Aspasia
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Aspasia. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
as-pa'shi-a, a celebrated woman of Greece. The dates of her life are not known well, but she flourished during the so-called Age of Pericles. She was a native of Miletus. She appears to have been a woman of talent, education, and beauty. She removed to Athens in her youth. Here she attracted the attention of Pericles. As she was not a citizen of Athens, Pericles could not, under the laws of the city, make her his wife, but he lived with her as such, and made her the mistress of an elegant home. Like Madame de Stael, Aspasia made her home the resort of intellectual people. Anaxagoras, the philosophical friend of Pericles, was a frequent visitor here. Socrates delighted in her wit. Phidias, the wonderful artist, liked to come in and talk about his work. Walter Savage Landor, who never allows a date to interfere with his saying a good thing, intimates that Thucydides read his history to Aspasia for criticism, and that the great playwriters, Sophocles and Aristophanes, were eager for her commendation. However this may be, the home of Pericles and Aspasia may be termed with justice the "intellectual center of Athens." Aspasia is one of the few women of Greece that require mention. In order to understand the intellectual position of Aspasia, it is necessary to hold in mind that the women of Greece were educated for health and household duties only. It will hardly do to say of women who were wont to listen to the masterpieces of the world's greatest tragedians, that they were illiterate; and yet the fact is that the wives of even the most eminent men in Greece were not taught to read and write. By way of exception, Aspasia seems to have been a truly remarkable woman. 2026 Editor's Note: Aspasia has been reclaimed by modern historians as one of the few women of classical Athens to wield real intellectual influence — credited by Plato with teac hing rhetoric, and a figure in Socrates' circle — rather than the mere courtesan that ancient (and this entry's) gossip made her. She is now a staple of women's history of antiquity. (Ed: BR 2026-07-01)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a celebrated Grecian, belonging to a family of some note in Miletus, and was early distinguished for her graces of mind and person. She went to Athens after the Persian War, and by her beauty and accomplishments soon attracted the attention of the leading men of that city. She engaged the affections of Pericles, who is said to have divorced his former wife in order to marry her. Their union was harmonious throughout. Their house was the resort of the wisdom and wit of Athens. Plato says that she formed the best speakers of her time, and, chief among them, Pericles himself. The sage Socrates was a frequent visitor at her salons, drawn thither, it is insinuated, by the double attraction of eloquence and beauty. Anaxagoras, Phidias, and Alcibiades were also numbered among her admirers. The envy which assailed the administration of Pericles was unsparing in its attacks on his mistress. Her fearless speculation aroused their superstitious zeal. She shared the impeachment, and narrowly escaped the fate, of her friend Anaxagoras. She was accused by Hermippus of disloyalty the gods, and of introducing freed to women into her house to gratify the impure tastes of Pericles. He himself pleaded her cause triumphantly, and Aspasia was acquitted. She survived Pericles some years.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Daughter of Axiochus, born at Melitus. She came to Athens , where she taught eloquence. Socrates was one of her scholars. She so captivated Pericles by her accomplishments that he made her his wife. The conduct of Pericles and Aspasia greatly corrupted the morals of the Athenians, and caused much dissipation in the state. . 2026 Editor's Note: While this text describes Aspasia as the wife of Pericles, her legal status remains a subject of debate among scholars who have variously described her as his concubine or his de jure wife. Modern historians also question the traditional narrative that she was a courtesan or that her conduct corrupted Athenian morals, noting that these claims often originated in ancient comedy or the writings of Plutarch . Beyond her relationship with Pericles, she is recognized as a skilled rhetorician who may have served as the model for the character of Diotima in Plato 's Symposium . (Ed: BR 2026-06-05)