Sosipatra

Sosipatra

Sosipatra of Ephesus was a Neoplatonist philosopher who lived in the first half of the 4th century. The story of her life is told in Eunapius' "Lives of the Sophists".

She was born in Ephesus. When she was five years old, two men came to work on her father's estate. When they produced a bounteous harvest beyond all expectation, they persuaded him to hand Sosipatra, and his estate, over to their care. The father was told to leave home for five years, during which Sosipatra was educated by the two men in ancient Chaldean wisdom. When the father returned, Sosipatra was radiant in her beauty, and was said to have possessed extraordinary psychic and clairvoyant abilities. It is implied that the two men were supernatural beings.

She later married Eustathius of Cappadocia, apparently in the full knowledge that he would die before her. Eunapius tells us that "her surpassing wisdom made her own husband seem inferior and insignificant." Eustathius and Sosipatra had three sons, one of which, Antoninus, became a significant philosopher and theurgist in his own right.

After the death of her husband, she retired to Pergamon, where her skill as a philosopher made her as popular as Aedesius who also taught philosophy there. Eunapius tells us that after the students had attended Aedesius' lectures they would go to hear Sosipatra's.

A relative of hers called Philometer was in love with her, and cast a spell on her in order to win her love. She confessed her conflicting emotions to Maximus, who was a pupil of Aedesius and would later become the teacher of the emperor Julian. Maximus was able to detect the presence of the spell and was able to counter it with a spell of his own, defeating Philometer's intent. Because he was ashamed, Sosipatra was able to forgive Philometer, and later we hear of how on one occasion, when she was lecturing on the afterlife of the soul, she had a vision of Philometer in an accident, and was able to send servants to help.

References

*Eunapius, [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eunapius_02_text.htm "Lives of the Sophists"] .


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sosipatra — (* wohl um 300; † nach 362) war eine spätantike griechische Philosophin. Sie war mit dem Philosophen Eustathios verheiratet und gehörte zu den Neuplatonikern, die an der herkömmlichen Religion festhielten und sich dem Christentum widersetzten.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • SOSIPATRA — femina, vates doctissima e Libya, uxor Aedesii Sophistae. Eunapius …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Maximos von Ephesos — (* um 310[1] wohl in Ephesos, Kleinasien; † Anfang 372 in Ephesos) war ein spätantiker Philosoph (Neuplatoniker) und ein Freund und Lehrer des römischen Kaisers Julian, den er schon lange vor dem Herrschaftsantritt stark beeinflusste. Mit seiner… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Eustathios (Philosoph) — Eustathios (* wohl Ende des 3. Jahrhunderts; † nach 362) war ein spätantiker Philosoph (Neuplatoniker). Er wird mitunter nach seiner Herkunftsregion Eustathios von Kappadokien genannt. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Quellen 2 Leben 3 Werke …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Maximus of Ephesus — (c.310 372) was a Neoplatonist philosopher. He is said to have come from a rich family, and exercised great influence over the emperor Julian, who was commended to him by Aedesius. He pandered to the emperor s love of magic and theurgy, and by… …   Wikipedia

  • Theurgie — (griechisch θεουργία theourgía „Gotteswerk“) ist eine antike Bezeichnung für religiöse Riten und Praktiken, die es ermöglichen sollten, mit göttlichen Wesen in Verbindung zu treten und von ihnen Hilfe zu erlangen. Der Ausübende wird „Theurg“… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Plato — For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation) and Platon (disambiguation). Plato (Πλάτων) …   Wikipedia

  • Plutarch — For other uses, see Plutarch (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Petrarch. Plutarch Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus Μέστριος Πλούταρχος Parallel Lives, Amyot translation, 1565 Born c …   Wikipedia

  • Damascius — Part of a series on …   Wikipedia

  • Chrysanthius — of Sardis was a Greek philosopher of the 4th century AD who studied at the school of Iamblichus. [1] He was one of the favorite pupils of Aedesius, and devoted himself mainly to the mystical side of Neoplatonism. The emperor Julian went to him by …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”