In Ancient times, people often linked courage to men. Even the word andreía (ἀνδρεία) comes from anḗr, andrós, which means adult man. This shows how society mostly saw courage in war, politics and being ready to face death. Courage is effectively mostly associated with men, this is undeniable, but Greek tradition also had alkḗ (ἀλκή), a word linked to strength, bravery and standing up to danger. It wasn't a virtue exclusive to men or women, but interestingly it appears in Homer's Iliad as one of the figures shown on Athena's aegis, alongside other symbols of battle. Athena herself is the Goddess of wisdom and military strategy. This article talks about courage in general, but it will also include some examples of well known acts of courage by women.
Although courage was often celebrated through the actions of men, the symbols of courage were not just about men. Ancient history and literature also tell us about women who defended cities, advised rulers, challenged authorities, lived through loss and remained loyal to their beliefs, even when doing so meant facing death. Most women didn't show courage only by fighting, but also through getting through hard times, being firm in decisions, thinking for themselves and the will to act despite fear.
So if we want to understand female courage we need to look beyond the forms of bravery that were traditionally celebrated and see the different situations in which women showed strength, will and courage.
Plutarch says the virtues of good women deserve to be known. That is why he compares what women did with what men did, because he believes this comparison can show that male and female virtue are essentially the same thing.
But this doesn't mean men and women need to behave in exactly the same way. Plutarch observes that even among men, the same virtue can appear in different ways depending on character, education, temperament and situations. Just because people are different, we don't need a different virtue for each of them. The same reasoning applies to women. We can keep our own feminine nature while having different forms of courage.
COURAGE AS A VIRTUE
One good place to start is the connection between courage and fear. When Aristotle talks about it, courage is related to the things that frighten us, but being courageous doesn't mean you can't feel fear.
Not feeling fear at all can mean someone doesn't know enough, doesn't feel much or simply doesn't understand the danger. Fear has a purpose. It warns us that something valuable may be threatened. It makes us think about what might happen and can stop us from doing careless things.
We need courage when fear goes against something else we know, that something must still be done despite the risk. This is important because people can easily mistake being bold for being brave.
Aristotle separates a brave person from a reckless one because at first, both may seem similar. Both may move towards danger. What makes them different is how they think and what happens when the danger becomes real. Courage understands the danger and still finds enough reasons to face it. A woman who feels fear, therefore loses nothing of her courage. She may doubt herself, worry about the results, fear humiliation or know that a decision may cost her something she cares about. Courage is about what she does with that awareness. So courage is about both knowing what to do and actually doing it. How big the risk is doesn't tell us much on its own. Something impressive might come from showing off or not thinking things through, while a quiet decision that nobody sees may require years of built up strength.
Greek thought gives us a useful distinction here: Tólma (τόλμα) can describe boldness, daring or recklessness. Boldness can go together with courage, but it can also come from pride, anger, despair or poor judgment. So just being ready to take a risk isn't enough, we also need to know why that risk was taken and whether the person understood what was at stake.
HOW COURAGE IS DEVELOPED
We don't build courage only in unusual moments when we're forced to face great dangers or make decisions that can't be undone. We also build it throughout life, through the choices we make when facing fear, hard times and uncertainty.
Aristotle says courage is a virtue we build through habit. He explains that we become courageous by performing acts of courage. Virtues don't come just from knowing what is right, but from doing things again and again until they shape who we're.
Knowing what courage means doesn't mean we have it. A person may admire bravery, understand the importance of defending their beliefs and see what they should do in difficult situations, but still back away whenever acting means facing fear or the criticism of others.
And for Aristotle, courage isn't the same thing as having no fear. A person who ignores every danger and acts without considering the results may be reckless rather than courageous. Real courage needs good judgment, meaning seeing what should be feared, understanding what is worth defending and still finding the strength needed to act in the right way.
This helps explain why we build courage through everyday life. Defending an unpopular opinion, refusing an unfair demand, admitting a mistake, taking on a difficult responsibility or staying loyal to a belief despite opposition from others are all situations where we can practice will and moral strength.
All these choices help shape who we are. When a person constantly avoids what they fear, they may strengthen the habit of backing away from difficulties. But, by facing challenges that match their abilities, they may discover that they can handle discomfort, resist pressure and act even when success isn't guaranteed.
This matters a lot when we talk about female courage. Throughout history, many women faced obstacles that didn't necessarily require physical strength, but will to resist authority, challenge social expectations, defend their own dignity and accept the results of their decisions.
