The Age of Pericles | Aspasia (Lecture 5)

Lecture 5: No discussion of the age of Pericles would be complete without a look at the great man’s mistress and the mother of his sons, Aspasia. This lecture tries to separate myth from fact and examines the various rumors surrounding Aspasia, especially the politically motivated charge that she wrote Pericles’s speeches. A closer examination reveals that Aspasia is not merely an example of the hetaira, or courtesan, a familiar figure in many societies, but that her brilliance and sophistication reveal many of the contradictions in Athenian society. This is a society dominated by men, where women are prized as wives and mothers. Even so, men flocked to the company of such women as Aspasia for music, entertainment, and conversation. Sometimes, the attachment between a man and his hetaira became permanent, the equivalent of a marriage, yet thanks to Pericles’s laws, the children of such relationships could not inherit their father’s citizenship. Aspasia’s situation reveals the peculiar intersections of gender, marriage, and citizenship in Athenian society.

Suggested Reading:
Henry, M. Prisoner of History: Aspasia of Miletus and Her Biographical Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Demosthenes. “An Illegal Union: Against Neaera.” In Freeman, K. The Murder of Herodes. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1991.

Lecture 6: https://rumble.com/v5eelsd-the-age-of-pericles-parthenon-and-acropolis-lecture-6.html