Milet Aspasia was a Greek woman who lived in the 5th century BC The name Aspasia means “welcome”. He was born in Milet, as were some of the first Greek philosophers, such as Tales, Anaximandro and Anaximens. At the age of 20, he left his hometown and settled in Athens.
We know she was a beautiful, intelligent woman. They say it was her father who introduced her to prostitution, but unlike?Pornai? (prostitutes for ordinary men with no wealth), Aspsia de Mileto had a great intellectual training, so he became part of the?Mr. Heteras? (Women of a great culture, highly respected for their wisdom).
- The data on aspasia’s life are somewhat uncertain.
- Although its name appears in works by authors such as Plato and Aristophanes.
- Aspasia had a strong influence on the political and cultural life of Athens.
- In particular because of its relationship with Pericles.
The name Aspasia appears not only in ancient texts, but also in modern works, especially as a source of inspiration for some romantic authors of the nineteenth century. It’s hard to trace his biography, because most of the things we know are based on assumptions. Still, we invite you to discover the importance of this woman from ancient Greece.
When Aspasia moved to Athens, he began to run a brothel visited by men from the city’s most important circles, among his visitors were Socrates, Anaxgoras and Governor Pericles; of the latter is said to have fallen in love with her and made her his mistress, abandoning his lawfully wedded wife.
This act provoked many comments and taunts on the part of the society of the time, so miletus’ Aspsia was the victim of many humiliations, the poet Hemipo forced her to appear in court for two reasons: wickedness and debauchery, but Pericles helped her. not to be convicted, obtaining pardon from her judges.
Pericles II was born from the union of Aspasia and Pericles, who is said to have been Aspasia, as well as a mother, was a teacher, when she became a widow married Lisicles, and poristas was born from this marriage.
“Keep your right to think carefully, because even a bad thought is better than not thinking at all. “Alexandria’s hypathy?
Several contemporary authors have quoted him in his texts. Some judged her by her profession and others remembered her for her beauty, intelligence and skill in the arts of speech. Milet’s aspasie was a very important woman in ancient times, but under what conditions did she get this recognition?
The first thing to answer is what the life of Greek women was like at the time, the truth is that there were many obstacles for women, who faced many restrictions and prohibitions, women have no civil rights, their tasks are limited to home care and children’s education. They were excluded from public life and left home only to attend the big parties. It is possible that in Milet the situation was a little different and that they enjoyed more freedom than in Athens.
Being a woman meant being a part of or belonging to someone. The more courage the man had, the more right he had to have women. In other words, they were seen as a kind of “reward” or recognition of man.
“Love has been the opium of women, as well as the religion of the masses. While we loved, did men rule? Kate Millet?
In addition to being a woman, Aspásia had to live with another label: being a foreigner. For Athenians, foreigners could not, like women, participate in the city’s decisions. Our protagonist combines the two conditions in a society based on the predominance of man. However, in the case of Aspasia, thanks to her status as a foreigner, she had different educational training than the Athenians; she grew up with more freedom and culture.
Miletus, despite being a woman and a foreigner, is not limited to the tasks assigned to her, but also carries out some of the tasks associated with men. Historian Eva Cantarella notes that in Greece at the time, men could have three types of women. : wife (for offspring), concubine (sexual intercourse) and hetera (pleasure).
Thus, Aspsia of Miletus bore another label: the straight one. Despite what you might think, this label was not negative, heterosexual men were the only really free women, they could go out, attend banquets with men, even welcome them home if they wanted. were lucky enough to be cared for by a powerful man. They were an exception to the conditions of women in Athens and had a marked difference with legitimate wives.
Heterosexual men, in terms of training, were well above married women, so politicians and philosophers considered them good interlocutors. Milet’s attack was special among courtesans, as many intellectuals and prominent men trusted him.
This work cost her much criticism, but thanks to him she met the most important men of the time, for example, Socrates used her services and recommended that her disciples study with her.
“Who knows how to think, but can’t express what he thinks, is on the same level as those who can’t think. “? Pericles?
Heterosexual men were trained in rhetoric or oratory and Aspasia was no exception. Socrates is said to be fascinated by his intelligence. Her figure may have caught Plato’s attention to women’s ability, when they were educated outside the narrow boundaries provided to them by Athenian teaching.
Thanks to this skill, she gained some recognition and earned governor Pericles, who was not only attracted to her, but also to love. He is said to have left his lawful wife and turned Aspasia into his wife or illegitimate concubine because of his status as a foreigner.
Writers of the time, such as Aristophanes, critically stated that it was Aspasia who wrote Pericles’ speeches and influenced her husband’s policies. For example, she has been accused of being responsible for the Samos uprising (440 a. C. ) against Athens and the Peloponnese War (431-404 a. C. ).
After Pericles’ death, he took Lisicles, an ordinary man who thanks to her managed to play an important political role in Athens as a lover, thus demonstrating his ability in political relations and his influence to attain power with speech. .
Studying the role of women in ancient Greece means dealing with the lack of textual evidence of their work. It is therefore necessary to go back to the history of his life, almost always immersed in the testimonies linked to other thinkers and, at times, of dubious reliability.
“Language, the word, is another form of power, one of the many that have been forbidden to us. “Victoria Sau?
In a sample of his perorata, he asked Xenophon and Filesia if they would prefer their neighbors’ spouses if they were better than their partners. When no one discusses it, she replies: “If you both want to have the best husband and wife, you both want to be the best husband and best wife respectively. “
Here, clearly, you can see the pleasure of pleasing the word, this rhetorical composition is not an argument that expresses a logical truth, but a speech that pleases the ear and invites effort in the coexistence of the couple. Something similar happens with pericles’ funeral, speech, which was presented to people close to the dead in action. Aspasia confuses listeners by uniting virtuous things with real things without any virtue.
Milet’s aspasie was one of the most iconic figures of 5th-century BC Greece. Its characteristics did not correspond to the traditional role of the woman who in Athens was considered a “good” woman and?Honest, the woman’s only role was to be her husband’s shadow and to go unnoticed. Its silhouette contrasted with that of most Athenians in the second half of the 5th century BC.
Aspasia was an important figure in the cultural field of democracy in Athens and played a key role in the birth of the emancipation of women. With his classes for Athenian youth, he took them to the public life of the city. All this he did through his speeches, in which he discreetly claimed the dignity of women.
This allows us to perceive, for the first time, “the feminine?” In the history of Greece. Milet’s assipasia was the main representative of another way of interpreting pericles’ Athens, proving that there was room for women.