1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,480 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Valentine's Day is coming up this week, and 2 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,280 Speaker 1: while we don't do an episode on that theme every year, 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: we realize that we have an episode publishing on February fourteenth, 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: but we did not do anything remotely related. So so 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: to give you a little bit in acknowledgement of the holiday, 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: we thought we would bring one of history's love stories 7 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: out of the archive for today's Saturday Classic. It is 8 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: Aspasia and Pericles. It's from February. It is, of course 9 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: about more than just their relationship, and having spent way 10 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: too many hours playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey since doing this episode, 11 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: every single proper name in here now sounds weird to me. 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: So enjoy. Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, 13 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: A production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to 14 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. 15 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: I feel like I have to do a true confession 16 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 1: on this one, which is that I was thinking, well, 17 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: it would be a good valentine Ish thing since we're 18 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: getting into that territory, and I ended up with a couple. 19 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: But it's not very valentine E. You don't really have 20 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: to do a true confession. I am currently researching a 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: specifically Valentine episode, so I understand, yeah, yeah, but this 22 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: one kind of fell apart. Uh. We're going to talk 23 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: about classical athletes a little bit, which was a male 24 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: dominated world, but of course there were women there. Uh. 25 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: And the woman that we're talking about today made waves 26 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: because she wanted to be treated as an equal of men, 27 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: and in many ways was. And additionally, she was in 28 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: a long term relationship with one of the most prominent 29 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: men of the day. Although the pair never married, their 30 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: union was never formally recognized. We'll talk about why. And 31 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: this is an instance, because we're talking about events of 32 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: the fifth century BC, that there is a lot of 33 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: variation and interpretation in the lives of Pericles, head of 34 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: the athene in city state, and his mistress Aspasia, and 35 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: the way they're characterized. And as we go along, we're 36 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: going to point out how various different accounts relay their 37 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: story in slightly different ways. And this one, as I mentioned, 38 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: I had this on my list for a while. I went, oh, 39 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: that would be a good Valentine story, because it's often 40 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: held up as one of history's great love stories. Plutarch, 41 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: for example, wrote that Pericles kissed Aspasia every single day, 42 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: once when he went out for the day and again 43 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: when he returned, and that is very sweet and romantic. 44 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: But their relationship is really more important because it was 45 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: central to a key period in Greek history. And moreover, 46 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: their entire story, we should point out, is largely known 47 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: only through unverifiable writings, so we have to take things 48 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: like the writings of Plutarch, which happened several hundred years 49 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: after Pericles and Spasia lived with a little bit of 50 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: a grain of salt, and we have to think critically 51 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: about their story. So it again to that story where 52 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: we will start with Athens. In the middle of the 53 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: fifth century BC. Athens was coming off of fifty years 54 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: of conflicts and the Greco Persian Wars. Greece had defeated 55 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: the Acumenant Empire. We've talked about that empire on the 56 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: show before. Uh Greece had also driven the Persians back, 57 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: and Athens evolved into a really prosperous city state. In 58 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: the period between the Greco Persian Wars and the next 59 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: major conflict, which was the Peloponnesian Wars beginning in four 60 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: thirty one BC, was known as the Athenian Golden Age. 61 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: Greek women, for context, in this time period in this 62 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: location were generally married off when they were quite young, 63 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: in their early teens, to men who were usually much 64 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: older than they were. And at this point in Athens, 65 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: women were generally excluded from a lot of public life. 66 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: They were not participants in the popular sports or theater 67 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: of the day, and they had really very few rights. 