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wine cup with a woman drinking in a storeroom | c. 460 - 450 BCE | athenian, classical period

Aspasia of Miletus

Aspasia of Miletus (l. c. 470-410/400 BCE) is best known as the consort of the great Athenian statesman Pericles. Her life story has always been given in the shadow of Pericles' fame, but she was a woman of great eloquence and intelligence in her own right who influenced many of the writers, thinkers, and statesmen of her time.

She was a metic (a person not born in Athens) and, accordingly, was not allowed to marry an Athenian and had to pay a tax to live in Athens, but it is most likely because of her foreign status that she was not constrained by Athenian policies regarding women's behavior. She bore Pericles (l. 495-429 BCE) a son (Pericles the Younger, l. c. 440-406 BCE) out of wedlock, taught men and women, and seems to have lived freely however she pleased.

This much is known as well as that she lived, wrote, and worked in Athens c. 450 - c. 428 BCE and operated a salon of some sort, but little else can be said for certain. It is not even known if Aspasia (pronounced Ahs-pah-SEE-uh) was her actual name or a "professional name" as she was famous as a hetaira (a high-class courtesan), and her name means "greeting with affection" or "welcome" or "desired one" according to various translations. Scholars almost universally agree that Aspasia was not the woman's birth name.

Ancient writers from Aristophanes (l. c. 460 - c. 380 BCE) to Plato (l. 424/423-348/347 BCE) to Plutarch (l. c. 45/50 - c. 120/125 CE) reference her eloquence and power in controlling men, and this established her reputation as none of her own works, if she actually wrote any, have survived. In the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly owing to the literary works of Walter Savage Landor (l. 1775-1864) and Gertrude Atherton (l. 1857-1948), respectively, Aspasia came to be viewed as a romantic heroine of the Golden Age of Athens and she and Pericles as exemplifying the romantic couple.

She is recognized as an important figure today as she defied the restrictive policies of Athenian society regarding women (who were seen as second-class citizens) to live her life according to her own vision. In the modern era, she is understood as an intellectual and teacher of enormous ability whose influence on famous male writers and thinkers of her day was significant.

Ancient & Modern Depictions

Whoever Aspasia was, it seems clear she was a woman of impressive accomplishments; even if it remains unclear precisely what those accomplishments were. Although ancient writers allude to her influence over others (such as Socrates, for example), few details are given as to what aspects of others' works should be credited to her.

The claim that she wrote Pericles' famous Funeral Oration cannot be substantiated and, in fact, was originally made as a slur. She vanished from the history of rhetoric for this very reason: the inability of later scholars to identify her with any given extant works.

It has been noted by scholar Madeleine M. Henry that Aspasia is depicted by ancient writers according to those writers' individual biases and so a clear picture of who she was and what she accomplished is almost impossible to grasp. Henry comments:

When we need Aspasia to be a chaste muse and teacher, she is there; when we need a grand horizontal, she is there, when we need a proto feminist, she is there also. (128)

Ancient writers from Plato to Plutarch have characterized her according to their own particular need, and so a modern reader must sift and measure the various accounts in an attempt to come to terms with who Aspasia may have been. A standard depiction of her in modern times reads:

A contributor to learning in Athens, Aspasia of Miletus (c. 470-401/400 BCE) boldly surpassed the limited expectations for women by establishing a renowned girl's school and a popular salon. She lived free of female seclusion and conducted herself like a male intellectual while expounding on current events, philosophy, and rhetoric. Her fans included the philosopher Socrates and his followers, the teacher Plato, the orator Cicero, the historian Xenophon, the writer Athenaeus, and the statesman and general Pericles, her adoring common-law husband (The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1992).

Ancient depictions, however, vary from Aristophanes' comical charge in his Acharnians that Aspasia started the Peloponnesian War over the abduction of "two whores" of hers to Plato's image of her in his Menexenus where she is Socrates' teacher in rhetoric. It should be noted that the Menexenus is a satirical dialogue and when the character of Menexenus says, "I marvel that Aspasia, who is only a woman, should be able to compose such a speech," Plato is most certainly writing tongue in cheek (Menexenus, 235e).

While Aspasia herself wrote nothing extant, her influence is thought to be apparent in the works of her contemporaries and later writers, but this claim is based on circumstantial evidence since, as noted, it is unclear what works she may have actually contributed to. Scholar Joyce E. Salisbury provides the scenario others point to in claiming Aspasia's influence:

Aspasia's house quickly became the fashionable place for gentlemen of quality to gather. Politicians, playwrights, philosophers, artists, and literary celebrities passed through her doors, and she came to know the most famous architects of the Athenian golden age. (23)

Scholar I. M. Plant contributes to this claim while qualifying how much remains unknown of Aspasia's life and work:

Aspasia is one of the most famous women of classical Greece, yet little is known of her life, and most of what was written about her in her own day is dubious. As the partner of Pericles, Athens' leading statesman in the mid-fifth century BC, Aspasia moved in the highest aristocratic circles and attracted the attention of comic and serious writers. She inspired literary personae which in turn led to the creation of pseudonymous works in her name. (41)

None of these pseudonymous works have survived but are referenced by other writers who either praise or blame Aspasia for her influence over powerful men. Plutarch consistently praises the accomplishments of Pericles and blames any of his mistakes on Aspasia. At one point, in his Life of Pericles, Plutarch seems to wonder aloud:

What great art or power this woman had, that she managed as she pleased the foremost men of the state and afforded the philosophers occasion to discuss her in exalted terms and at great length. (24.1)

Plutarch's question seems to have been asked by many of Aspasia's contemporaries and those who followed after. The philosopher Aeschines of Sphettus (l. c. 425 - c. 350 BCE) seems to answer this by presenting her as a clever speaker and an intellectual of note who made a lasting impression on those who heard her speak. Like Plato, Aeschines of Sphettus wrote philosophical dialogues, including an Aspasia, but these have been lost. All we know of his thoughts on Aspasia come from later writers who have also provided the few details of her life.

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