[4] No writings of Sosipatra have survived to the modern era, and the account of her life is solely based on Eunapius' Lives of the Sophists, who however portrays her as one of the most important and influential figures whose biographies are contained in his work.
[1] Edward Jay Watts suggested that the lack of other accounts of her life could be a result of her significance being overestimated by Eunapius and his followers.
[5] On the other hand, Maria Dzielska suggested that the absence of mentions or discussions of Sosipatra by other contemporary and later scholars might have been a form of purposeful damnatio memoriae.
[6] Heidi Marx suggested that the reasons Eunapius devoted a significant amount of space of his Lives to Sosipatra are, first, that she is a respected "teacher of his teacher", and second, that the story of her life is a veiled response to Christian hagiographers who were writing celebratory biographies of female Christian martyrs and saints, all of whom fit the stereotype of "virginal or celibate female ascetic".
Eunapius, a pagan, was using Sosipatra's story to promote a different narrative, of what he saw as "a proper elite woman", one who in his view deserves respect, admiration and remembrance while having both a family, a professional career, and enjoying material comforts.