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Hippo (Greek woman)
Encyclopedia
Hippo was a supposedly historical Greek woman mentioned by the 1st century AD Latin author Valerius Maximus
as an example of chastity
. She was also included among the Famous Women written about by Giovanni Boccaccio
in the 14th century.
Valerius Maximus included the story of Hippo in his Facta et dicta memorabilia as a foreign example of chastity to complement the Roman stories he has previously related. He stated that when Hippo was abducted by an enemy fleet, she decided to save her chastity at the cost of her life, and threw herself into the sea to her death. Her body was washed up on the shore of Erythrae
. According to Valerius Maximus, a tomb was built for her which survived in his own day, and her glorious reputation had endured among the Greeks.
Boccaccio observed that no history of her ancestry or her place of birth survived, other than from "books of the ancients" which stated that she was Greek and that she was known for a single virtuous act. He gave a more detailed explanation than Valerius Maximus of Hippo's decision to kill herself, stating that she was beautiful and was aware that her captors planned to rape her. He says that after being tossed by the waves, Hippo's body was cast onto the Erythraean shore, where the inhabitants buried her like one who had been shipwrecked, but that her name and the cause of her death were later disclosed by her enemies, when the Erythraeans built her a great, long-lasting tomb as a memorial.
Boccaccio himself praised Hippo's conduct, remarking that she saved her chastity at the cost of perhaps a few more years of life and gained with her premature death eternal honour for herself.
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
as an example of chastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
. She was also included among the Famous Women written about by Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
in the 14th century.
In Valerius Maximus
Erythrae
Erythrae or Erythrai later Litri, was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of the port of Cyssus , on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of Erythrae, at an equal distance from the mountains Mimas and Corycus, and directly opposite the island of Chios...
. According to Valerius Maximus, a tomb was built for her which survived in his own day, and her glorious reputation had endured among the Greeks.
In Boccaccio
Valerius Maximus served as the source for Boccaccio's more elaborate account of Hippo.Boccaccio observed that no history of her ancestry or her place of birth survived, other than from "books of the ancients" which stated that she was Greek and that she was known for a single virtuous act. He gave a more detailed explanation than Valerius Maximus of Hippo's decision to kill herself, stating that she was beautiful and was aware that her captors planned to rape her. He says that after being tossed by the waves, Hippo's body was cast onto the Erythraean shore, where the inhabitants buried her like one who had been shipwrecked, but that her name and the cause of her death were later disclosed by her enemies, when the Erythraeans built her a great, long-lasting tomb as a memorial.
Boccaccio himself praised Hippo's conduct, remarking that she saved her chastity at the cost of perhaps a few more years of life and gained with her premature death eternal honour for herself.
Primary sources
- LivyLivyTitus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, Ab urbe condita
- PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, De Mulierum Virtutibus
- Valerius MaximusValerius MaximusValerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium
Secondary sources
- Brown, Virginia, translation of Giovanni BoccaccioGiovanni BoccaccioGiovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
’s On Famous Women by Cambridge and London (2001), Harvard University Press; ISBN 0-674-01130-9
- Guarino, G. A., Boccaccio, Concerning Famous Women (New BrunswickNew BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, N.J., 1963)
- Walker, Henry John, translation of Valerius MaximusValerius MaximusValerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
' Memorable Deeds and Sayings: One Thousand Tales from Ancient Rome, Hackett Publishing (2004), ISBN 0872206742