Not all these examples are exactly the kind of courage in war Aristotle talked about. However, they allow us to apply the principle of character development to other situations where acting requires facing fear and accepting personal risks.
Plutarch's work on the virtues of women offers historical and literary examples that allow us to explore this side of courage. By preserving stories of women who acted courageously in difficult situations, Plutarch presents examples of behavior that can be studied, understood and taken as inspiration for us women.
So learning to be brave means more than losing fear. It means developing the ability to see what matters, evaluate the situations and act according to our own beliefs, even when it would be easier to back away.
Big acts of courage rarely start only when we need them. They are often preceded by many smaller decisions, through which a person gradually learns not to abandon what they believe is right in difficult situations.
COURAGE IN PUBLIC LIFE
Some stories Plutarch kept show women being brave in ways that mattered not just to them, but also to public and political life. Among these examples is Telesilla of Argos, remembered as a poet but also associated with defending her city against the Spartan threat.
Plutarch says, after a devastating defeat that caused many deaths among the men of Argos, the city became vulnerable to the advance of the forces of Cleomenes, king of Sparta. Facing this threat, Telesilla gathered and armed the women, taking the lead in defending the city walls. The story credits them with resisting the attack and forcing the enemy to retreat.
We can't be sure that every detail really happened, since Plutarch wrote several centuries after the events, the importance of the story also lies in the way it presents female courage. When the survival of the community was threatened, women took on a responsibility usually associated with men, the military defense of the city.
Here courage isn't something defined by being a man or a woman, but as a response to what the situations demanded.
Other stories Plutarch tells show that this public responsibility didn't have to involve combat. Courage could also be shown through the ability to give advice, make difficult decisions and influence the actions of a community during times of crisis.
One good example is the story of the women of Chios. Plutarch says, during a conflict with the Erythraeans, the men of Chios who were settled in Leuconia agreed to leave the city taking only their clothes. The women however refused the idea of them leaving unarmed, considering it shameful to abandon their weapons in front of the enemy.
When the men argued that they had sworn to respect the agreed conditions, the women suggested a solution: they should declare that their spear would serve as their cloak and their shield as their tunic. Following this advice, the men appeared armed and determined. Their enemies, impressed by their firmness, allowed them to leave without attacking them.
What matters in this story is what the women did. They were not the ones who directly faced the enemy army, but they were responsible for a decision that changed the behavior of the men and the outcome of the situation. Plutarch even presents the episode as an example of men learning courage from women.
This story shows a part of courage people often forget, the ability to strengthen the will of others. In certain situations, the courageous act isn't about holding a weapon, but about seeing a possible way forward when everyone else seems ready to give up.
The examples of Telesilla and the women of Chios show two different expressions of the same quality. In the first case, courage is shown through the willingness to directly face a threat. In the second, it appears through good judgment, initiative and the ability to influence collective decisions.
Both stories show how Plutarch wanted to see the participation of women in events that went beyond domestic life, giving them responsibility and the ability to take part in the life of their communities.
Female courage was therefore not limited to silent resistance or the ability to endure personal difficulties. It could take a public form, influence political events and directly contribute to the survival of a city.
The example of these women also helps us understand that courage doesn't belong only to those who carry out extraordinary actions, but also to those who find the will needed to inspire others to act.
THE COURAGE TO THINK INDEPENDENTLY
This isn't only about women, although this article is dedicated to female courage, thinking for themselves is a virtue that all of us as Zevists are called to practice. In a world where dominant beliefs and social expectations often shape what is considered acceptable, staying loyal to our Gods, our principles and our identity can take a lot of courage.
Thinking for yourself means being willing to question what we have been taught, seek knowledge for ourselves and not allow social pressure to decide our beliefs.
Courage also shows itself when we stay loyal to our spiritual path despite misunderstanding, criticism, the possibility of rejection or even our own ignorance. Just like in the examples from Antiquity, it isn't the approval of the majority that determines the value of our beliefs, but the honesty with which we examine them and the firmness with which we take responsibility for our choices.
We can all learn to have the courage to think for ourselves, especially when staying true to what we believe requires resisting the pressure to become different from who we're, especially our internal pressures..
SELF-CONTROL AND THE LIMITS OF BOLDNESS
We shouldn't separate courage from sōphrosynē (σωφροσύνη), the Greek virtue associated with moderation, temperance and self-control. It helps us notice our emotions without automatically turning them into decisions. Anger for example may show that something has upset us, but it doesn't decide on its own what our response should be or whether there should even be one.
