request of her parents, sought to make
her abandon her purpose. Yet every effort was fruitless. Finally Crates,
throwing off his clothing, appeared before her and said: "Such is the
shape of your bridegroom: this is all he possesses. Take careful counsel
with yourself, for you cannot become my wife unless you accept my whole
manner of life. Ponder it well, that you may later have no pretext for
ill feeling." "Already a long time," answered the maiden, "have I
anticipated this and thought over it; I can nowhere on earth find a
richer or handsomer husband than you. Take me, then, with you, wherever
you may go." Seeing that her mind was made up, the parents finally gave
their consent to the marriage of their daughter with the philosopher.

Crates, as a true Cynic, straightway led his wife into one of the
colonnades, and publicly celebrated his nuptials. Hipparchia entered
fully into the manner of life of her husband. She clad herself in coarse
garments like his, accompanied him everywhere, and bore many privations.
Many cynical sophisms and apothegms are attributed to Hipparchia, who
became one of the most prominent members of the school. We know but
little of her later life, beyond the fact that she was the mother of one
son, Pasicles, and of several daughters.

The Megarian school of philosophy, founded by Euclides of Megara, a
pupil of Socrates, practised dialectic, and was called the Eristic, or
disputatious, sect. The art of disputation appealed to the female sex,
and a number of women allied themselves with this school. The first
female Dialecticians were the five daughters of Diodorus, an eminent
disciple of Euclides, and they conferred much honor on the school. Argia
was the most celebrated of the sisters for her mental endowments and
dialectic skill, but unfortunately there are but scant records of the
philosophical activity of Argia and her four sisters, Artemisia,
Menexena, Theognis, and Pantaclea. Hieronymus commends the five for
their modesty as well as for their intellectual attainments, and they
must have aroused general enthusiasm, as Philo, a disciple of their
father, wrote a book about them. Euclides was succeeded by Stilpo as
head of the school, and among his hearers was Nicarete of Megara, the
daughter of prominent parents, who became renowned for her cleverness
and profound learning. She adopted the hetaera life, and was the
"companion" of Stilpo himself. The relation was tender and enduring, but
she