improper women - CASE STUDY: Aspasia Flashcards
who was she, prescribed/additional sources, importance/influence
who was Aspasia
- place of birth
- occupation (s)
- relationship status
- she was a metic woman
- born in Milesia
- she worked as a hetaira and was also a business owner - owning and managing a brothel in Athens
- high profile relationship with Pericles - one of the most prominent Athenian politicians and the relationship lasted 15 years until Pericles’ death
what made her influential
it was believed she had a great deal of political influence as she was able to influence Pericles who would influence the Assembly
why was she one of the most famous women in all of Athens
her relationship with Pericles
how intelligent, skilled and desirable she was a hetaira
what shows that she was famous (think ab writers)
she was a popular topic for lots of different writers
comedy playwrights - made jokes at her expense comparing her to women who dominated men and were dangerous
philosophers - referencing skills of speaking and philosophical/political writing
additional source:
plato’s menexenus (a philosophical dialogue)
socrates: yesterday i heard Aspasia composing a funeral oration about these very dead… the funeral oration which Pericles spock, but which, as i believe, she composed
menexenus: and can you remember what Aspasia said?
socrates: i ought to be able, for she taught me, and she was ready to strike me because i was always forgetting
menexenus: then why will you not rehearse what she said
socrates: because i am afraid my mistress may be angry with me if i publish her speech
what can we learn from Plato’s Menexenus about Aspasia and her
- skills
- character/temperament
- how Plato felt about her
skills - education (literary, rhetoric (influence), can read and write)
temper/character - confident, short temper, hot headed, strong morals, leader, strict (had the power to tell a prestiged man off)
how Plato felt - non-biased, recognised her talent, admiration, playful, flirtatious
why was Aspasia not looked down for being such a loud and vocal character
Athenian law didn’t care about her as she could not produce legitimate heirs so she could do a lot of stuff and not be looked down upon for it
prescribed source:
plutarch’s life of Pericles
name: life of pericles
author - plutarch
date - 1st century BCE
genre - biography
prescribed source:
plutarch’s life of Pericles
key moments in the source and what it portrays
- people of Samos were waging war against Aspasia’s homeland - Milesia
Athenians told Samos to stop, probably because Aspasia told Pericles to do so.
> has a position of power as she influenced a powerful man
Ath feel threatened by her because she is a metic (not from their land) but has so much power
regarded as improper - sex worker
a woman - not respected
- people said that Aspasia was trying to compete with hetaira Thargalia by seducing important men. Persia had been trying to conquer Greece, so Thargalia tried to get her clients to ally with the Persian King and be enemies to Greece
> makes her look lustful, abusive of power, not idealistic woman
had power of Ath men, not Athens
Ath view her as manipulative/selfish towards Athenians
- Pericles + Socrates thought she was admirable. Socrates and his friends brought their wives to listen to her speak and philosophers would discuss the art of rhetoric with her.
>
prescribed source:
plutarch’s life of Pericles
key quotes
“the skill or power she had that was so great that she could master both the most important citizens”
“as someone wise and statesmanlike”
“and the wives they lived with, to listen to her, even though she ran a business that was neither decent nor respectful”
“this lady had a reputation for discussing rhetoric with many Athenians”
“the love of Pericles for Aspasia was erotic”
“he gave her, with her agreement, to another. he himself, took Aspasia”
“when he came back (from the forum) he greeted her with tender kissing”
“the new Omphale and Deianeira”
“Aspasia was born a Hera for him, a shameless prostitute for lust”
“and long ago would have been a man, if he hadn’t dreaded the wickedness of the prostitute”
