Pythias

Pythias (; ), also known as Pythias the Elder, was the adopted daughter of Hermias, ruler of the cities Assos and Atarneus on the Anatolian coast opposite the island of Lesbos. She was also Aristotle's first wife. Hermias was an enemy of Persia and allied with Macedonia. In his will, Aristotle ordered that he be buried next to his wife. From his wording, it is known that Pythias was already dead by the time he wrote his will.

==Personal life and family== Whilst Pythias' date of birth is unclear, she was active around 355 BC and she died in Athens sometime after 330 BC. Sources about the familial relationship between Pythias and Hermias provide contradictory information. The doxographer Aristocles of Messene, a Peripatetic philosopher, defended Aristotle from slander that claimed Pythias was both Hermias' adopted daughter and sister. Citing the text On Poets and Writers of the Same Name by the scholar Demetrius of Magnesia (1st century BCE), another doxographer, Diogenes Laertius writes that Pythias was either Hermias' niece or daughter. Strabo identifies her as the daughter of Hermias' brother. For chronological reasons, it is unlikely that she was Hermias' sister.