funeral oration which he puts in
the mouth of Pericles, exhorts the wives of the slain warriors, whose
memory is being commemorated, "to shape their lives in accordance with
their natures," and then adds with unconscious irony, "Great is the
glory of that woman who is least talked of by men, either in the way
of praise or blame." Such were the barren honours granted to the legal
wife. The _hetairae_ were the only educated women in Athens. It was
only the free-companion who was a fit helpmate for Pericles, or
capable of sustaining a conversation with Socrates. We know that
Socrates visited Theodota[280] and the brilliant Diotima of Mantinea,
of whom he speaks "as his teacher in love."[281] Thargalia, a Milesian
stranger, gained a position of high political importance.[282] When
Alcibiades had to flee for his life, it was a "companion" who went
with him, and being present at his end performed the funeral rites
over him.[283] Praxiteles carved a statue of Phryne in gold, and the
work stood in a place of honour in the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
Apelles painted a portrait of Lais, and, for his skill as an artist,
Alexander rewarded him with the gift of his favourite concubine;
Pindar wrote odes to the _hetairae_; Leontium, one of the order, sat at
the feet of Epicurus to imbibe his philosophy.[284]

Among all these free women Aspasia of Miletus[285] stands forward as
the most brilliant--the most remarkable. There is no doubt as to the
intellectual distinction of the beloved companion of Pericles.[286]
Her house became the resort of all the great men of Athens. Socrates,
Phidias and Anaxagoras were all frequent visitors, and probably also
Sophocles and Euripides. Plato, Xenophon and AEschines have all
testified to the cultivated mind and influence of Aspasia. AEschines,
in his dialogue entitled "Aspasia," puts into the mouth of that
distinguished woman an incisive criticism of the mode of life
traditional for her sex.[287]

The high status of the _hetairae_ is proved conclusively from the fact
that the men who visited Aspasia brought their wives with them to her
assemblies, that they might learn from her.[288] This breaking through
the accepted conventions is the more significant if we consider the
circumstances. Here, indeed, is your contrast--the free companion
expounding the dignity of womanhood to the imprisoned mothers! Aspasia
points out to the citizen women that it is not sufficient for a wife
to be merely a mother