Phintys of Sparta on Moderation

This chapter[aut]Pellò, Catérina is about a PythagoreanPythagoreans woman philosopher from the first century BCE, named Phintys the Spartan, who is credited with authoring an ethical treatise titled *On the ModerationModeration of WomenWomen*. I first introduce the study of ancient Greek women philosophers, its problems, challenges, methodologies, questions, and answers. Next, I review the evidenceEvidence, evident for womenWomen in the PythagoreanPythagoreans tradition. Finally, I turn to the writings ascribed to Pythagorean women in the Hellenistic and Post-Hellenistic period. I assess Phintys’ arguments and analyse how she engages with and reacts to her philosophical predecessors, Plato[aut]Plato and Aristotle[aut]Aristotle, thus contributing original ideas to ancient virtueVirtues ethics. Phintys’ *On ModerationModeration* revolves around two highly disputed philosophical questions: what is virtue? And which virtuesVirtues are most appropriate for womenWomen? Phintys replies by combining the functionalist definition of virtue as excellence in performing one’s job with a tripartite divisionDivision between proper, common, and preferable things. The argument is that, whilst some virtuesVirtues, such as moderationModeration, might be more appropriate, or preferable, for women because of their social roles, as a group virtuesVirtues are common to and shared by womenWomen and men. This in turn is used as an argument to justify women’s ability to pursue philosophy. As such, Phintys rejects both the Platonic notion that sex and genderGender distinctions are irrelevant to one’s individual excellence, and the AristotelianAristotelian argument that men and womenWomen are virtuous in different ways. The notion of *preferable* virtue represents Phintys’ original contribution to ancient ethics.