🔍 Mărește

Aspasia

About

Aspasia of Miletus was an influential metic woman in Classical-era Athens who, according to Plutarch, attracted the most prominent writers and thinkers of the time, including the philosopher Socrates, to her house, which became an intellectual centre in Athens. Socrates described her as a skilled teacher of rhetoric. She was the companion of the statesman Pericles, with whom she had a son, Pericles the Younger, but the full details of the couple's marital status are unknown. Aspasia is mentioned in the writings of Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon, and others. Although she spent most of her adult life in Greece, few details of her life are fully known. The ancient sources about her life are scant, of often of questionable reliability and contradictory, with some portraying her as an intellectual luminary, rhetorician, and philosopher and others portraying her as a brothel keeper or hetaera. Her role in history provides crucial insight into understanding the women of ancient Greece. Very little is known about women from her time period. One scholar stated that, "To ask questions about Aspasia's life is to ask questions about half of humanity."

Name
Aspasia
Locality
Athens, Regional unit of Athens, Greece
Age
—
From
Aydın, Türkiye
Location
Kerameikos ↗
Views
50322

Cemetery information

Cemetery
Kerameikos
Locality
Athens, Regional unit of Athens
Country
Greece
Public figure
Yes

Photos

QR code

Scan the code to open this memorial — photos, life story and condolences.

↓ Download QR

Share the memorial

Neighbours in rest (4)

Aspasia

Neighbours in rest (4)

Pericles

Paralus

Xanthippus

Tomb of the Lacedaemonians

Condolences