Arignote or Arignota (; grc-gre, Ἀριγνώτη, ''Arignṓtē''; fl. c. ) was a Pythagorean philosopher from Croton or

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...

. She was known as a student of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His politic ...

and

Theano In Greek mythology, Theano (; Ancient Greek: Θεανώ) may refer to the following personages: *Theano, wife of Metapontus, king of Icaria. Metapontus demanded that she bear him children, or leave the kingdom. She presented the children of Mela ...

Suda, ''Arignote'' and, according to some traditions, their daughter as well.Porphyry, ''Life of Pythagoras'', 4

Life

According to the

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

, Arignote wrote: *''Bacchica'' (Βακχικά, ''Bakkhika'', "Of

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

") *''The Mysteries of

Demetra In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although she ...

'' (Περὶ τῶν Δήμητρος Μυστηρίων, ''Peri ton Demetros Mysterion'') *A ''Sacred Discourse'' (Ἱερὸς Λόγος, ''Hieros Logos'') *''Mysteries of Dionysus'' (Τελεταὶ Διονύσου, ''Teletai Dionysou'') Writings attributed to her were extant in Porphyry's day.Gilles Ménage, (1984), ''The History of Women Philosophers'', University Press of America, p. 53. Among the Pythagorean ''Sacred Discourses'' (Ἱεροὶ Λόγοι, ΄΄Hieroi Logoi΄΄) there is a dictum attributed to Arignote:

The eternal essence of number is the most providential cause of the whole heaven, earth and the region in between. Likewise it is the root of the continued existence of the gods and daimones, as well as that of divine men.Mary Ellen Waithe, (1987), ''A History of Women Philosophers. Volume 1, 600 BC-500 AD'', Springer, p. 12.

References

{{Authority control 5th-century BC Greek people 5th-century BC philosophers 5th-century BC women writers 5th-century BC writers 6th-century BC Greek people 6th-century BC philosophers 6th-century BC women writers 6th-century BC writers Ancient Crotonians Ancient Greek metaphysicians Ancient Greek women philosophers Pythagoreans Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia Ancient Greek women writers 6th-century BC Greek women 5th-century BC Greek women