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Timoclea
(4th century BCE)
The Woman Who Threw Her Rapist in a Well
1 So the sourcing for this comes from two different works of Plutarch, which have subtle differences between them. I’ve basically chosen a mix of the two to make the most dramatic retelling, but I’m not making anything up. You’ll find links to my sources, as ever, at the bottom of this entry.2 The captain in question here was confusingly also named Alexander. I omitted his name for clarity’s sake. He was a Thracian conscript, not Macedonian (like Alexander was). Plutarch makes this very clear — “this was the act of those nasty alcoholic Thracians, not the virtuous Macedonians!”
3 This is adapted from Plutarch saying that he flattered her and toyed with the possibility of treating her like a wife, while also threatening her.4 I am unclear how old she was supposed to be. No husband is mentioned — they usually are in these sorts of cases — and she’s just mentioned as having a brother who’d died in the fight against Alexander’s forces. I realized a little late that in one of the sources, Plutarch refers to her as a matron, but there’s no mention of her kids. I think she’s supposed to be a younger mom, and maybe her husband died in the invasion…? The invasion of Thebes was quite violent.
5 Plutarch gives her a long speech in one of the versions, in which she flatters him back. This is an adaptation of that — basically, she says she wished she had died and that this day had never come, but now that it has, she has to be a dutiful woman and obey her man, and not withhold anything from him.
6 In one version, she tricks him to walk down into the well. I prefer this version for obvious reasons.
7 The servant on the left is modeled after Christina, one of the RP Patreon supporters! Thank you Christina!8 Timoclea’s servants only show up in one of the versions, but they do so to help lugging over rocks with which to kill the dude.
9 The timeline for this is a bit murky, but I think it all happened in one day.10 In the background in the bottom panel, that’s Olympias of Macedon — Alexander’s mom — and Antipater, her nemesis. I cover her in book two. It’s a bit unlikely she would have been there to accompany him on his campaigns, but I wanted the throwback.
11 Art error: her manacles were behind her back in the previous page, and in front of her on this one. Ugh. I’ll fix it later.12 Her speech is pretty true to what Plutarch recorded her as having said — however, she also leaned hard into the “do you know who I AM?” defense, making her class the central issue.
13 This is a bit of an extrapolation of Alexander’s response. The histories said he was impressed by her demeanor and eloquence. Her freedom is a bit of a question mark — in one version, he says she and her family and free to go wherever they please, in the other he tells his men to look after her specially. I interpret this as her being no longer imprisoned and allowed around Thebes, but not outside of the walls. So in the context of this trial, she’s free to go (no longer shackled).14 The chamber he’s in is modeled after one on Crete. Most other depictions have him in a big tent with a lot of people standing around, but I really did not want to draw a crowd scene.
15 This is a bit of a fudging, to keep the central point that I wanted to convey intact. When he says “no abuse like this,” it would mean that only the nobility are to be shown this level of consideration. The lower classes, presumably, were not shown nearly the same level of civility. Nevertheless, the point I wanted to get across was that Alexander, one of the most prominent rulers of Western history, was lauded in his own biography for believing a survivor of sexual assault, even one who didn’t like him very much, and treating her well. I thought that spoke to the moment we’re in.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | So the sourcing for this comes from two different works of Plutarch, which have subtle differences between them. I’ve basically chosen a mix of the two to make the most dramatic retelling, but I’m not making anything up. You’ll find links to my sources, as ever, at the bottom of this entry. |
| ↑2 | The captain in question here was confusingly also named Alexander. I omitted his name for clarity’s sake. He was a Thracian conscript, not Macedonian (like Alexander was). Plutarch makes this very clear — “this was the act of those nasty alcoholic Thracians, not the virtuous Macedonians!” |
| ↑3 | This is adapted from Plutarch saying that he flattered her and toyed with the possibility of treating her like a wife, while also threatening her. |
| ↑4 | I am unclear how old she was supposed to be. No husband is mentioned — they usually are in these sorts of cases — and she’s just mentioned as having a brother who’d died in the fight against Alexander’s forces. I realized a little late that in one of the sources, Plutarch refers to her as a matron, but there’s no mention of her kids. I think she’s supposed to be a younger mom, and maybe her husband died in the invasion…? The invasion of Thebes was quite violent. |
| ↑5 | Plutarch gives her a long speech in one of the versions, in which she flatters him back. This is an adaptation of that — basically, she says she wished she had died and that this day had never come, but now that it has, she has to be a dutiful woman and obey her man, and not withhold anything from him. |
| ↑6 | In one version, she tricks him to walk down into the well. I prefer this version for obvious reasons. |
| ↑7 | The servant on the left is modeled after Christina, one of the RP Patreon supporters! Thank you Christina! |
| ↑8 | Timoclea’s servants only show up in one of the versions, but they do so to help lugging over rocks with which to kill the dude. |
| ↑9 | The timeline for this is a bit murky, but I think it all happened in one day. |
| ↑10 | In the background in the bottom panel, that’s Olympias of Macedon — Alexander’s mom — and Antipater, her nemesis. I cover her in book two. It’s a bit unlikely she would have been there to accompany him on his campaigns, but I wanted the throwback. |
| ↑11 | Art error: her manacles were behind her back in the previous page, and in front of her on this one. Ugh. I’ll fix it later. |
| ↑12 | Her speech is pretty true to what Plutarch recorded her as having said — however, she also leaned hard into the “do you know who I AM?” defense, making her class the central issue. |
| ↑13 | This is a bit of an extrapolation of Alexander’s response. The histories said he was impressed by her demeanor and eloquence. Her freedom is a bit of a question mark — in one version, he says she and her family and free to go wherever they please, in the other he tells his men to look after her specially. I interpret this as her being no longer imprisoned and allowed around Thebes, but not outside of the walls. So in the context of this trial, she’s free to go (no longer shackled). |
| ↑14 | The chamber he’s in is modeled after one on Crete. Most other depictions have him in a big tent with a lot of people standing around, but I really did not want to draw a crowd scene. |
| ↑15 | This is a bit of a fudging, to keep the central point that I wanted to convey intact. When he says “no abuse like this,” it would mean that only the nobility are to be shown this level of consideration. The lower classes, presumably, were not shown nearly the same level of civility. Nevertheless, the point I wanted to get across was that Alexander, one of the most prominent rulers of Western history, was lauded in his own biography for believing a survivor of sexual assault, even one who didn’t like him very much, and treating her well. I thought that spoke to the moment we’re in. |
Art Notes
This wasn’t the scheduled post – but it was one that spoke to the moment. Wish I’d been able to get it done quicker, but I work at the pace I work at.
This one’s pretty simple, just the journey from night to day. Greens represent avarice and lust, yellow/orange/red is rage, and cooler blues judgment.
For the poster image, I had to look up whether women in ancient Greece shaved their armpits. Apparently the nobles did. That was kind of a bummer.
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