Timycha

Tyrants in the early 4th Century BCE didn't take kindly to having their offer of friendship rebuffed. So when Timycha of Sparta and her husband Millias of Croton chose not to become Dionysius the Elder's new best friends, he sent his Syracusan soldiers down on their little band of Pythagorean pilgrims.

The pilgrims could have run into a vast bean field stretching out beside the road, but those who followed Pythagoras pledged -- for some reason -- to die before they tread on beans. So Timycha and Millias were taken captive while the rest were killed.

Under interrogation, Timycha (who was pregnant at the time) was told that if she didn't disclose the secrets of the sect that followed Pythagoras (such as why they refused to step on beans), she would be tortured. Afraid that her pregnant condition would weaken her resolve, Timycha bit off her tongue and spit it in Dionysius' face so she would be unable to talk no matter what. In-your-face women get the job done -- one way or the other.