Aspasia (470 BC-400 BC) was an Athenian hetaera (upper-class courtesan) who, as the lover and partner of the statesman Pericles, wielded considerable political power at the time of the Peloponnesian War.
Biography[]
Aspasia was born in Miletus, Ionia in 470 BC, the daughter of Axiochus. She came from a wealthy family, and her older sister married Alcibiades; she travelled to Athens with Alcibiades and her sister, and she had an affair with the philosopher Anaxagoras before meeting Pericles. She became a hetaera (courtesan) and ran a brothel, and she became Pericles' companion in around 445 BC. As Pericles' lover and partner, she wielded considerable political influence in the city-state, polarizing public opinion; some saw her as the new Hera or Helen, while opponents saw her as a corrupting influence on Pericles and other Athenian women. The comic Hermippus even attempted to ostracize her from Athens, but the vote failed after the people witnessed Pericles' tears.
Aspasia joined the Cult of Kosmos due to her strong beliefs in progress, anthropocentrism, and the greater good. She soon became the head of the Cult, manipulating the Oracle of Delphi to influence political and economic leaders. However, she became alienated from the Cult after the worshippers of Alexios (Deimos) took power, making the Cult more violent and unscrupulous. In 431 BC, when the mercenary Kassandra (Alexios' long-lost sister) arrived at Pericles' Residence for a symposium, Aspasia greeted Kassandra and offered to help her with her search for her mother, Myrrine. Aspasia seemingly sought to help Kassandra eliminate the Cult leadership in order to restore it to her agenda, having a hidden motive behind her support. Kassandra would ultimately decide to spare her due to her good intentions and due to her assistance in hunting down the Cult, and Aspasia died in 400 BC.
Gallery[]
