Aspasia of Miletus

“A contributor to learning in Athens, Aspasia of Miletus (c. 470-410 BC) 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).

While Aspasia herself wrote nothing extant, her influence is apparent in the writings of her contemporaries (mainly derogatory slurs against her and her lover, Pericles, but some positive commentaries as well) and, moreso, in later centuries when a less biased and more honest appraisal of the roles of women in antiquity brought to light her many virtues and contributions. As a metic (a non-Athenian) she could not legally marry Pericles but bore him a son, known also as Pericles, who was later a General of note. In the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly owing to the works of Walter Savage Landor and Gertrude Atherton, respectively, she was viewed as a romantic heroine of the Golden Age of Athens. Aspasia is recognized today as an intellectual and teacher of enormous ability.

Written by Joshua J. Mark, published 02 September 2009.