Pythias

Pythias (ancient Greek Πυθιάς Pythiás) was the wife of the philosopher Aristotle. ⓘ

She was a relative of Hermias, who ruled the cities of Assos and Atarneus on the coast of Asia Minor opposite the island of Lesbos and was a friend of Aristotle. Hermias was an opponent of the Persians and allied with Macedonia. In his will, Aristotle directed that he be buried next to his wife. From his wording, it appears that Pythias was already deceased at the time the will was drawn up. ⓘ

Contradictory are the statements of the sources about the relationship between Pythias and Hermias. The doxographer Aristocles of Messene, a Peripatetic philosopher who defends Aristotle against slander, claims that she was a sister and at the same time the adopted daughter of Hermias. Another doxographer, Diogenes Laertios, referring to the writing On Poets and Writers of the Same Name by the scholar Demetrios of Magnesia (1st century BC), writes that Pythias was either a daughter or a niece of Hermias. Strabon refers to her as the daughter of Hermias' brother. For chronological reasons, it is unlikely that she was a sister of Hermias. ⓘ

The information about the time and motive of the marriage also diverge. Demetrios of Magnesia and Strabon report that Hermias himself gave Pythias to the philosopher as a wife; in this case the marriage falls within the period of Aristotle's stay in Assos (347-345/344). Aristotle presents the facts differently; according to him, Aristotle married Pythias only after the death of Hermias, who had been captured and executed by trickery around 341 on the orders of the Persian king Artaxerxes III. Related to this dating question is the question of the motive for the marriage. Opponents of Aristotle insinuated that he had married Pythias only because of her father's position of power, with whom he had wanted to ingratiate himself; according to this, the marriage would have to be set before the death of Aristotle's father-in-law. Aristotle, the defender of Aristotle's honor, on the other hand, reports that the marriage took place only after Hermias' death, when the connection with the family of the overthrown ruler no longer offered any advantage. Aristotle had commented on this in a letter to Antipater; to justify the marriage, he had referred to his friendship with the executed Hermias, after whose death Pythias had fallen into an unfortunate situation. Whether the letter of Aristotle, to which Aristotle refers, was genuine, is disputed in the research. The only certainty is that nasty rumors were circulating about the philosopher's marriage. ⓘ

With Pythias, Aristotle had a daughter, also named Pythias. It is unclear who was the mother of his son Nicomachus. Diogenes Laertios, who refers to Timaios of Tauromenion, reports that it was Herpyllis, who was supposedly Aristotle's partner after Pythias' death. Athenaios also claims this with reference to Hermippos. Herpyllis is even said to have become the second wife of the philosopher. The news of the narrative sources concerning Herpyllis, however, are of doubtful credibility. A far better source is the Testament of Aristotle, from the provisions of which it can be inferred indirectly that Nicomachus' mother was probably Pythias. Herpyllis, who was conspicuously generously included in the will, may have been a relative of Aristotle from Stageira who lived in his household and thus gave his opponents cause for gossip. ⓘ

Personal life and family

Whilst Pythias' date of birth is unclear, she was active around 330 BC and she died in Athens sometime after 355 BC. Aristotle and Pythias had a daughter, Pythias the Younger. ⓘ

Pythias the Younger

Pythias the Younger married three times, but is also said to have predeceased her father. Her first husband was Nicanor, Aristotle's nephew by his sister Arimneste. According to Aristotle's will, Nicanor was to manage the family affairs until his son, Nicomachus came of age. Pythias' second husband was Procles of Sparta. Pythias' third husband was Metrodorus, a physician. ⓘ

Work in biology

Pythias supposedly worked with her husband, Aristotle, on an encyclopedia from the material they gathered on their honeymoon on Mytilene. She is reputed to have collected a range of specimens of living things. Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead suggests that the couple collaborated in the study of generation. ⓘ