Aspasia Biography

Aspasia was a prominent immigrant living in Athens during its golden age. She was the paramour of Pericles, who was unarguably the most influential and prolific statesman, orator, and general of Athens of the time. Aspasia bore him a son, Pericles the Younger. Not all the facts are available on the couple’s marital status. Plutarch writes that her house was turned into an intellectual centre in Athens and drew some of the most eminent writers and thinkers, including the philosopher Socrates. She appears in the works of Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon and others. Originally from the Ionian Greek city of Miletus, Aspasia likely belonged to a wealthy family. She was a highly educated woman, which was extremely rare at the time. While she resided in Greece for most of her life, only a few things are known about it. Several modern scholars agree with the ancient comic portrayals of Aspasia as a brothel keeper and a prostitute regardless of their innate improbability. Her contribution in history gives a quintessential perception to the comprehension of the women of ancient Greece. Most of the women of her time, despite their importance to their respective societies, are now lost to obscurity. One scholar correctly surmises, “To ask questions about Aspasia's life is to ask questions about half of humanity.”