Prisoner of History: Aspasia of Miletus and Her Biographical Tradition [Hardcover]

Madeleine M. Henry (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195087127 | ISBN-13: 978-0195087123 | Publication Date: July 20, 1995 | Edition: First

According to legend, Aspasia of Miletus was a courtesan, the teacher of Socrates, and the political adviser of her lover Pericles. Next to Sappho and Cleopatra, she is the best known woman of the ancient Mediterranean. Yet continued uncritical reception of her depiction in Attic comedy and naive acceptance of Plutarch's account of her in his Life of Pericles prevent us from understanding who she was and what her contributions to Greek thought may have been. Madeleine Henry combines traditional philological and historical methods of analysis with feminist critical perspectives, in order to trace the construction of Aspasia's biographical tradition from ancient times to the present. Through her analysis of both literary and political evidence, Henry determines the ways in which Aspasia has become an icon of the sexually attractive and politically influential female, how this construction has prevented her from taking her rightful place as a contributor to the philosophical enterprise, and how continued belief in this icon has helped sexualize all women's intellectual achievements. This is the first work to study Aspasia's biographical tradition from ancient Greece to the present day.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book not only makes a welcome and significant contribution to the study of this particular woman, but Henry also contributes to a better understanding of the social and political culture of fifth-century Athens and women's positions in it....Henry's analysis is rigorous and subtle; her examination of the original sources is meticulous."--Choice

"Henry's Prisoner is the first detailed study of Aspasia, both as she may have been and as she has been portrayed....this book marks a start - and I think a good start - in opening new avenues of research, to recover traditions both ancient and modern about the woman with whom Pericles lived."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The contribution of this study of a famous woman is thus not to add to our knowledge about her as a historical personage, but to demonstrate how interest in a colorful female 'historical' figure can lead students to an appreciation of the fragility of ancient-and-modern-historical evidence."--Ancient Philosophy

"A richly entertaining book for those interested in how traditions develop."--Religious Studies Review

About the Author

Madeleine M. Henry is at Iowa State University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First edition (July 20, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195087127
• ISBN-13: 978-0195087123
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,712,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Biography of a Modern Woman in an Ancient World, December 5, 2000

By 

Lynn (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prisoner of History: Aspasia of Miletus and Her Biographical Tradition (Hardcover)

My first interest in this book was its classical history setting. As a former Classics student, I enjoyed the mix of history and biography. And as a woman, I was delighted that someone had written a biography of one of the most colorful women in antiquity. Aspasia is an astounding woman, and her life is finally put together for us in this unique biography. Ms. Henry covers a lot of ground for records of Aspasia are for the most part, fragmented and few. But there is enough evidence to cause us to think that if Aspasia lived the life that she did, then perhaps there were other women like her who will never be mentioned in books but who lived fully and sometimes on the fringe of society. What is most noteworthy for me is the chapter on the post-classical critics and commentators who never drop the bias of their own time in trying to sort out the unusual aspects of the past. Unlike these biased historians, Ms. Henry is refreshingly objective and logical with her readers.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More scholarly than stimulating, September 30, 2009

By 

Paparika Jellybean (Boston Harbor) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Prisoner of History: Aspasia of Miletus and Her Biographical Tradition (Hardcover)

I suppose if you're an historical fiction fan you'd have to try this, but Henry's style is tedious and lacks humor. I fought my way into this book because I thought I needed to read it for a class, but it's full of loose ends an unexplored premeses.

This is not a book I would hand the casual reader of historical fiction lest they go screaming into the night after trying to chew and swallow the first two or three chapters.

My secret is I didn't get much farther. . .