Echoes of the Equality of the Danube Civilization in Plato's Philosophy – Plato's Mother as a Pioneer

“A woman must recognize that harmony is full of thought and wisdom. For a mind must be thoroughly trained for virtue in order to be just, brave, thoughtful, improved by self-sufficiency, and hateful to empty opinion. From these qualities, a woman gains noble deeds for herself and her husband. Her children and home benefit too. Often there is also benefit for the state if a woman like this governs cities or peoples as we observe in kingdoms.”

 Periktione – On the Harmony of Women

Perictione, Plato's mother, writes like this in Harmonia (c. 400 BCE). For ideological and political reasons, Plato's views on the equality of women and men in society and science, which he may have adopted from his mother, have long been ignored in the field of philosophy.

However, recent philosophical research has revealed a previously unknown feature of Plato's world of ideas, namely his role as a pioneer of gender equality. American philosopher Gregory Vlastos has characterized Plato as unambiguously feminist (p. 133, 1994). Greek-American philosopher Gerasimos Santas, on the other hand, describes Plato's relationship to gender as follows: "Plato was no rights feminist, or a rights advocate at all. But he was a revolutionary about gender all the same" (p. 114, 2010). He points out that although Plato was not a defender or activist for women's or human rights, he was nevertheless a revolutionary advocate of gender equality.

Plato believed in a society based on the ideals of harmony and justice. His thinking did not exclude women as equal, decision-making members of the state (e.g., Republic, V, pp. 160–162). His views on gender equality clearly differed from those of his contemporaries and other philosophers. During Plato's time, many Greek men believed that women lacked intellectual abilities and that their inferior position in society was therefore somehow natural. The most famous person who represented this prejudice against women was Aristotle.

In his dialogues Phaedrus, The Republic, Laws, and Menexenos, Plato advocates for the equality of women. He would grant women public positions in the administration of the state and even suggests that women be included in military service (Laws, Book VII, Republic, Book V). Plato compares the role of women as users of weapons to the Scythians' practice of training women as warriors. Plato also acted in accordance with his own concept of equality. When he founded his famous Academy, he also accepted women as students. At least two women are known by name: Lasthenia of Mantinea and Axiothea of Phliox.

In Plato's world of ideas, there is no contradiction between the abilities of women and men, but why did he think differently from other men of his time?

One explanation can be found in Plato's family history, which has been gleaned from the philosopher's own texts, contemporary accounts, and research into the history of philosophy.

More often than not, important facts are overlooked in traditional historiography of philosophy. Books on the history of philosophy mistakenly describe Plato's upbringing as if it were similar to that of other aristocratic families. The truth is that Plato's upbringing was unusual. Plato's mother was not a traditional housewife, nor was she like other aristocratic women. Plato's mother, Perictione, was herself a philosopher. She is also known in the history of philosophy. Perictione (who lived in 400 BC) is considered the author of two Pythagorean treatises, "The Harmony of Women" and "Wisdom."

Perictione's family roots are interesting. Her family descended from Solon, who gave Athens its first code of laws in the 5th century BC. The founder of the family was considered to be the mythical hero Heracles. Solon's writings were still preserved in the family archives during Plato's time. When Plato was a young boy, his father died. Perictione then remarried, not for love, but to have a guardian. According to Athenian law, a woman could not act as a single parent. Plato's stepfather did not live long, and Perictione was once again in a situation where she had to find a guardian. The solution was found when Plato's oldest brother, Adeimantus, became his nominal guardian. However, unlike Perictione, he did not interfere with the upbringing of his younger brother.

When Plato became interested in philosophy, he followed in his mother's footsteps. As a young man, Plato had been an avid wrestler and could have pursued a career in that field. However, we can be grateful to Perictione that a wrestler, who no one would have remembered after his death, became a heavyweight philosopher who is widely mentioned in the history of philosophy and has greatly influenced the development of Western philosophy as a whole. Plato's path to philosophy was paved by his mother, who showed him the way. Many have considered Plato to be the most important thinker of all time. Alfred North Whitehead, for example, has stated that all philosophical writings are "a series of footnotes to Plato" (Whitehead 1929, p. 39). 

Perictione not only influenced her son through her own upbringing, but her stories about the role of women also gave the young Plato a firm understanding that his own mother had acted independently during a time of crisis and had performed public duties that ordinary Greeks considered to be the domain of men.

Women's skills and efforts were essential during the Peloponnesian War (431-405 BC), when public administration was left to women. Perictione served as magistrate in her own locality in the Lalaia Phokis region while her husband and other men were away fighting against the Spartans. Bands of robbers were active in the area, harassing and robbing the inhabitants. Perictione appointed her younger sister Thyia as "general" and trained the women to defend their homes and the city. Information about the activities of women during the war can be found in the region's chronicles.

Plato knew from his own family history that women are just as capable as men. In this light, it is no wonder that the philosopher was determined to promote equality for women. Although Plato did not succeed in changing the mentality of the Athenians, his ideas were a landmark for the future. When we discuss equality in today's debates, we consider it a prerequisite that is no longer worth arguing about. We now take it for granted that men and women are equal in their intellectual abilities. When writing about the history of women's equality, one must begin with Plato's world of ideas, where manifestations do not automatically exclude women from philosophy and intelligence, but where ideas and their imperfect manifestations are not bound to gender. As an influencer and trendsetter, Perictione has no equal in the history of philosophy. One can only speculate that without her, Plato would hardly have become such a significant and central figure in European culture and thought.

References:

 Platon, The Republic, Union Square&Co, 1901, (edit. 2025)

Platon, Teokset osa 6, Lait, Otava, 1999

Gerasimos Santas, Understanding Plato's Republic, A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication, 2010

Alfred North Whitehead, Process and reality: An essay in cosmology, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1929

Vlastos, Gregory: Studies in Greek philosophy, vol. II: Socrates, Plato, and their tradition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995