68 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: Among the rights they did have for the fact that 69 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: women could own property and their financial dealings were protected 70 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: under Athenian law, but they had no involvement in politics, 71 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: even though this is a time often held up as 72 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: a great democracy. And even if a woman's finances were 73 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: threatened illegally and she chose to pursue that matter in court, 74 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: she still had to have a male guardian speak on 75 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: her behalf during those proceedings. So that is just a 76 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: little bit of the setup of the situation that we're 77 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: walking into before we transition over to the life of Paraclets. 78 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: Peracles was born into privilege. His father, Xanthipis, was a 79 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: war hero, his mother was from a really powerful family, 80 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: and in his adulthood, Peracles made a name for himself 81 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: as a military leader, a politician, and a patron of 82 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 1: the arts. He was elected to the military governmental leadership 83 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: position of Strtigos through democratic vote in four forty three 84 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: b C. And as one of athens leaders, Paracles made 85 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,359 Speaker 1: many contributions that would come to be part of the 86 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: historical identity of the city. So during the Greco Persian 87 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: War that we referenced a moment ago, Athens had burned 88 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: and a lot of it had been destroyed, and as 89 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: part of ongoing remaking of the city, it was Pericles 90 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: who initiated the construction of such iconic structures as the 91 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: Temple to a seen a Nique and the Parthenon. He 92 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: also subsidized the arts, enabling the poor of Athens to 93 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: attend theater, and he started paying citizens for civic service, 94 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: such as serving on juries. Aspasia was born in the 95 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: Ionian Greek settlement of Militius. Her father was Axiochus, and 96 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: in a move that was pretty unusual for his time, 97 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: he wanted his daughter to have an education. This has 98 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: also been cited as evidence that the family was a 99 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: wealthy one, because a poor family probably wouldn't have been 100 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: able to prioritize giving an education to a daughter, and 101 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: the source of that education then gets a little murkier. 102 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: This is one of those things that gets embellished or 103 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: fleshed out a little bit differently in different histories. So 104 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: according to some accounts of Spasia's mother and the enslaved 105 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: people in their household were responsible for this education, so 106 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: it was not a formal education in a school with 107 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: a structured curriculum, but other versions do sugge us to 108 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: slightly more formal education process. But by all accounts, Aspasia 109 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: got a very well rounded education, far more than the 110 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 1: average Greek woman. The next important part of a Spasia's 111 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: story is that she traveled away from her home in 112 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: Militus to Athens. If she had been traveling alone, as 113 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: some of the writings indicate, this would have been a 114 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: really unusual move. Even young men wouldn't normally have done 115 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: such a thing. But it's also possible that she traveled 116 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: with her newly married sister and brother in law. Her 117 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: sister's husband was named alcibiat Is the second, and this 118 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: could be her connection to Pericles because he was known 119 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: to that family and Aspasiast time in Athens began sometime 120 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: in the four forties BC, and it was in Athens 121 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: that Aspasia would become famous, though not always in the 122 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: most flattering ways. It wasn't long after she got to 123 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: Athens that she met Pericles. As we mentioned a moment ago. 124 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: This meeting might have been through her sister's husband or 125 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: maybe at a symposium. And Pericles was married with a 126 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: family uh that was an arranged marriage for sort of 127 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: mutual social and political benefit. He left his wife and 128 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: two sons around the same time as a Spasia came 129 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: into his life, but the timeline is not entirely clear 130 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: in terms of this being a cause and effect situation. 131 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: Divorce was not uncommon in Greece at the time, it 132 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: did not have the stigma that would later become attached 133 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: to it in many cultures, and both men and women 134 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: were known to marry more than once in their lifetime. 