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Aspasia
was an influential immigrant to Classical-era Athens who was the lover and partner of the statesman Pericles. The couple had a son, Pericles the Younger, but the full details of the couple's marital status are unknown. According to Plutarch, her house became an intellectual centre in Athens, attracting the most prominent writers and thinkers, including the philosopher Socrates. Aspasia is mentioned in the writings of Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon and others.
Though she spent most of her adult life in Greece, few details of her life are fully known. Many scholars have credited ancient comic depictions of Aspasia as a brothel keeper and a prostitute despite their inherent implausibility. Aspasia's role in history provides crucial insight to the understanding of the women of ancient Greece. Very little is known about women from her time period. One scholar stated that, "To ask questions about Aspasia's life is to ask questions about half of humanity.
Though she spent most of her adult life in Greece, few details of her life are fully known. Many scholars have credited ancient comic depictions of Aspasia as a brothel keeper and a prostitute despite their inherent implausibility. Aspasia's role in history provides crucial insight to the understanding of the women of ancient Greece. Very little is known about women from her time period. One scholar stated that, "To ask questions about Aspasia's life is to ask questions about half of humanity.
Origin and early years
Aspasia was born in the Ionian Greek city of Miletus (in the modern province of Aydın, Turkey). Little is known about her family except that her father's name was Axiochus, although it is evident that she must have belonged to a wealthy family, for only the well-to-do could have afforded the excellent education that she received. Her name, which means "the desired one," was likely not her given name.[7] Some ancient sources claim that she was a Carian prisoner-of-war turned slave; these statements are generally regarded as false.[a][8]
It is not known under what circumstances she first traveled to Athens. The discovery of a 4th-century grave inscription that mentions the names of Axiochus and Aspasius has led historian Peter K. Bicknell to attempt a reconstruction of Aspasia's family background and Athenian connections. His theory connects her to Alcibiades II of Scambonidae (grandfather of the famous Alcibiades), who was ostracized from Athens in 460 BC and may have spent his exile in Miletus.[3] Bicknell conjectures that, following his exile, the elder Alcibiades went to Miletus, where he married the daughter of a certain Axiochus. Alcibiades apparently returned to Athens with his new wife and her younger sister, Aspasia. Bicknell argues that the first child of this marriage was named Axiochus (uncle of the famous Alcibiades) and the second Aspasios. He also maintains that Pericles met Aspasia through his close connections with Alcibiades's household.[9] While in Athens, Aspasia may have also had affairs with the philosopher Anaxagoras and the general Jason of Lira
It is not known under what circumstances she first traveled to Athens. The discovery of a 4th-century grave inscription that mentions the names of Axiochus and Aspasius has led historian Peter K. Bicknell to attempt a reconstruction of Aspasia's family background and Athenian connections. His theory connects her to Alcibiades II of Scambonidae (grandfather of the famous Alcibiades), who was ostracized from Athens in 460 BC and may have spent his exile in Miletus.[3] Bicknell conjectures that, following his exile, the elder Alcibiades went to Miletus, where he married the daughter of a certain Axiochus. Alcibiades apparently returned to Athens with his new wife and her younger sister, Aspasia. Bicknell argues that the first child of this marriage was named Axiochus (uncle of the famous Alcibiades) and the second Aspasios. He also maintains that Pericles met Aspasia through his close connections with Alcibiades's household.[9] While in Athens, Aspasia may have also had affairs with the philosopher Anaxagoras and the general Jason of Lira
In 429 BC during the Plague of Athens, Pericles witnessed the death of his sister and of both his legitimate sons, Paralus and Xanthippus, from his first wife. With his morale undermined, he burst into tears, and not even Aspasia's companionship could console him. Just before his death, the Athenians allowed a change in the citizenship law of 451 BC that made his half-Athenian son with Aspasia, Pericles the Younger, a citizen and legitimate heir,[42] a decision all the more striking in considering that Pericles himself had proposed the law confining citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides.[43] Pericles died of the plague in the autumn of 429 BC.
According to the disputed statements of the ancient writers and some modern scholars, in Athens Aspasia became a hetaera and ran a brothel.[b][14][15] Hetaerae were professional high-class entertainers, as well as courtesans. Besides displaying physical beauty, they differed from most Athenian women in being educated (often to a high standard, as Aspasia evidently was), having independence, and paying taxes.[16][17] They were the nearest thing perhaps to liberated women; and Aspasia, who became a vivid figure in Athenian society, was probably an obvious example.[16][18] According to Plutarch, Aspasia was compared to the famous Thargelia, another renowned Ionian hetaera of ancient times.[19]
As a non-Athenian woman, Aspasia was less bound by the traditional restraints that largely confined Athenian wives to their homes, and appears to have taken the opportunity to participate in the public life of the city. She became the companion of the statesman Pericles around 445 BC. After he divorced his first wife (perhaps c. 450 BC), Aspasia began to live with him, although her marital status is disputed.[c][24] Their son, Pericles the Younger, must have been born by 440 BC. Aspasia would have to have been quite young, if she were able to bear a child to Lysicles c. 428 BC.[25]
In social circles, Aspasia was noted for her ability as a conversationalist and adviser rather than merely an object of physical beauty.[15] Plutarch writes that despite her immoral life, friends of Socrates brought their wives to hear her converse
As a non-Athenian woman, Aspasia was less bound by the traditional restraints that largely confined Athenian wives to their homes, and appears to have taken the opportunity to participate in the public life of the city. She became the companion of the statesman Pericles around 445 BC. After he divorced his first wife (perhaps c. 450 BC), Aspasia began to live with him, although her marital status is disputed.[c][24] Their son, Pericles the Younger, must have been born by 440 BC. Aspasia would have to have been quite young, if she were able to bear a child to Lysicles c. 428 BC.[25]
In social circles, Aspasia was noted for her ability as a conversationalist and adviser rather than merely an object of physical beauty.[15] Plutarch writes that despite her immoral life, friends of Socrates brought their wives to hear her converse
Later years and death
Plutarch cites Aeschines Socraticus, who wrote a dialogue on Aspasia (now lost), to the effect that after Pericles's death, Aspasia lived with Lysicles, an Athenian strategos (general) and democratic leader, with whom she had another son; and that she made him the first man at Athens.[a][19] Lysicles was killed in action on an expedition to levy subsidies from allies[44] in 428 BC [45]. With Lysicles' death the contemporaneous record ends.[27] It is unknown if she was alive when her son, Pericles, was elected general or when he was executed after the Battle of Arginusae. The time of her death that most historians give (c. 401–400 BC) is based on the assessment that Aspasia died before the execution of Socrates in 399 BC, a chronology which is implied in the structure of Aeschines' Aspasia
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