y, they did not cultivate those
domestic virtues which made the Pythagorean Women so superior. Athens
was not the place for feminine ambition to receive proper recognition,
and the honorable maids and matrons could not, if they wished, pursue
the study of philosophy in association with the male sex; hence the
feminine element of the Academy was composed of strangers, who were
attracted to Athens by the fame of the philosopher.

Of Plato's immediate family, only his sister Potone, the mother of his
pupil and successor Speusippus, appears to have engaged in
philosophical studies. Of the strangers associated with the Academy,
under Plato and later under Speusippus, two gained especial
distinction--Axiothea and Lasthenia.

Axiothea, who was also called Phlisia, was a native of Phlius, a small
Peloponnesian town in the district of Sicyon, whence came the poetess
Praxilla. The story goes that some works of Plato fell into the maiden's
hands, and she read them with great zeal and industry. His _Republic_
finally aroused her enthusiasm to such a pitch that her desire for
personal instruction from the philosopher could no longer be resisted.
So she assumed masculine attire, made the journey alone to Athens, and
was received into the Academy. She continued the use of men's clothing,
and for a long time concealed her sex, becoming one of the most
prominent and zealous members of the school. Plato was so impressed with
her ability that, as tradition says, he would postpone his lectures if
Axiothea chanced to be absent. When he was asked the reason for such an
interruption, he replied: "The intellect sufficient to grasp the subject
is not yet present"--meaning Axiothea. She frequented the Academy also
under Speusippus, and became herself a teacher of philosophy. Nothing
but What is commendable is known of her, but her reputation has suffered
from the association of her name with that of Lasthenia. The latter came
from Arcadia to Athens to hear Plato, attracted, as was her fellow
student, by the fame of the philosopher. The prevailing life of the
stranger-women in Athens, however, undermined her moral principles, and
she played in the Academy a similar role to that played by Leontium
later among the Epicureans. Speusippus himself was her lover. Though
better known for her adventures as a hetaera, she also possessed some
reputation as a philosopher. Dionysius once wrote to Speusippus: "One
can also learn philosophy from your Arcadian