I have profound respect for Aspasia.
Aspasia was a renowned teacher of philosophers in Ancient Athens. Her home became an intellectual mecca which attracted other philosophers, such as, Socrates and Plato.
She has often been referred to as a courtesan (high-class prostitute) but this is absolute hogwash. She was unconventional for her time in that she was free, highly educated and intelligent. She had a profound influence on men in a male-dominated society. It seems to be inconceivable to so many people that a woman could have such an effect on men without sex being part of the interaction.
In Plato’s Menexenus [235e], Socrates says of Aspasia:
“That I should be able to make the speech would be nothing wonderful, Menexenus; for she who is my instructor is by no means weak in the art of rhetoric; on the contrary, she has turned out many fine orators, and amongst them one who surpassed all other Greeks, Pericles, the son of Xanthippus.”
Helen
