Timoclea of Thebes was a brave ancient Greek woman who defied Alexander the Great when she was brought before him for punishment after she killed one of his captains.
The event took place during Alexander’s Balkan Campaign and the battle against the Thebans for control of Central Greece in 335 BC. The Macedonians won the battle and established their hegemony over Greece.
The Macedonian army killed 6,000 Thebans and took 30,000 as slaves, and the city was plundered and burned. In one incident, a Thracian captain entered Timoclea’s home to loot it and eventually raped her. When he demanded to know where her jewelry was, she lied, claiming she had thrown it into the dry well in her yard to protect it. As he leaned over the well, she pushed him in and dropped large stones on him until he died. Timoclea was arrested and brought before Alexander to face punishment.
She told Alexander the Great she was the sister of Theagenes, one of the men who had fought against the Macedonians at the Battle of Chaeronea, and recounted how she had been raped and how she killed the captain.
Plutarch describes how Timoclea killed Alexander the Great’s captain
Ancient Greek biographer and author Plutarch recounts the story of Timoclea in both Life of Alexander and in more detail in “Mulierum Virtutes” (“Virtues of Women”) in Plutarch’s Morals. For Plutarch, it was Clotho, one of the three Fates (or Moirai), who guided Timoclea’s hand to kill the vile captain:
“…the revengeful Clotho (one of the three Fates) brought dreadful things upon him by the hand of Timoclea, who stood on the top of the well; for as soon as she perceived by his voice that he reached the bottom, she threw down abundance of stones upon him, and her maids rolled in many and great ones, till they had dashed him to pieces and buried him under them. As soon as the Macedonians came to understand this and had taken up the corpse, there having been late proclamation that none of the Thebans should be slain, they seized her and carried her before the king and declared her audacious exploit;”
Alexander’s soldiers expected that the mighty Macedonian king would order the execution of the woman. Not only for the killing of his captain, but mainly for her insolence, her rudeness to speak to the king the way she did. Yet, the response of Alexander came as a shock to all those present:
“… the king, who by the gravity of her countenance and stateliness of her behavior did perceive in her something that savored of the greatest worth and nobility, asked her first, What woman art thou? She courageously and undauntedly answered: Theagenes was my brother, who was a commander at Chaeronea, and lost his life fighting against you in defense of the liberty of the Greeks, that we might not suffer any such thing; and seeing I have suffered things unworthy of my rank, I refuse not to die; for it is better so to do than to experience another such a night as the last, which awaits me unless thou forbid it.”
Alexander, moved by her courage and eloquence, pardoned Timoclea and ordered his men that she and her children be treated with the utmost respect the noble woman deserved.
Plutarch’s main source for the incident was the account by Aristobulus of Cassandreia, who knew Alexander well. The description of Timoclea’s words—most likely invented by Plutarch—illuminates the virtue and courage of women, reflecting both the author’s moral perspective and the broader ancient Greek emphasis on virtue.
By highlighting the reaction of Alexander the Great and his immediate order to stop the plundering of Thebes, Plutarch presents the Macedonian general as a man with moral values for he:
“…charged his officers to have a special care and look to the guards, lest any such abuse be offered again to any renowned family; and dismissed Timoclea, charging them to have a special regard to her and all that should be found to be of her family.”
Alexander the Great acknowledged that the Theban woman loved her homeland as fiercely as he loved his own. He also seemed to despise his captain for his actions against a patrician woman. That a general could justify sparing a woman who killed one of his officers demonstrates that, for Alexander, morality could outweigh the life of a member of his army.
The story of Timoclea resonated with later artists
From the Renaissance onward, the story of Timoclea resonated with artists, fascinated by the fearlessness and determination of the Theban noble woman. Most depictions show her being brought before Alexander, which might form part of a cycle illustrating his life.
There was a period in the 16th century when Timoclea became a prominent example for the artistic and literary theme known as the “Power of Women.” Historic female figures were recast to assume the dominant position over men, both sexually and intellectually.
The most influential painting of Timoclea appeared in 1615, when the French painter Domenichino depicted her standing calmly alongside her two children in front of Alexander the Great. The painting places her among other strong female figures.
An etching by Léon Davent (c. 1541-1545) for the First School of Fontainebleau, portrays Timoclea as naked when brought before Alexander the Great. Jean-Charles Nicaise Perrin (1782) painted the scene of Timoclea in front of Alexander, with the soldiers having brought the dead captain along as evidence.
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