135 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: Pericles and his wife had been wet, as I said, 136 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: through a beneficial arrangement, but they didn't really have a 137 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: particularly good relationship, so it really shouldn't be portrayed as 138 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: a Spasi is showing up and becoming a home wrecker 139 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: that tore apart a happy family. The family also already 140 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: had its own problems. At least one of his sons 141 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: was never very fond of Pericles, and although Pericles did 142 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: divorce his wife, he didn't wind up marrying a Spasia, 143 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: although the two of them did live together as a couple, 144 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: and we'll get into y and a little bit. So, 145 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: of course, if this sort of thing happened today, like 146 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: if a prominent politician moved in with his mistress, it 147 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: would cause gossip, and that same thing was true in 148 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: Athens at the time. Soon the couple was constantly talked about, 149 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: but Aspasia was the recipient of far more venomous attacks 150 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: than Pericles. One of the more common accusations was that 151 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: Aspasia was a courtisan. This particular avenue of gossip took 152 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: on a bunch of different lurid details. Some claimed that 153 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: she was a high class courtisan, and these were known 154 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: as hatira. Other angles on this rumor painted her as 155 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: more of a basic sex worker, but others claimed that 156 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: she served Pericles by bringing him young girls for his 157 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: own pleasure. So from the time Aspasia and Pericles became 158 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: involved with one another, these rumors were going around, and 159 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: they persisted long after she died. And coming up, we're 160 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: going to talk about the possibility that Aspasia was a courtisan. 161 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: And the information that aligns there with that theory. But 162 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: first we're going to pause, have a little sponsor break. 163 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: It is possible that Aspasia was a hazira. Many aspects 164 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: of her story that are held up as evidence of 165 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: what an unusual woman she was for the time are 166 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: actually pretty commonly in line with these refined courtisans. Women 167 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: in this line of work, when they're discussed by historians today, 168 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: are most commonly likened to geisha. They were cultured and 169 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: educated and sophisticated. Hatira was engaged as a companion rather 170 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: than just a sex worker, although sexual relations were also 171 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: part of their work, but in a culture where men 172 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: didn't usually marry until later in life, and when wives 173 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: were usually kept in a position where they were uneducated 174 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: and restricted to home life most of the time, Hatira 175 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: offered the opportunity to spend time with a woman who 176 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: was knowledgeable and could discuss the issues of the day. 177 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: As this was general a job filled by women who 178 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: were not Athenian, they also had to pay taxes, and 179 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: they consequently lived outside of a lot of the restrictions 180 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 1: that the wives of the Athens City state lived with. 181 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: We should probably know that uh today's geisha are are 182 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: not generally described as sex workers, even though that comparison 183 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:25,559 Speaker 1: is made with utira correct. There's also no conclusive evidence 184 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,559 Speaker 1: one way or another as to whether Aspasia was a 185 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: hatira or not, or whether just people assumed that she 186 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: was because her behavior seemed to fall in line with 187 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: this line of work, and while this is a completely 188 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: legal and common vocation in Athens at the time, it 189 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 1: was still a way to demean her and in turn, 190 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: to demean Pericles. But perhaps even more jarring to the 191 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: people of Athens than the idea that Pericles would fall 192 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: in love and live with a woman from Melitus who 193 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: may or may not have been a Cortisan and perhaps 194 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: leaving his family to do so, was that he treated 195 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: Aspasia as an equal. He consulted with her on matters 196 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: of state, and she mingled with the men of power 197 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: in Athens at the urging of her beloved. Eventually, the 198 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: playwright Hermy Poos accused Aspasia of impiety. She was initially 199 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: suspected of questioning the existence of the gods, but in 200 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: the end her trial seemed to boil down to the 201 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: idea that Aspasia was turning the women of Athens to 202 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: licentious ways the implication was that it was to please Pericles. 203 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 1: She was eventually cleared of these charges, but only after 204 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: Pericles himself appeared in court and made an impassioned plea 205 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: on her behalf. Yeah, this is tied to that whole 206 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: thing that she was bringing him young girls for his 207 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: sexual pleasure. That kind of ties into this whole impiety charge. 208 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: It's also really important to contextualize some of the intent 209 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: of these attacks on Aspasia, because really it had more 210 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: to do with her being a friend and lover to 211 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: Pracles than anything related to her actual life or profession. 212 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: Shim to have power, and democratic Athens was not all 213 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: that different from the American democracy in the last two 214 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: hundred years, so friends and allies were always targets as 215 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: much as a person in power. For example, in addition 216 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: to Aspasia, his close friend Fadius was also the subject 217 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: of criticism and derision. And in the case of Fadius, 218 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: who was overseer of many of the construction works that 219 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: we talked about Pericles initiating, he was accused of embezzlement. 