1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
ASPASIA, an Athenian courtesan of the sth century B.C., was born either at Miletus or at Megara, and settled in Athens, where her beauty and her accomplishments gained for her a great reputation. Pericles, who had divorced his wife (445), made her his mistress, and, after the death of his two legitimate sons, procured the passing of a law under which his son by her was recognized as legitimate. It was the fashion, especially among the comic poets, to regard her as the adviser of Pericles in all his political action…
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- Vol. 2, pp. 765-766