Challenging Gender Roles: Telesilla, Suidas in Telesilla T.260

The Suda’s Account of Telesilla

Name:    The Suda Date:      10th century CE      Region:    Unknown   Citation:     T.260

Telesilla the Poet: She is depicted with a helmet on her head and with books scattered at her feet. For when the Lacedaemonians had killed those who had fled to the temple in Argos, and had marched against the city to capture it,  Telesilla armed the women capable of battle and went out to meet the enemy. When the Lacedaemonians saw them, they retreated, thinking it would be inappropriate to fight against women, since they would earn no glory if they won, but great shame if they lost.

Τελέσιλλα ποιήτρια ἐπὶ στήλης τὰ μὲν βιβλία ἀπέρριπται κράνος δὲ τῇ κεφαλῇ περιέθηκε. καὶ γὰρ ὅτε Λακεδαιμόνιοι τοὺς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοῦ Ἀργους καταφυγόντας διέφθειρον, καὶ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ᾔεσαν ὡς αἱρήσοντες τότε Τελέσιλλα τὰς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ γυναῖκας ὁπλίσασα ὑπήντησεν οἱ προςῄεσαν. ὅπερ ἰδόντες οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι εἰς τουπίσω ὑπέστρεψαν, αἰσχρὸν νομίσαντες γυναιξὶ πολεμεῖν, ἃς καὶ τὸ νικᾶν ἄδοξον καὶ ἡττᾶσθαι μέγα ὄνειδος.

Telesilla poetria. Huic statua posita est, ad cuius pedes libri iacent: galea vero capiti eius imposita est. Etenim cum Lacedaemonii, interfectis iis, qui in templum Argorum confugerant, ad urbem capiendum irent, Telesilla mulieres, quae per aetatem arma ferre poterant, armavit, et sic hostibus obviam processit. Quod conspicati Lacedaemonii retro cesserunt, turpe ducentes cum mulieribus pugnare, quas et vincere nulla sit gloria, et a quibus vinci, magnum sit dedecus. Translated into Latin by Christian Wolff

The Suda is a literary encyclopedia created in the 10th century CE by an anonymous Byzantine scholar.