Page "Aspasia" Paragraph 6

According to the disputed statements of the ancient writers and some modern scholars, in Athens Aspasia became a hetaera and probably ran a brothel.

Hetaerae were professional high-class entertainers, as well as courtesans.

Besides developing physical beauty, they differed from most Athenian women in being educated ( often to a high standard, as in Aspasia's case ), having independence, and paying taxes.

They were the nearest thing perhaps to liberated women ; and Aspasia, who became a vivid figure in Athenian society, was probably an obvious example.

According to Plutarch, Aspasia was compared to the famous Thargelia, another renowned Ionian hetaera of ancient times.