Aspasia (lived c. 440 BC)

Greek courtesan, the mistress of the Athenian politician Pericles. As a non-Athenian from Miletus, she could not be recognized as his wife, but Pericles lived with Aspasia, having parted from his wife, until his death 429 BC.

Aspasia had a son by Pericles who was legitimized and granted Athenian citizenship after the death of the two legitimate sons of Pericles. Aspasia's ‘salon’ was a meeting place for celebrities from the Athenian literary and philosophical circles, including Socrates. Her free thinking led to a charge of impiety, against which Pericles had to defend her.