Hipparete: The Wife of a Blackmailing Husband, Alcibiades

Who Was Hipparete?

Hipparete was an Athenian woman who came from a wealthy family. Her most unfortunate, life-turning point was when she was married to Alcibiades as a gesture of goodwill from her father. Hipparete is a perfect example of how a woman can be used again and again by the ones around her and still get up. Here we bring you all the information on Hipparete, her husband, Alcibiades, and her life.

Hipparete was the daughter of a wealthy Athenian named Hipponicus III. She was married to Alcibiades who was a famous Athenian general, statesman, and orator. Overall, she had a troubled life and she died under the pressure and faults of her husband.

Her Life

Hipparete knew about the struggles that the people in her city were facing. She was a good soul who wanted everyone to live well and get along just fine. Her father on the other hand was a cruel man who was after even more money than he already had. He would do anything to become even richer and form alliances with only the people that he thought had the "rich potential" in them.

As he was the king of the city of Athens, and this city housed the most wealthy and the poorest people at a given time. The riches were distributed in the most uneven way and the cruelty of life was seen at maximum for the unfortunate ones. In such conditions, the citizens dreamed of getting out of their status and reaching for the skies, because they were deprived of so many things and so one can imagine what sort of havoc it must have been.

All her life before marriage, Hipparete saw her father make deals with men who had the least character in them, they weren't very much qualified, as she observed. The same men that Hipparete was disgusted by were in and out of her house on a daily basis and as much as she wanted to get rid of them, she could not because they were her father's guests. Little did she know, her fate was tied to one of such men.

Her Marriage

Plutarch was a Greek historian who narrates the story of Hipparete. According to him, Alcibiades was a magician and he learned this skill because he wanted to get up in the world.

He used to manipulate rich men into having sexual relations with him and then blackmailed them for money and status. This is exactly what he did to Hipponicus III, Hipparete's father, and in exchange for his discreetness, or confidentiality in the manner, asked Hipponicus for Hipparete's hand in marriage.

She was thus married off to this magician and was never to return to her home according to the rules set by her husband. The marriage started normally, as any marriages go but soon Hipparete suspected that this was not very ordinary and hence she became skeptical.

She learned that she was a pawn in Alcibiades' game to attain maximum power in society because if he has a respectable woman from a rich family on his arm, no one will dare question his morals and authenticity, hence, he could get away with anything clinging to her reputation.

She learned what had happened to her father and how Alcibiades got some part of her family's estate. All of his affairs with women and men were opened in front of her. In addition, it also came into the image that this was not his first marriage but one of many where most of the earlier wives were dead or probably murdered by him in their sleep. Her life shattered in front of her eyes and she could not do anything about it or be against Alcibiades.

Her Death

Even after knowing everything and everyone around her, she did not do anything to hurt or belittle her husband, as he still didn't pay attention to her or treat her right. She kept going and kept her head high in society.

She learned to live under all that pressure and the abuse and violence that he forced on her. Every day she continued to be a wife and tried to make the most of her pathetic life because she could not go back home and had nothing to her name to simply leave to that animal-like man who was a con artist.

She stayed there baring agony, and misery; nonetheless, even though she was expecting to be murdered just like the rest of his wives, she wasn't. As the days passed she died in the same house she was brought in after her marriage. In all the time she was there, she bore two children, a boy, and a girl, to her husband, as both of them werrre not affectionate towards their mother at all.

She died alone without even the shadow of anyone around her. Her end was as sad as it could be and without a doubt, her death was mourned by no one except for maybe the birds that she fed every day in her backyard or the stray animals that found water and shelter because of her.

Plutarch had named Alcibiades as Socrates war hero at times but what is the use of such a war hero who was less than a man for his wife? The story of this woman is the story of many women around the world since ancient times. The only difference is that in some stories the women choose to fight the tyrant and be their own voice but Hipparete chose silence and died in it.

Conclusions

Hipparete is one of many women who faced defeat and destruction at the hands of her caretaker and protector. Her story is not new but is the same old offense against women. Here we have concluded all the information in a few points:

• She was the daughter of a wealthy Athenian named Hipponicus III. He was a businessman and had a very high status in all of Athens.

• Alcibiades was a famous Athenian general, statesman, and orator. He was born poor and learned magic to make his way up in society.

• Alcibiades manipulated Hipponicus and had sexual relations with him. He then blackmailed him and in order to keep quiet, he asked for Hipparete's hand. Hipponicus agreed without even a fight.

• She married Alcibiades and came to know all about the heinous man. She was beyond devastated but still lived with him.

• She died under his roof and no one, not even her children mourned her death.

No woman should endure what Hipparete endured. This story can serve as a way of enlightenment for women. Here we come to the end of the article about Hipparete.