Nikidion ("Little Victory") (floruit circa 300 BCE) was a hetaira (courtesan) who was a female student of

Epicurus Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influence ...

. She served as a character in

Martha Nussbaum Martha Craven Nussbaum (; born May 6, 1947) is an American philosopher and the current Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly appointed in the law school and the philosop ...

's philosophical works.

In literature

, in her book ''The Therapy of Desire'', adopts Nikidion for her (notional) female protagonist exploring the schools of

Hellenistic philosophy Hellenistic philosophy is a time-frame for Western philosophy and Ancient Greek philosophy corresponding to the Hellenistic period. It is purely external and encompasses disparate intellectual content. There is no single philosophical school or c ...

. Nussbaum described its original possessor as "perhaps historical and probably fictitious." Nussbaum also uses the character of Nikidion in her article ''Skepticism about Practical Reason in Literature And the Law Commentary'' which criticizes the judicial skepticism of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and

Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American jurist who served as the solicitor general of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the U.S. Cour ...

. Nikidion provided Nussbaum with a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

vehicle wherewith to explore the ancient Greek philosophies of life from the practical standpoint of a young enquirer. Nussbaum urged us to consider Nikidion "as she really might have been: smart but ill-educated, relatively weak in intellectual discipline, fonder of poetry than of Plato...attached to her wardrobe, her wines, and even her religion". The protagonist is envisaged as starting anew (like a somewhat repetitive

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, Th ...

) in various schools of thought, including those of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

Epicureanism Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by ...

Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting tha ...

, and

Pyrrhonism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of ...

; and thus as moving onwards through time, and from Greece to Rome. Nikidion is seen for example exploring her experience of grief with

Chrysippus Chrysippus of Soli (; grc-gre, Χρύσιππος ὁ Σολεύς, ; ) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When C ...

, and the links between love and anger with

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born ...

Bernard Williams Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams, FBA (21 September 1929 – 10 June 2003) was an English moral philosopher. His publications include ''Problems of the Self'' (1973), ''Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy'' (1985), ''Shame and Necessity'' ...

criticized that Nikidion proves for Nussbaum "a slightly creaky device".B Williams ''Essays and Reviews'' (2014) p. 340

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last1=Nussbaum , first1=Martha Craven , title=The therapy of desire: theory and practice in Hellenistic ethics , date=1994 , publisher=Princeton Univ. Press , isbn=978-0-691-03342-6 , oclc=231622330

External links

Eros and rage
Alternate history Ancient philosophy Hellenistic philosophy Feminist philosophy Metafiction Epicurean philosophers Hetairai

In literature

See also

References

Sources

External links