Cleobulina (, 6th century BC) or Eumetis (Εὔμητις) was an ancient Greek poet. She was known for writing riddles, and three riddles attributed to her survive. Her existence has been debated.Gardella Hueso, Mariana (2021). "Cleobulina of Rhodes and the Philosophical Power of Riddles". In: Chouinard, I., McConaughey, Z., Medeiros Ramos, A., Noël, R. (eds) Women's Perspectives on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, pp. 31-45. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73190-8_3Kwapisz, Jan (2013). "Were there Hellenistic Riddle Books?". In: Jan Kwapisz, David Petrain, Mikolaj Szymański (Eds): The Muse at Play. Riddles and Wordplay in Greek and Latin Poetry, pp. 148-167. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Life According to Athenaeus and Diogenes Laërtius, Cleobulina came from Lindos on the island of Rhodes. She was the daughter of Cleobulus, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, and, in his The Dinner of the Seven Wise Men, Plutarch credits her with moderating her father's rule.Plutarch, Gastmahl der Sieben Weisen 148D; see here Luisa Schneider, Luisa (2020). Untersuchungen zu antiken griechischen Rätseln. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 142–144. The same author writes that as a young girl Cleobulina was a companion of the pre-Socratic philosopher Thales of Miletus, but according to Diogenes Laërtius she was his mother. If either association is accurate, Cleobulina must have been active at the beginning of the 6th century BC.
Works Riddles were already attributed to Cleobulina by the end of the fifth and the beginning of the fourth century BC, and Athenaeus mentions a treatise on them by the otherwise unknown Diotimus of Olympene.Dissoi logoi 3,11. On the dating of this sophistic text, see Scholz, Peter, and Alexander Becker (Eds). Dissoi Logoi – Zweierlei Ansichten. Ein sophistischer Traktat. Text – Übersetzung – Kommentar. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2004, . p. 16. However, only three riddles frequently attributed to Cleobulina survive, besides a fourth more often attributed to her father.On the attribution of this fourth riddle, compare Schneider, Luisa (2020). Untersuchungen zu antiken griechischen Rätseln. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 101–102; and Gardella Hueso, Mariana (2021). Cleobulina of Rhodes and the Philosophical Power of Riddles. In: Isabelle Chouinard, Zoe McConaughey, Aline Medeiros Ramos, Roxane Noël (Eds). Women’s Perspectives on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. Springer: Cham. p. 40. One was clearly well known in antiquity, as it was quoted twice by Aristotle, as well as by Plutarch, Demetrius of Phalerum, and Athenaeus. Another survives in quotation by an anonymous philosopher, and the third in Plutarch's Moralia. Two are elegiac couplets and the third is a single dactylic hexameter.
Athenaeus mentions and partially reproduces two ancient comedies that are attributed Cleobulina in his work. However, one of them was written by Cratinus, a writer of Old Comedy; it may have been produced between 451 and 450 BC, as Eusebius says that Cleobulina was especially renowned in that year.Poetae Comici Graeci. Vol. 4, Fragments 92–101. The other was by Menander's uncle and teacher, Alexis.Poetae Comici Graeci. Vol. 4, Fragments 92–101.
Reception The Suda has an entry about her, and in 1690 Gilles Ménage wrote a study about her.Gilles Ménage: Historia mulierum philosopharum. Lyon 1690, S. 6–8 () In 1706, Johann Caspar EbertiJohann Caspar Eberti: Eröffnetes Cabinet Deß Gelehrten Frauen=Zimmers. Frankfurt / Leipzig 1706, S. 99–100 (Digitalisat). provided a list of sources and references. She is also referred to by Lucretia Marinelli (1601),Lucretia Marinella: La nobiltà et l’eccellenza delle donne co’ diffetti et mancamenti de gli uomini. Venedig 1601, S. 38 (). Johann Frauenlob (1631),Johann Frauenlob: Die lobwürdige Gesellschaft der gelehrten Weiber. 1631, S. 10 (Digitalisat). Johann Heinrich Hottinger (1655),Johann Heinrich Hottinger: Historia ecclesiastica. Band 4. 1655 (). Johannes Esberg (1700)Johannes Esberg: Exercitium academicum. Mulieres philosophantes leviter adumbrans. Upsala 1700, o. S. (S. 17) (Digitalisat). und Johann Pasch (1701),Johann Pasch: Gynaeceum doctum sive dissertatio historico-literaria, Vom gelehrten Frauenzimmer. Wittenberg 1701, S. 18–17 (). in part under the name Eumetis.
Cleobulina appears in Judy Chicago's 1974-1979 installation The Dinner Party, where under the name of Cleobuline she is sat with other female artists and poets of antiquity next to Sappho.
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References
Further reading Leon, Vicki. "Cleobulina," in Uppity Women of Ancient Greece. (San Luis Obispo: Tabula Rasa Press, 1989). Fabbro, Elena. "La zampa cornuta dell'asino morto. Il più enigmatico enigma di Cleobulina (fr. 3 West2)", in C. Griggio - F. Vendruscolo (edd.), Suave mari magno.. Studi offerti dai colleghi udinesi Ernesto Berti. pp. 55–76 (Udine: Forum)
External links Riddles of Cleobulina with original text Alternate translation with commentary of the Three Riddles Project Continua: Biography of Cleobulina Project Continua is a web-based multimedia resource dedicated to the creation and preservation of women's intellectual history from the earliest surviving evidence into the 21st Century.