Activity

The Peloponnesian War

Characters:

Aspasia of Miletus

Theme: From the Archaic period to the Classical period: relevant historic events. Pericles.

Competencies

Competence in Linguistic Communication

Personal, social and learning to learn competence

Competence in cultural awareness and expressions

Subjects and year by Educational System

Spain > Classical culture > 3rd ESO > Classical roots of today's world. History and socio-political evolution

Enunciation

Aspasia, born in Miletus around 470 BC, was a highly cultured and intelligent woman who knew how to surround herself with influential people in the political and cultural spheres, in which she actively participated, in 5th century BC Athens. She was a teacher of rhetoric and wrote speeches which, according to some historians, were delivered in public by her partner, Pericles.
Aristophanes accused Aspasia of being responsible for the Peloponnesian war in his comedy The Acharnians. You must become the lawyer who defends her and find reasons to exonerate her. To do this, first read the passage in which she is accused, then carry out your own research and write your own conclusions in the form of a defence speech to a jury.
Read the extract from the comedy and answer the questions.
"One day some men who were drunk at a game of kottabos went to Megara and abducted the whore Simeta, and then the Megarans, irritated like roosters at this damage, retaliated by stealing two whores from Aspasia's house. And this is the origin of the outbreak of war among all the Greeks, in three prostitutes."(Our translation from The Acharnians, 520).
-What is the game of the kottabos? Look up for information.
-Which city initiates the conflict?
-What, according to this comedy, causes the conflict?
Research
Your investigation should follow a number of leads:
-The historian Thucydides, in his History of the Peloponnesian War, gives another version of the start of the war. Which one?
-Who do you trust more, in principle, a historian or a comedy writer?
-In his comedies, Aristophanes accused Pericles of using his political position for his own benefit.
-The comedy was in tune with the political positions of the aristocratic party of Cimon, Pericles' political opponent, and spread the idea of Aspasia as an expert in "domestic trickery" to influence Pericles' politics.
-In the text, the author also accuses Aspasia of running a brothel and, therefore, of being a prostitute herself, when he says: "[...] stealing two whores from Aspasia's house". Investigate if this accusation has any grounds. If you cannot find any objective arguments to accuse Aspasia of being a prostitute, why do you think Aristophanes accuses her of that?
-According to the text, what is Aristophanes' claim that Aspasia incited the war based on?
 &nbsp;
&nbsp;

Observations and context

A teacher of rhetoric, philosopher and logographer, she seems to have been the only woman in classical Greece to stand out in the public sphere. Being a free and independent woman also meant that she was attacked, ridiculed and vilified, a trait she shares with many other women of classical times, such as Artemisia of Halicarnassus. She was born in Miletus, in the ancient Greek region of Ionia, where the poet Sappho and other prominent women, such as the aforementioned Artemisia of Halicarnassus or her namesake, Artemisia II of Caria, also originated.

She appears in several significant works of modern literature and her love story with Pericles has inspired several of the most famous novelists and poets of the last centuries. In particular, she was taken as a real model by Heloïse in her letters to Abelard and inspired the authors of 19th century Romanticism and the authors of historical novels of the 20th century. Contradictory versions have been given of her: either she was a good wife or some combination of courtesan and prostitute; some even doubt her historicity.

Comedy writer Aristophanes accused Pericles of using his political position to his own benefit. His comedy was in tune with the political ideas of Cimon's aristocratic party, and one cause echoed the other, spreading the idea that Aspasia was an expert in "domestic ruses" to influence Pericles' politics. In this way, Pericles was attacked using the people closer to him, like Aspasia. In The Archanians, Aspasia is the cause for the Peloponnese war.

The activity has been assigned to the 3rd year of ESO, but it could well be done in 4th year of ESO in the same content Block or in the Classical Roots of Today's World block. Everyday life.

Description

The text of The Acharnians, in which Aspasia is accused of instigating the Peloponnesian War out of personal revenge, is analysed in order to try to elucidate whether what is exposed could have been the real reason for such a cruel and long-lasting conflict.

Reading excerpts, collecting information, reflecting, looking up for information.

Answer

Documents

This sheet has no attached documents