Lastheneia (or Lasthenia) of Mantinea ( el, Λασθένεια Μαντινική) was one of

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's female students. She was born in Mantinea, an ancient city in Arcadia, in the Peloponnese. She studied in the Academy of Plato dressed as a man. After the death of Plato she continued her studies with

Speusippus Speusippus (; grc-gre, Σπεύσιππος; c. 408 – 339/8 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher. Speusippus was Plato's nephew by his sister Potone. After Plato's death, c. 348 BC, Speusippus inherited the Academy, near age 60, and remaine ...

, Plato's nephew. She is also said to have had a relationship with Speusippus. A

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to ...

fragment from Oxyrhynchus mentions an unidentified woman who studied under Plato, Speusippus, and then Menedemus of Eretria. POxy 3656 The fragment goes on to explain that "in her teens she was lovely and full of unstudied grace." This woman is probably Lastheneia or

Axiothea of Phlius Axiothea of Phlius ( el, Ἀξιοθέα Φλειασία ) was a female student of Plato and Speusippus. She was born in Phlius, an ancient city in the Peloponnese which was under Spartan rule when Plato founded his Academy. Axiothea is said b ...

References

4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC philosophers Ancient Athenian women Ancient Greek women philosophers Academic philosophers Ancient Mantineans Female-to-male cross-dressers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 4th-century BC Greek women {{greece-philosopher-stub