Latest / Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Democracy, and Endless War — Fexingo History / Aspasia: The Woman Who Shaped Pericles' Athens
Transcript
- Lucas: So far on this show, we've talked a lot about the big men of Athens — Pericles, Socrates, Alcibiades. But there's one figure who hovers around all of them, a woman who was arguably one of the most influential intellectuals of the Golden Age, yet she's often reduced to a footnote: Aspasia of Miletus. Luna: Aspasia — I've heard the name, but I don't know much about her. Wasn't she Pericles' partner? Lucas: Exactly. She was his companion for about fifteen years, until his death in 429 BCE. But she was far more than just a partner. Aspasia was a metic—a resident alien from the Greek city of Miletus, in Ionia. And as a woman, she had no political rights in Athens. Yet she ran a kind of salon that attracted the city's leading thinkers, including Socrates, who apparently credited her with teaching him rhetoric. Luna: Wait — Socrates said he learned rhetoric from a woman? Lucas: That's what Plato writes in his dialogue Menexenus. There's a passage where Socrates says Aspasia was his teacher in the art of rhetoric, and he even recites a funeral oration that he claims she composed. Some scholars think Plato was being ironic, but others take it at face value. Either way, it suggests Aspasia's reputation for intellectual prowess was widely known. Lucas: And that reputation made her a target. Old Comedy playwrights like Aristophanes lampooned her as a manipulative courtesan who controlled Pericles. In one play, she's blamed for starting the Peloponnesian War because Pericles supposedly launched the war to please her. That's obviously satire, but it shows how much influence people thought she had. Luna: So she was essentially a scapegoat for everything that went wrong? Lucas: In part. But there's also a kernel of truth: Aspasia was almost certainly a hetaera — a high-class courtesan, distinct from a common prostitute. Hetaerae were often educated, could own property, and moved in elite circles. They were the only women in Athens who could participate in intellectual life. So Aspasia's status as a hetaera gave her a unique platform. Lucas: But it also made her vulnerable. In 440 BCE, a comic poet named Hermippus prosecuted her for asebeia — impiety — and for allegedly corrupting Athenian women by running a brothel. Pericles defended her in court and secured her acquittal, but it was a close thing. The trial was as much about attacking Pericles through her as it was about her actions. Luna: That's fascinating. So she was caught in the crossfire of political rivalries. Lucas: Exactly. And after Pericles died in the plague, Aspasia's prominence faded. She reportedly took up with another Athenian general, Lysicles, and helped him rise in politics — but we have very few details. Most of what we know comes from hostile sources: comic poets, later biographers like Plutarch, and a handful of philosophical dialogues. Lucas: One of the most interesting sources is a fragment from a lost comedy by Eupolis, where Aspasia is called 'the new Omphale' — a reference to the Lydian queen who enslaved Heracles. The joke is that she's emasculating Pericles. That tells you a lot about the anxieties of Athenian men about powerful women. Luna: So despite her influence, the historical record is basically a smear campaign. Lucas: Pretty much. But we can reconstruct a more balanced picture. Aspasia was a foreign woman in a deeply patriarchal society, yet she managed to carve out a space where she could engage with the most brilliant minds of her time. She's a reminder that the Golden Age of Athens wasn't just about men in the agora — women, especially hetaerae, played a crucial role in the cultural ferment. Luna: And she's a figure that modern historians are starting to take more seriously. Lucas: Absolutely. In recent years, there's been a surge of interest in Aspasia as a philosopher and rhetorician in her own right. Some scholars argue that she should be considered part of the Socratic circle, not just as a muse but as an active participant. The evidence is thin, but it's a compelling case. Lucas: One more thing: Aspasia's story also highlights the limits of Athenian democracy. For all its ideals, Athens excluded women, metics, and slaves from political life. Aspasia managed to influence the most powerful man in the city, but she could never vote or hold office. Her power was indirect, and that made her both effective and vulnerable. Luna: That's a sobering thought. So what's her legacy, really? Lucas: I'd say Aspasia's legacy is twofold. First, she's a case study in how history remembers women who step outside their prescribed roles — often as caricatures or villains. Second, she represents the untold intellectual contributions of women in antiquity. Her name survives because she was connected to Pericles and Socrates, but how many other brilliant women have been lost? Luna: I guess that's a question that applies to so many periods of history. Lucas: Exactly. And it's one we should keep asking.