Pythias

==Personal life and family==

==Personal life and family==

Whilst Pythias' date of birth is unclear, she was active around 355 BC{{cite book |author1=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTSYePZvSXYC&pg=PA1444 |title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z |author2=Joy Dorothy Harvey |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-92040-7 |page=1062 |author-link1=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie |author-link2=Joy Harvey |accessdate=12 August 2014}} and she died in Athens sometime after 330 BC. Sources about the familial relationship between Pythias and Hermias provide contradictory information. The doxographer [[Aristocles of Messene]], a Peripatetic philosopher, defended Aristotle from slander that claimed Pythias was both Hermias' adopted daughter and sister. Citing the text ''On Poets and Writers of the Same Name'' by the scholar [[Demetrius of Magnesia]] (1st century BCE), another doxographer, [[Diogenes Laertius]] writes that Pythias was either Hermias' niece or daughteemu emuScholarchs |journal=Hermes |date=1972 |volume=100 |pages=314–342}} [[Strabo]] identifies her as the daughter of Hermias' brother.{{cite book |last1=Moraux |first1=Paul |title=Der Aristotelismus bei den Griechen von Andronikos bis Alexander von Aphrodisias |date=1984 |publisher=de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=3-11-009919-5 |page=141-143}} For chronological reasons, it is unlikely that she was Hermias' sister.{{cite book |last1=Hose |first1=Martin |title=Aristoteles: Werke in deutscher Übersetzung. Bd. 20, Teil 3: Die historischen Fragmente |date=2002 |publisher=Akademie-Verlag |location=Berlin |isbn=3-05-003755-5 |page=290-292}}

Whilst Pythias' date of birth is unclear, she was active around 355 BC{{cite book |author1=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTSYePZvSXYC&pg=PA1444 |title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z |author2=Joy Dorothy Harvey |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-92040-7 |page=1062 |author-link1=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie |author-link2=Joy Harvey |accessdate=12 August 2014}} and she died in Athens sometime after 330 BC. Sources about the familial relationship between Pythias and Hermias provide contradictory information. The doxographer [[Aristocles of Messene]], a Peripatetic philosopher, defended Aristotle from slander that claimed Pythias was both Hermias' adopted daughter and sister. Citing the text ''On Poets and Writers of the Same Name'' by the scholar [[Demetrius of Magnesia]] (1st century BCE), another doxographer, [[Diogenes Laertius]] writes that Pythias was either Hermias' niece or daughter.{{cite journal |last1=Gottschalk |first1=Hans |title=Notes on the Wills of the Perpatetic Scholarchs |journal=Hermes |date=1972 |volume=100 |pages=314–342}} [[Strabo]] identifies her as the daughter of Hermias' brother.{{cite book |last1=Moraux |first1=Paul |title=Der Aristotelismus bei den Griechen von Andronikos bis Alexander von Aphrodisias |date=1984 |publisher=de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=3-11-009919-5 |page=141-143}} For chronological reasons, it is unlikely that she was Hermias' sister.{{cite book |last1=Hose |first1=Martin |title=Aristoteles: Werke in deutscher Übersetzung. Bd. 20, Teil 3: Die historischen Fragmente |date=2002 |publisher=Akademie-Verlag |location=Berlin |isbn=3-05-003755-5 |page=290-292}}

Information about the exact time of and motives behind the marriage also differ. Demetrius of Magnesia and Strabo report that Hermias himself gave Pythias to Aristotle as a bride; if this was the case their marriage would fall in the time period of Aristotle's stay in Assos (347-345/344). Aristocles portrays the matter differently: according to his information, Aristotle married Pythias only after the death of Hermias, who was captured and executed through subterfuge on the orders of the Persian King [[Artaxerxes III]]. The question of the motive behind the marriage depends upon its date. Aristotle's enemies insinuated that he only married Pythias as a way to ingratiate himself with her father; because of that, the wedding would have been held before the death of his father-in-law. However, defending Aristotle's marriage, Aristocles claims the wedding only occurred after Hermias' death, when the connection with the family of fallen rulers would offer no advantage whatsoever. Aristotle spoke out against [[Antipater]] in a letter: As justification for the marriage he pointed out his friendship with the executed Hermias, after whose death Pythias was left in an unfortunate situation. Whether or not the letter by Aristotle that Aristocles refers to was real is contested by researchers. It is only certain that nasty rumours circulated about the marriage of the philosopher.

Information about the exact time of and motives behind the marriage also differ. Demetrius of Magnesia and Strabo report that Hermias himself gave Pythias to Aristotle as a bride; if this was the case their marriage would fall in the time period of Aristotle's stay in Assos (347-345/344). Aristocles portrays the matter differently: according to his information, Aristotle married Pythias only after the death of Hermias, who was captured and executed through subterfuge on the orders of the Persian King [[Artaxerxes III]]. The question of the motive behind the marriage depends upon its date. Aristotle's enemies insinuated that he only married Pythias as a way to ingratiate himself with her father; because of that, the wedding would have been held before the death of his father-in-law. However, defending Aristotle's marriage, Aristocles claims the wedding only occurred after Hermias' death, when the connection with the family of fallen rulers would offer no advantage whatsoever. Aristotle spoke out against [[Antipater]] in a letter: As justification for the marriage he pointed out his friendship with the executed Hermias, after whose death Pythias was left in an unfortunate situation. Whether or not the letter by Aristotle that Aristocles refers to was real is contested by researchers. It is only certain that nasty rumours circulated about the marriage of the philosopher.