Arete of Cyrene
Arete of Cyrene
Greek philosopher of the 5th century BCE, daughter of Aristippus of Cyrene, founder of the Cyrenaic school. She is said to have taught philosophy and led the school after her father, personally educating her own son Aristippus the Younger.
Key Facts
- Daughter of Aristippus of Cyrene, founder of the Cyrenaic school (5th century BCE)
- Said to have led the school of Cyrene after her father's death
- Mother of Aristippus the Younger, known as 'Metrodidactus' (taught by his mother)
- One of the few women of Antiquity recognized as a philosopher in her own right
- Diogenes Laërtius credits her with 40 students taught and 35 philosophical works
Works & Achievements
Diogenes Laërtius mentions that Arete wrote philosophical works. None have survived, but their existence attests to a remarkable written intellectual activity for a woman of Antiquity.
Arete orally transmitted the principles of Cyrenaicism — the pursuit of present pleasure and mastery of the passions — to more than a hundred disciples, according to ancient sources.
Her most enduring contribution was the philosophical education of her son Aristippus the Younger, who carried on the Cyrenaic school. His epithet 'taught by his mother' stands as a unique testimony in the history of ancient philosophy.
Anecdotes
According to Diogenes Laërtius, Arete of Cyrene taught philosophy to more than one hundred and ten students over the course of her life. This figure, though difficult to verify, speaks to the intellectual reputation she had built for herself in the ancient Greek world — at a time when philosophical teaching was almost exclusively reserved for men.
Her son, Aristippus the Younger, received such a thorough philosophical education from his mother that he was nicknamed 'Metrodidactos', meaning 'taught by his mother'. This epithet, passed down from antiquity, is a rare acknowledgment of a woman's role as a philosophical educator.
Arete is recorded as having written philosophical works, placing her among the very few women of ancient Greece remembered for intellectual writing. Diogenes Laërtius includes her name among philosophers who left written texts, even though none of her writings have survived to the present day.
She is said to have taken over the leadership of the Cyrenaic school after the death of her father Aristippus, thereby ensuring the continuation of a philosophical tradition centered on present pleasure and self-mastery. This succession was exceptional: in ancient Greece, leadership of a philosophical school rarely passed to a woman.
Primary Sources
Aristippus had a daughter named Arete, who was herself the mother of Aristippus the Younger, surnamed Metrodidactus because he had been taught by his mother.
Arete of Cyrene, daughter of Aristippus, was a philosopher who taught the doctrines of her father to many disciples.
Among the correspondents of Aristippus mentioned in this corpus, Arete appears as a philosophical interlocutor, reflecting her position within the Cyrenaic school.
Key Places
Greek city founded on the North African coast (present-day Libya), birthplace of Arete and cradle of the Cyrenaic school. It was here that she taught philosophy and led the school founded by her father.
The public square of Cyrene where philosophers and citizens gathered to debate. Aristippus was accustomed to teaching there, and Arete is said to have carried on this tradition.
The intellectual center of the Greek world where Aristippus of Cyrene studied under Socrates. Arete maintained indirect ties to this philosophical hub through the Socratic legacy passed down by her father.
The city's principal sanctuary, dedicated to Cyrene's patron god. The religious and intellectual life of the city revolved around this site, which a philosopher of Arete's standing would certainly have frequented.