Aretaphila of Cyrene

Aretaphila of Cyrene (Flourished circa 50 B.C., Cyrene, an ancient Greek colony in North Africa) was a Cyrenean noble woman who according to Plutarch in his work "De mulierum virtutes" (On the Virtues of Women), deposed the tyrant Nicocrates. Brooklyn Museum Dinner party databse ] Images of Women in Antiquity. By Averil Cameron, Amélie Kuhrt]

Aretaphilia was compelled to marry the tyrant Nicocrates after he had killed her husband, Phaedimus. She first tried to poison Nicocrates but was discovered and tortured. She then, arranged a marriage of her own daughter to the tyrant's brother, Leander. She was then able to convince Leander to murder Nicocrates.

She went on to manoeuvre Leander into a war with the native Libyans, which ended with his capture and execution.

Seen as a heroic liberator, Aretaphila was invited to join the new government of her country, but she declined, and return to a domestic life.

Notes

References

* [http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/aretaphilia_of_cyrene.php Aretaphilia of Cyrene ] at the Brooklyn Museum Dinner party databse of notable women. Accessed February 2008
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Bravery_of_Women*/B.html De Mulierum Virtutibus] by Plutarch as published in Vol. III of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1931. Accessed February 2008
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=96g-d90oDpwC&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=aretaphila+of+cyrene&source=web&ots=qJsg4O8-xl&sig=-_yVFajvjk2_gHFNBnWMUDRj0v0#PPA55,M1 Images of Women in Antiquity] By Averil Cameron, Amélie Kuhrt. Published 1993. Routledge ISBN 0415090954. At Google books. Accessed February 2008