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?