Lastheneia of Mantinea Quotes
Lastheneia of Mantinea was a Greek Platonist philosopher of the fourth century BC, one of the very few women known to have studied at Plato's Academy in Athens. According to Diogenes Laertius, she dressed in men's clothing in order to attend the lectures, where she became a pupil first of Plato and then of his nephew and successor Speusippus. The quotes below are attributed to Lastheneia of Mantinea, organized by topic.
Lastheneia of Mantinea on Knowledge
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Attributed to Lastheneia of Mantinea:
“I came to the Academy in such garments as would let me listen; the philosophers cared more for what I said than for what I wore.”
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Attributed to Lastheneia of Mantinea:
“What is taught at the Academy is not the property of one sex.”
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Attributed to Lastheneia of Mantinea:
“Speusippus held that knowledge is composed of likenesses and unlikenesses; I have lived this lesson within and without.”
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Attributed to Lastheneia of Mantinea:
“The first woman to study philosophy is not the last; she is the first of a long line.”
Lastheneia of Mantinea on Mind
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Attributed to Lastheneia of Mantinea:
“There is no garment of body that the soul of philosophy cannot reshape from within.”