Damo (; grc-gre, Δαμώ; fl. c. 500 BC) was a
Pythagorean philosopher said by many to have been the daughter 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 ...
.
Early life
Tradition relates that she was born in
Croton, and was the daughter 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 ...
.
[Diogenes Laërtius, viii. 42-3][Suda, ''Pythagoras'' π3120][Iamblichus, ''On the Pythagorean Life'', 146] According to
Iamblichus, Damo married Meno the Crotonian.
Some accounts refer to her as an only daughter, while others indicate that she had two sisters,
Arignote
Arignote or Arignota (; grc-gre, Ἀριγνώτη, ''Arignṓtē''; fl. c. ) was a Pythagorean philosopher from Croton or Samos. She was known as a student of Pythagoras and TheanoSuda, ''Arignote'' and, according to some traditions, their dau ...
and
Myia (married to
Milo of Croton
Milo or Milon of Croton (late 6th century BC) was a famous ancient Greek athlete.
He was most likely a historical person, as he is mentioned by many classical authors, among them Aristotle, Pausanias, Cicero, Herodotus, Vitruvius, Epictetus, a ...
). With her brother
Telauges, they became members of the Pythagorean sect founded by their father.
Writing
References to Damo can be found in the works of
Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sour ...
,
Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of t ...
and
Iamblichus, although little is known about her life. As the sect credited Pythagoras with authorship for members' work, it is likely that Damo contributed to the doctrines ascribed to the philosopher.
According to one story, Pythagoras bequeathed his writings to Damo, and she kept them safe, refusing to sell them, believing that poverty and her father's solemn injunctions were more precious than gold.
Damo, in turn, passed the writings (memoranda
hypomnema
Hypomnema (Greek. ὑπόμνημα, plural ὑπομνήματα, ''hypomnemata''), also spelled hupomnema, is a Greek word with several translations into English including a reminder, a note, a public record, a commentary, an anecdotal record, ...
ta) on to her daughter
Bitale and
Telauges, and to her mother's brother.
The writings, as well as those by Damo herself, are not known to have survived. According to Iamblichus, she was a sister of Telauges.
References
Further reading
*
Coppleston, Frederick, S.J. ''
A History of Philosophy''. London: Search Press, 1946.
*Guthrie, W.K.C. "Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism," in ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Vol. 7. Edited by Paul Edwards. NY: Macmillan, 1967.
*Jamblichus, C. ''Life of Pythagoras''. London: John M. Watkins, 1926.
*Kersey, Ethel M. ''Women Philosophers: a Bio-critical Source Book''. CT: Greenwood Press, 1989.
*Philip, J.A. ''Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966.
*Schure, Edouard. ''The Ancient Mysteries of Delphi: Pythagoras''. NY: Rudolf Steiner, 1971.
*Waithe, Mary Ellen, ed. ''A History of Women Philosophers. Vol. 1.'' Boston: Martinus Nijhoff, 1987.
6th-century BC Greek people
5th-century BC Greek people
5th-century BC philosophers
Pythagoreans
Presocratic philosophers
Ancient Greek women philosophers
Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia
Ancient Crotonians
6th-century BC births
5th-century BC deaths
6th-century BC Greek women
5th-century BC Greek women
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