220 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: It was actually a law that Peracles himself sponsored that 221 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: kept him from ever marrying Aspasia, and for fifty one 222 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: b c. A law known as the Citizenship law barred 223 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: any son born to a non Athenian mother from having 224 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: citizenship in Athens. Before this law existed, a child who 225 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: was born to a man of Athens and a woman 226 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: from somewhere else could still be considered an Athenian citizen. 227 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 1: There are a couple of reasons that such a law 228 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: might have been enacted. One idea was that the men 229 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: of Athens would no longer marry wealthy foreigners to form 230 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: alliances and gain power. And the other is at a 231 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: time when Athens was experiencing a high level of prosperity. 232 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,840 Speaker 1: Remember this is considered the Athenian Golden Age, it would 233 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: limit citizenship numbers to curtail losing that prosperity. So, for example, 234 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: not long after this law was enacted, the King of 235 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,200 Speaker 1: Egypt gifted Athens with a load of grain with the 236 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: intent that it would be distributed equally among Athenian citizens, 237 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: and there were soon lawsuits challenging the validity of various 238 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 1: citizens status is as people were eager to keep as 239 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: much of that great as possible for themselves. So had 240 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 1: Paricles married Aspasia, any male child they had wouldn't have 241 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: been considered Athenian, this would have been politically disastrous. It 242 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:48,359 Speaker 1: would have suggested that the very law that Pericles sponsored 243 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 1: was basically meaningless to him personally, and so marriage was 244 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: never on the table for him and Aspasia. But there 245 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: was also the benefit of Pericles having already fathered two 246 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: sons with his wife before he met Aspasia. Those two 247 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: sons existing took some of the pressure off of the situation. 248 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: So if his firstborn son had been the child of 249 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: this foreign woman, there would have been a lot more controversy. 250 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: But Aspasia and Pericles did have a child together, a 251 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: son who was also named Pericles. In a moment, we'll 252 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: get into the place of prominence this couple held in 253 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: Athenian culture at the time. First, we will take one 254 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: more quick break and hear from one of our sponsors. 255 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: While Pericles and Aspasia were together, their home became sort 256 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: of a social and intellectual nexus in the city. Artists, philosophers, 257 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: and military generals were all entertained there regularly, and Aspasia 258 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: was known as incredibly smart and skilled at debate. She 259 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: is in fact sometimes credited with inventing the use of 260 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: inductive reasoning into debate rhetoric and Plato even wrote of 261 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: Aspasia teaching Socrates rhetoric. So Plato, the famed student of Socrates, 262 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: referenced this teaching in his work Menexenus, which we are 263 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: guessing is the way to say that this writing is 264 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: a Socratic dialogue in which Socrates and Manxinus discuss a 265 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: funeral speech that Pericles had given. And we'll talk more 266 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: about that speech in a moment. So this dialogue plays 267 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: out this way. Socrates says that I should be able 268 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: to speak? Is no great wonder, Manxinus, considering that I 269 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: have an excellent mistress in the art of rhetoric, she 270 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: who has made so many good speakers, and one who 271 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: was the best among all the Hellenes, Pericles, the son 272 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: of Xanthippus, And the Manexinus responds, and who is she? 273 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: I suppose that you mean Aspasia. There are, however, two 274 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: notes to make about this particular piece of writing. One 275 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: is that there's some debate about its authenticity to even 276 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: if it is authentic. It's also possible that this is 277 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: a bit of sexist my cockery at the very idea 278 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: that a woman could teach a man to be an 279 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: eloquent speaker, and that these lines are written to be sarcastic, 280 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: so this is again part of that bigger problem in 281 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: unraveling the lives of Pericles and Aspasia as a couple. 