Fear can warn us about danger, but that doesn't mean retreating is always the right decision. In the same way, desire can show us what we value, but it doesn't decide what we should sacrifice to achieve it.
A person who immediately reacts to every provocation shows little control over their own emotions, becoming vulnerable to the influence of those who know how to trigger them. Aggression can therefore exist alongside weakness, just as calmness can reveal great strength. This distinction is especially important when trying to define the idea of a "strong woman" through toughness.
Emotional distance, refusing to ask for help and constant confrontation may seem like signs of independence, but they can also come from fear, insecurity or difficulty accepting vulnerability. A woman can be kind and still set firm boundaries. She can rely on the people she loves without giving up her own judgment. She can feel pain without allowing it to control every decision she makes. She can forgive without losing the ability to say no.
We see real strength more clearly when we look at what drives our reactions. If we act only out of anger, we allow anger to decide our behavior. If all our decisions are controlled by fear, then fear is what limits our freedom to act.
Self-control makes it easier to let reason and good judgment guide what we do. In this sense, courage benefits from sōphrosynē, because firmness without moderation can turn into recklessness. As Aristotle explains, courage lies between two extremes: cowardice and recklessness. The hard part is learning to see when we should resist, when we should stand against something, when we should move forward and when it's wiser to stop.
THE COURAGE TO ACCEPT LOSS
Plutarch also tells stories where women show courage without fighting. One of them tells the fate of a group of Trojans who, after the destruction of Troy, were carried by a storm to the coast of Italy.
While the men explored the region, the women understood that it would be better to build a new homeland rather than continue an uncertain journey searching for the one they had lost. Led by a woman named Roma, they set fire to the ships, making it impossible to return to the sea. Although legendary, the episode shows a particular form of courage: accepting that what has been lost can't always be recovered and finding the will to build something new.
This isn't just something from ancient times. We may remain attached to relationships that have already ended, ambitions that no longer match the person we have become or situations that, although painful, seem safer than an unknown future.
Loss can scare us because choosing a new path sometimes means leaving the old one behind forever. Some losses are not even a choice, for example when a love one dies, and we have to find the courage to carry on when someone we love is no longer there.
In moments like these we need courage, good judgment and a clear idea of what matters to us. What are we really protecting? What are we sacrificing to preserve it? Are we defending something valuable or simply avoiding the unknown?
It depends on the situation. Courage doesn't necessarily mean leaving, staying, fighting or giving up. Any of these decisions can represent strength or weakness, depending on the reasons behind them. What matters is seeing when holding on to the past prevents us from building the future.
THE COURAGE OF THE ZEVIST WOMAN
Courage isn't just a virtue that helps us get through hard times. It is also what makes it possible to turn knowledge into action, belief into reality and human potential into achievement. Without courage, even wisdom can remain useless... we may see the right path and still never find the will needed to follow it.
The stories of women in ancient times show that courage doesn't have only one form. We find it in the women who defended their cities, in those who exercised authority in dangerous situations, in those who faced death out of duty and in those who had to rebuild their own lives after losing everything. Their strength wasn't limited to thought or inner resistance. It led to real actions, decisions and results.
For us Zevist Women, courage should be part of every area of life. It shows itself in the physical strength we develop, the knowledge we seek, the discipline with which we build our character, the ability to protect what we love, the firmness with which we face injustice and the will to achieve what we consider worthy. We don't have to give up femininity, sensitivity or love, but it also doesn't allow these qualities to be confused with weakness, submission or inability.
Devotion to the Gods finds a deeper expression when the principles we admire become qualities that we actually develop. Courage isn't measured only by the willingness to endure suffering, but also by the ability to act, build, protect and take responsibility when situations demand it.
None of us becomes brave just because we think we are strong, just as no virtue develops only by being admired. Courage is built through experience, preparation, discipline and the choices made when something truly important is at risk.
We Zevist Women don't need to choose between tenderness and firmness, between love and independence, between sensitivity and the ability to face danger. Having a mature character means knowing when each of these qualities should guide our behavior.
In the end the real meaning of courage comes down to one important difference: it'sn't enough to have the ability to face the world, we must also develop the judgment to know what is worth facing, the strength to do it and the wisdom to see what should be preserved.
Because courage isn't only about what we can endure but it also determines what we're able to achieve, defend and make possible.