which surfaced again in 18th and 19th century Europe and was advanced by thinkers such as

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...

Spurious historic sources

Among the spurious Socratic epistles (dating perhaps from the 1st century) there is a fictitious letter from Aristippus addressed to Arete.The fictitious Socratic Letters cannot automatically be use as an historical source, but the anonymous author of these letters is "interested in historical detail," and he appears to have access to "a handbook on Greek philosophy which is similar in content to that of Diogenes Laertius but more extensive in content." Abraham J. Malherbe, (1977), ''The Cynic Epistles: A Study Edition'', page 28. SBL John Augustine Zahm (writing under the pseudonym of Mozans), claimed that the 14th century scholar Giovanni Boccaccio had access to some "early Greek writers," which allowed Boccaccio to give special praise to Arete "for the breadth and variety of her attainments":H. J. Mozans, (1913)
''Woman in Science''
pages 197-9. New York. This passage, however, does not seem to be present in any surviving work by Boccaccio, and the obvious candidate – Boccaccio's ''

De mulieribus claris ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...

'' (''On Famous Women'') – contains no mention of Arete. Zahm's source for this information is

Johann Christoph Wolf Johann Christoph Wolf (born at Wernigerode, February 21 1683; died at Hamburg, July 25 1739) was a German Christian Hebraist, polyhistor, and collector of books. He studied at Wittenberg, and traveled in Holland and England in the intere ...

's 1739 ''Mulierum Graecarum''. Wolf cites Book II of ''De Laudibus Mulierum'' (''In Praise of Women'') by "Bocatius". However, there is no work by Boccaccio entitled ''De Laudibus Mulierum'', but there is an obscure 1487 book with this title by one Bartolommeo Goggio.

She is said to have publicly taught natural and moral philosophy in the schools and academies of
Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...
for thirty-five years, to have written forty books, and to have counted among her pupils one hundred and ten philosophers. She was so highly esteemed by her countrymen that they inscribed on her tomb an
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
which declared that she was the splendour of
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and possessed the beauty of
Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...
, the virtue of Thirma, the pen of Aristippus, the soul of Socrates and the tongue of
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
.

References

External links

Cyrenaics Resource
Handbook of Cyrenaic resources, primary and secondary
Project Continua: Biography of Arete
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arete of Cyrene 5th-century BC births 4th-century BC deaths 4th-century BC philosophers Ancient Greek women philosophers Cyrenaic philosophers Ancient Greek ethicists 5th-century BC Greek women 4th-century BC Greek women