well educated and could keep conversation with almost everyone she met. Unlike other Athenian women of that time, she was not kept out of most parts of public life but rather welcomed in some measure. She had great wisdom and beauty. Her name was Aspasia - a lover and companion to the statesman and leader of Athens, Pericles. She was very different from women of that time. Given the position women normally played in the fifth century B.C.E., Aspasia's position in society was astonishing. As stated
Aspasia was described as one of the most beautiful and educated women of her era. Born in Miletus, an Ionian Greek settlement on the coast of Western Turkey, she was not bound by the same rules that restricted Athenian citizen women. Athens women had few rights and little opportunity to take part in sports, theatre, politics or a public life. Aspasia was born privileged, therefore, received an education where she discovered the great power women often possessed in myths and heard stories of the those
Aspasia of Miletus is a powerful, influential woman. She is best known as the consort and close companion of Pericles, a great Athenian statesman. Aspasia is influential because she is a scholar and philosopher whose intellectual influence distinguishes her in Athenian culture, which treats women as second-class citizens. She is known mainly to have enormous influence over such prominent leaders and philosophers as Pericles, Plato, and Socrates. Aspasia, born in Miletus in 470 B.C.E., belongs
Due to a lack of primary source information in relation to the abundance of secondary source material regarding Aspasia and her influence within rhetorical history, tackling the question concerning the amount of influence she held is difficult and, therefore, tackling the question of whether or not her influence was gender-related is more challenging. When grappling with the latter, a significant amount of feminist scholars provide a pool of information, as they see it, to draw from. Scholars like
the first democracy, as well as having the Parthenon built. In ancient times, Pericles was well known for his knowledge of the arts and sciences, his, diminishing the power of the rich, and for raising illegitimate children with his foreign wife, Aspasia. In spite of the public’s disapproval of his domestic life, Pericles still did well in politics, due to his public speaking skills and support the desires and rights of the commoner, and is now considered to be one of the most famous rulers of ancient
even though she was eventually acquitted. Aspasia clearly shows how much freedom was available to a prostitute in Athenian society. The life of the prostitute in Athens was clearly a more liberal lifestyle than most women enjoyed in which the woman could aspire to wealth, independence and even indirect political power. The only setback to these benefits was the scorn of women and the contempt of men when a prostitute became too prominent. Women like Aspasia helped introduce an early type of feminism
freedom and happiness Recognized as a contemporary, as well as contributor, to the leading philosophers, Plato, Socrates, Xenophon and Aristophanes of the Common Era, historians regard Aspasia of Miletus as a key figure in political and rhetorical theory. In Cheryl Glenn’s essay, “Sex, Lies and Manuscript: Refiguring Aspasia in the... ... middle of paper ... ...ignificant to the women’s movement, but also to contemporary scholarship where women’s voices are often marginalized and silenced over their
respected Pericles for his singular control of the Athenian democracy (Fornara OL). Although, Pericles did gain some disrespect from the Athenian citizens. At one point in his life, the Athenians believed of him having affairs with the mistress, Aspasia. As you can see, Pericles was one of the most prominent leaders of the Ancient World. “Pericles, c. 495-429 B.C.E., was the political leader of Athens from about 460 to 429, a time at which Athenian culture and military power were at their height”
One of the most impressive accomplishments of Ancient Greece is the remarkable structure of the Parthenon on the Acropolis. The Parthenon is one of the most inspiring works of architecture known to mankind. The project of the extraordinary Acropolis was taken on by one of the most influential leaders of history, Pericles. Pericles influenced not only the building of one of the grandest works but the example of democracy displayed by the Greeks. The architecture was unique for its time, it featured
the tragic playwright, Aeschylus. Around the same time, he became married to a woman whose name we do not know. She gave him a total of two sons, but supposedly their marriage was not very healthy. He eventually got a divorce and fled to his lady Aspasia. She was said to be a very intelligent foreign woman. He treated her as if they were equals instead of treating her the way most women were treated in that time period. In 461 BC, Pericles would become the leader of Athens until his unfortunate death
their communities in the past. She mentions Minerva, the goddess of science, Debbora, who governed over men, Pola Argentaria, who helped her husband to write Pharsalia, the daughter of the divine Tiresias who learned more than her father, and Aspasia of Miletus who taught philosophy. This was only a few among many that Sor Juana had mentioned. She is trying to prove that there have been innumerable accounts where women had mastered knowledge to not only benefit themselves, but to improve
Devin Guinnip March 20,2014 First Draft: Research Paper In the film Thelma and Louise, the scene in which Thelma is almost raped is important because it reveals the mindset of society at that time. The scene leading up to Thelma’s almost rape is just as important as the almost rape. Thelma and Louise stop at a bar on their way to the mountains for their girl’s weekend. At the bar a local man named Harlan hits on the two women especially Thelma, and Louise just seems annoyed with
The Question of Democracy: Athens Democracy’s inception on a complex, workable level is attributed to Greece and specifically the city-state Athens, but there is question as to whether or not Athenian democracy was indeed a democracy in its purest form or at all -- at least during the Age of Pericles. One can investigate the matter through Thucydides’s claim that under Pericles, Athens was not a democracy, responses to this claim, and speeches spoken by Pericles himself. After one critically
Human Gender and Mathematics Is there a difference in the mathematical ability between men and women? Historians have no precise method of quantifying or comparing their individual accomplishments (Olsen). Not only in mathematics, but also in many other career areas in the past, women were looked upon as inferior to their male counterparts. Women were not encouraged to pursue a career in mathematics. Historically, women were seen working around the home, cleaning the house, taking care of the
While thought of as an improvement to human society, science also makes humans more close-minded. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, technology plays an important role in the Victorian society. There are trains, phonographs, typewriters, and telegraphs. Trains are the main use of travel and telegraphs allow the characters to send each other short messages. In fact, the story itself has diary entries made by Mina’s typewriter or Dr. Seward’s phonograph that records his voice in wax cylinders. Also, the new
Technology is not a new idea but is always changing. The modern world revolves around technology, and it has touched almost every aspect of human life. Technology is used in almost every field of work, in homes all over the world, and for social communication (Gebski paragraph 1). Many people would argue that technology has advanced our world tremendously; and to a point, that is true. In other words, technology has reduced social interaction of people on a daily basis. Most ancient cultures’ social
Evolution of Democracy and the Athenian Constitution Democracy is defined in modern times as government by the people. To put that in perspective and better understand all that democracy entails we must consider its origins. It is surprising indeed that even today tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and