1189: Hipparchia of Maroneia Greek Philosopher Born: c.340-330 BCE, Maroneia, Thrace, Ancient Greece (Present-day Maroneia, Greece) Died: c. 280 BCE, Athens, Ancient Greece (Present-day Athens, Greece) She is known for being drawn to the Cynic lifestyle, one of the few women to study philosophy in Ancient Greece. While little biographical information about her early life…
1188: Erinna of Telos Ancient Greek Poet Lived: c. 4th Century BC, Telos, Ancient Greece (Present-day Tilos, Greece) Also Known As: Herinna Erinna is most remembered for her long-form poem entitled “The Distaff” which is a lament on the loss of her friend. While the original work is supposed to have been 300 lines long,…
1183: Arachidamia Spartan Warrior Queen Born: c.340 BC, Sparta (Present-day Sparta, Greece) Died: c.241 BC, Sparta (Present-day Sparta, Greece) Also Spelled: Archidamia Arachidamia led the Spartan women against Pyrrhus during the siege of Lacedaemon. At the time, most of Sparta’s warriors were off fighting a war, leaving the city itself relatively undefended. Evidently the Spartan…
1156: Cynisca Spartan Princess Born: c.440 BC, Ancient Sparta (Present-day Sparta, Greece) Died: Unknown Also Spelled: Kyniska or Kyneska Cynisca was also the first woman in history to win at the Olympic Games. She competed with a chariot drawn by four horses—notably, however, she did not physically compete as a driver. Cynisca was a breeder…
1139: Aglaonice The First Female Astronomer of Ancient Greece Lived: c. 3rd Century BC, Thessaly, Ancient Greece Aglaonice was thought of as a Sorceress because she could predict when lunar eclipses would happen. She is mentioned in the histories written by Plutarch and Apollonius of Rhodes. Little else of her life is known today. One…
1080: Olympias One of the Most Powerful Women of Ancient Hellenic Origin Born: c.375 BC, Present-day Epirus, Greece Died: c.316 BC, Present-day Pydna, Greece Original Name: Myrtle Olympias was the daughter of the king of the Mollosians, a powerful tribe in Epirus. She was also the second wife of Philip II of Macedon (they married…
(Please note no contemporary image of Sappho survives today, this is simply an artist’s interpretation of what she may have looked like) 1048: Sappho Archaic Greek Poet Born: c.616-630 BCE, Eressos or Mytilene, Lesbos, Ancient Greece (Present-day Lesbos, Greece) Died: c.580-550 BCE, Lesbos, Ancient Greece (Present-day Lesbos, Greece) You will often hear Sappho’s name in…
719: Lela Karagianni Created a Greek Resistance Group During the Axis Occupation Born: 24 June 1898, Euboea, Kingdom of Greece (Present-day Euboea, Greece) Died: 8 September 1944, Haidari Concentration Camp, Athens, Greece Original Name: Eleni (Or Helen) Karagianni Lela was married and a mother of seven children. She forged documents, supplied information to the British,…
674: Phryne Greek Prostitute who was Put on Trial and Won Her Suit by Flashing Her Breasts to the Crowd Born: c.371 BC, Thespiae, Boeotia, (Near Present-day Thespies, Greece) Died: 310 BC, Athens (Present-day Athens, Greece) Original Name: Mnesarete Her lawyer argued that a woman sculpted so perfectly had to be done so by the…
These are the People born in the country of Greece, whether it be the modern country as we see it on the map, or a person born in that region before Greece came to be. In the case of Ancient Greece, I will try to place people born in Ancient Grecian Territories outside of the…