282 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: We mentioned that a lot of the writing is murky, 283 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 1: but also what we know about them are a lot 284 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: of what we know about them was written by playwrights 285 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: and poets who are largely composing comedies, often as critiques, 286 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: So everything in the in the record kind of has 287 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: to be backwards engineered in guests at and put through 288 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: this filter of are they making a joke at their 289 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: expense or not? But the fact that they, and specifically 290 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: Aspasia were the focus of so much writing is a 291 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: pretty clear indicator of the importance and prominence of both 292 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: her as a woman and their relationship. Athens and Sparta, 293 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: once united against the Persians, eventually went to war with 294 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: one another, and this conflict between Greek city states was 295 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: attributed at least in part to Aspasia. But this blame 296 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: was not based on just one theory, As with all 297 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: the gossips surrounding whether Aspasia was a court is in 298 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: her guilt among the gossipers was from a variety of 299 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: different things. One theory was that the war was really 300 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 1: caused by Spartan's kidnapping young women from a brothel that 301 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: Aspasia was running, and this theory is actually discussed in 302 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:27,679 Speaker 1: the play The Accardians that was written by Aristophanes. Pericles 303 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,680 Speaker 1: granted assistance to Militus when it was at war with Samos, 304 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: and fourty one b c. Sparta had supported the Samos 305 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: and took this assistance to its enemy as an affront. 306 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: It's possible that Aspasia had influenced the move, asking Pericles 307 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: to interceed on her homeland's behalf, and that that had 308 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: provided a spark to the future conflict. And Plutarch wrote 309 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:52,359 Speaker 1: of this episode quote and as these measures against the 310 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: Samians are thought to have been taken to please Aspasia, 311 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: this may be a fit point for inquiry about the woman. 312 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 1: What art charming faculty she had that enabled her to 313 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: captivate as she did the greatest statesman and to give 314 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: the philosopher's occasion to speak so much about her, and 315 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: that too not to her disparagement. Shortly after the Peloponnesian 316 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: War began, Athens experienced a plague, and because it was 317 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: a densely populated city, illness spread really quickly. This is 318 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:24,359 Speaker 1: big enough deal that it was known as the Great 319 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: Plague of Athens. Nearly a quarter of the population died 320 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 1: in this outbreak, and Pericles was blamed for the plague. 321 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,360 Speaker 1: It was believed by the enraged and dismayed an understandably 322 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: terrified people that overcrowding was the cause of this pestilence. 323 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 1: Athens was at this point so crowded because, in anticipating 324 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,399 Speaker 1: a move on the Spartan's part to attack Attica, Pericles 325 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: had moved all the residents of the more rural spaces 326 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: into the city. And incidentally, Pericles was correct in this prediction, 327 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: but that also meant that while he felt like he 328 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: was protecting those people from the attack, their undefended homes 329 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,880 Speaker 1: and Atticus were completely sacked by the Spartans and all 330 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: property was destroyed, and this further incense the citizens of Athens. 331 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: During this time, Pericles gave his most famous speech, and 332 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,119 Speaker 1: this was a funeral oration delivered after one of the 333 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: battles in this war, so there's a possibility that this 334 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,879 Speaker 1: speech was actually written by a Spasia. These are the 335 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: final two paragraphs before Peracles disperses the mourners, turning to 336 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:31,880 Speaker 1: the sons or brothers of the dead. I see an 337 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,400 Speaker 1: arduous struggle before you. When a man is gone, all 338 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: are wont to praise him. And should your merit be 339 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: ever so transcendent, you will still find it difficult, not 340 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: merely to overtake, but even to approach their renown. The 341 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: living have envy to contend with, while those who are 342 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,400 Speaker 1: no longer in our path are honored with a goodwill 343 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: into which rivalry does not enter. On the other hand, 344 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,640 Speaker 1: if I must say anything on the subject of female 345 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: excellence to those of you who will now be in fiddlehood, 346 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: it will be all comprised in this brief exhortation. Great 347 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,439 Speaker 1: will be your glory in not falling short of your 348 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: natural character, and greatest will be hers who has least 349 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: talked of among the men, whether for good or for bad. 350 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: My task is now finished. I have performed it to 351 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,160 Speaker 1: the best of my ability, and in word at least 352 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: the requirements of the law are now satisfied. If deeds 353 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,160 Speaker 1: be in question, those who are here interred have received 354 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: their part of their honors already, and for the rest 355 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: their children will be brought up till manhood at the 356 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: public expense. The state thus offers a valuable prize as 357 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: the garland of victory in this race of valor for 358 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:44,640 Speaker 1: the reward both of those who have fallen and their survivors. 