Damo (; ; fl. c. 500 BC) was a

Pythagorean Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * Ne ...

philosopher said by many to have been the daughter of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

and Theano.

Early life

Tradition relates that she was born in Croton,

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

, and was the daughter of

and Theano.Diogenes Laërtius, viii. 42-3Suda, ''Pythagoras'' π3120Iamblichus, ''On the Pythagorean Life'', 146 According to

Iamblichus Iamblichus ( ; ; ; ) was a Neoplatonist philosopher who determined a direction later taken by Neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer of the Greek mystic, philosopher, and mathematician Pythagoras. In addition to his philosophical co ...

, Damo married Meno the Crotonian. Some accounts refer to her as an only daughter, while others indicate that she had two sisters, Arignote and

Myia Myia (; , literally "Fly"; fl. c. 500 BC) was a Pythagorean philosopher and, according to later tradition, one of the daughters of Theano and Pythagoras. Life Myia was married to Milo of Croton, the famous athlete. She was a choir leader as a ...

(married to

Milo of Croton Milo or Milon of Croton () was a famous Ancient Greece, ancient Greek athlete from Crotone, Croton, which is today in the Magna Graecia region of southern Italy. Milo was a six-time winner at the Ancient Olympic Games, Olympics, once for boys' w ...

). With her brother

Telauges Telauges (; fl. c. 500 BC) was a Samian Pythagorean philosopher and, according to tradition, the son of Pythagoras and Theano. Little is known about his life and works other than a scattering of remarks from much later writers. Life Little is k ...

, 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 ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century ...

and

, 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

, 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

* 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 philosophers 5th-century BC Greek philosophers 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 {{AncientGreece-philosopher-stub

Early life

Writing

References

Further reading