Hello friends of the community @hive-140084, Women throughout history have objectively had less power than men. But that does not mean that I have not seen powerful women, even if they have had to exercise power from the shadows and that is the case of Aspasia of Miletus, who is the woman to whom today's article is dedicated.
Aspasia of Miletus was born around 470 BC in the city of Miletus, as her name indicates. But it was in Athens where she had her influence. There she met Pericles, an influential politician of the time. She established a close relationship with him although it was never a formal marriage, possibly due to her origins.
She was known for her intelligence and her great ability to influence others. That led her to found a school of philosophy where Socrates and Plato, among others, studied. Two of the largest in ancient Greece. Her political astuteness was both admired by her friends, who sought advice from her, and feared by her political enemies.
She suffered harsh criticism for her informal relationship with Pericles and probably for being a foreigner, although at that time that consideration was not equivalent to today. Let's say she didn't have a powerful family to fall back on.
Even so, her influence was very great at the time and her legacy has endured to this day. And she was able to do all of this despite the limitations from the shadows.
That privacy that is being lost today but that is essential so that the powerful do not always do their will.