359 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are 360 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: found the best citizens. So the speech did temporarily put 361 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: off public anger, but sentiment against Pericles swelled once again. 362 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 1: He was removed from office and mind, but eventually he 363 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: was reinstated. In four b c he was reelected as Strategos, 364 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: but that year would again turn tragic. Pericles himself was 365 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: not immune to the illness that had devastated the rest 366 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: of Athens. He became ill, and the illness dragged on 367 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:22,959 Speaker 1: for months. There was also this secondary problem of a 368 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: dire matter of legacy that was taking a toll on 369 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: Pericles as he reckoned with his own end. His two 370 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: legitimate sons had also died in the plague, and he 371 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: was desperate to preserve his legacy, so much so that 372 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: he petitioned to have his son with Aspasia named as 373 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: his heir. Remember that son was not an Athenian citizen, 374 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 1: and that was a request which initially was neither honored 375 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: nor welcomed. When Peracles finally succumbed to his illness and 376 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: died in four The future of Athens and Aspasias place 377 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,120 Speaker 1: in it was fraught with uncertainty. The people of Athens 378 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,400 Speaker 1: made a somewhat surprising move at this point, though, due 379 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: to the bleak situation with before them, with no leadership 380 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: and a plague still running rampant, they finally voted that 381 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,199 Speaker 1: the child of Pericles and Aspasia should be recognized as 382 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 1: an Athenian citizen. Uh. This is another one of those 383 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: points that has relayed a little bit differently in terms 384 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: of timeline, depending on the account you're reading. Some writings 385 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,879 Speaker 1: actually say that the citizenship was conferred on Pericles the 386 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: younger before his father died, whereas the version that we 387 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: just related say that it happened after the words. As 388 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 1: the city state continued to try to regain its footing, 389 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: Aspasia moved on to another romantic interest. This was a 390 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:41,159 Speaker 1: man named Lescles. This is also recounted in the writings 391 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: of Plutarch, and they referenced the writings of Ascones quote. 392 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 1: Ascones tells us also that Leccles, a sheep dealer, a 393 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: man of low birth and character, by keeping Aspasia company 394 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:56,120 Speaker 1: after Pericles's death, came to be a chief man in Athens. 395 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 1: So once again that's another indicator that even though Aspasia 396 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: may have been the brunt of many jokes and the 397 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:05,879 Speaker 1: target of a lot of attacks, she clearly had some 398 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 1: power because she was able to help this man rise 399 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: into power of his own. Pericles the Younger, the son 400 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: of Aspasia and Pericles, was elected general in four or 401 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,400 Speaker 1: six b c E, but he died at a young 402 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,960 Speaker 1: age in the Peloponnesian War. The end of Aspasia's life 403 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: is pretty unclear. Bisycles died in b C and Aspasia 404 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: more or less banishes from the historical record at that point, 405 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: so we really don't know if she was still alive. 406 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 1: Two mourn her son when he died. Yeah, she sometimes 407 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: cited as having died in four hundred or four d 408 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: one BC, and that is usually linked to writings about 409 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: the death of Socrates, which we know she was already 410 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: gone by uh, and that's how they use that as 411 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: a marker. But we really have no idea when she 412 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: passed away. But it is sort of a it's interesting. 413 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: It's one of those things, Like I said, people always 414 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: hold her up as this amazing exception to all of 415 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 1: the rules of Athens and in many ways she was. 416 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: But at the same time, there are aspects of her 417 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: story that actually fall in line with with those um, 418 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: you know, sort of cultured cortisons that were part of 419 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: Athenian culture as well. So it you know, and there's 420 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 1: so much guesswork in their story because we just don't 421 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,159 Speaker 1: know a lot of details, like we don't know what 422 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,439 Speaker 1: she was like as a person, if she was funny, 423 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: or if she was you know, dour, or if we 424 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: have no idea about any of this. Good at debate 425 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: is what we know and very beautiful by all accounts. 426 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: So it's there are many mysteries. Did fay so much 427 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday? 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