Gorgo (c. 518 - 5th century BC) She was the queen of Sparta during the ten years of the reign of Leonidas I. Her great wisdom was recognized and her political importance has come to be recognized, especially in the taking of decisions during the reigns of her husband and later of her son.
She was the daughter of one of the kings of Sparta, Cleómenes I, whose reign passed between 520 BC. Until 490 a. C., when Leonidas I ascended to the throne. There are some details of Gorgo that are unknown, such as the date of birth and his death. Historians have even claimed that he lived while his son Plistarchus reigned in Sparta..
Her importance in Ancient Greece was revealed by being one of the few women reviewed in the writings of the famous historian Herodotus..
Article index
There is no official record that shows the year Gorgo was born and it is not known when he died. From the stories of Herodotus it is believed that Gorgo was born sometime between 518 and 508 BC. C.
At this time, Sparta was ruled by two different dynasties. Gorgo was part of the Agiadas clan. The other family belonged to the Eurypontids, who had Demaratus and Leotiquids as kings while Gorgo lived. Reigns that coincided with those of Cleómenes I, Leónidas I and Plistarco; queen's father, husband and son.
The marriage between Gorgo and Leónidas I had to occur before 490 BC. C., since in this way he was the one who ascended the throne, as Gorgo was the only recognized daughter that Cleómenes I had. When Leonidas I died in 480 BC. C., Gorgo was still alive.
The details of her role as queen mother during the time of Plistarchus reigned Sparta (480 - 459 BC) are also unknown..
Although she was the only heir to the throne, being the only daughter that Cleomenes had, the laws of Sparta did not contemplate the possibility of a woman ascended to the throne. All this despite the fact that in Sparta women benefited from having more rights than in many other areas of the world, something unusual for the time..
In Sparta women enjoyed greater freedom than in other parts of Greece in ancient times. As part of the nobility he had a very broad education on different areas. He dominated literature, song and dance.
According to historians, Spartan women used to marry when they reached the age of 18 and their partners were about the same age..
Although women were important in the culture of Sparta, few were named by historians in their writings. Gorgo was one of the exceptions to this. Specifically, illustrious men such as Herodotus and Plutarch mentioned it at some point in their works.
The first reference to Gorgo occurred during the Ionian revolt, which was a conflict between the Persians and the Greeks, who wanted to end Persian rule in their territory. Aristagoras, a tyrant in one of the cities of Ionia, sought support from King Cleomenes, who refused to intervene in the conflict.
The historian Herodotus noted that Gorgo was present at the meeting between the Spartan king and the Ionian tyrant..
According to the writings, Aristagoras tried to bribe Cleomenes to get his help, until his daughter intervened and recommended that her father leave the room so as not to fall into the temptation of being corrupted, advice that the king of Sparta followed..
Some legends claimed that Cleomenes committed suicide, but his role is always recognized so that Sparta could gain political importance.
King Cleomenes had no male offspring. His only daughter was Gorgo, so Sparta did not have heirs to the throne if the king died, as it finally happened. That is why Leonidas I came to power, who was the half-brother of Cleomenes..
By the time of assuming the throne, it is believed that Leonidas and Gorgo had already married. In this way, Gorgo in 490 BC. Became queen of Sparta. The greatest number of references to Gorgo's life and actions occur thanks to her husband's ten-year reign..
One of the most important actions that was recognized as the work of Gorgo was to have discovered the plan of the Persians to invade Greece. All thanks to a message sent to warn of Xerxes' plans. The message arrived in Sparta on a blank tablet. Gorgo recommended scraping the tablet to see if they could uncover any coded writing and they did..
The role of Gorgo was fundamental so that the Greeks could prepare at least for the Persian attack. For historians, Gorgo had a lot of influence on the political decisions of Sparta during the reign of her husband, who did not ignore his advice just because she was a woman.
When Leonidas left for Thermopylae he recommended to Gorgo that he remarry and be happy. There was no record that would allow corroborating whether the queen followed her husband's instructions after dying in battle.
There are no records of how many sons Gorgo and Leonidas I had. There were only references to Plistarchus, who became king of Sparta. At the beginning of his reign he had the help of his uncle Cleómbroto and his cousin General Pausanias, who were the regents while Plistarco was a minor..
Gorgo was recognized by historians for being a woman of great wisdom. She was cunning enough to decipher the hidden message warning of the Persian invasion. Some historians have even asserted that he had more authority than he was recognized for..
She was considered one of the most influential women in the ancient history of Greece for her role during the reign of Leonidas I. She may have had an important role during the reign of his son, but there are no records that speak of her in this period of the history of sparta.
The importance of Gorgo is evident only from the fact that it has been named in various works by important thinkers and historians of Ancient Greece.
It was an unusual practice to recognize the role of women, especially since at that time Athens had great political power and men held the reins of politics and those that were reflected in historical writings.
Even very few names of queens of Sparta are known today, which showed that Gorgo was the exception to the rule..
Leonidas' wife was not mentioned for her beauty as was the case with other women of antiquity. So it was inferred that she was not exactly pretty. In fact, there is a hypothesis about his physical appearance that has to do with his name, since Gorgo made reference to a character in Greek mythology who was a beast with snakes on his head..
Gorgo appeared in over 300 different films, which narrated the story of the Battle of Thermopylae and which was based on a few comics on the subject. In the first film, which was released in 1962, Gorgo was represented by Anna Synodinou. Then in 300 (2006) and in 300: The Birth of an Empire (2014), the role of Gorgo was played by Lena Headey.
In all cases she was always represented, albeit briefly, as a wise woman of great strength. The 2006 film is where the most talk about the role of Gorgo before the conflict with the Persians begins.
The queen had an important participation in the film where it was shown that she got to interact with men, advised her husband and shared ideas with politicians of the time.
Gorgo is represented in more moments of popular culture. He was part of a video game called Civilization VI. Three novels by Helena Schrader narrate her life and her relationship with Leonidas. It also appears in the book Sacred Games: the mysteries of Athens, written by Gary Corby and first published in 2013.
Gorgo was also the name that many other things received, although it has not been shown that it was in reference to the queen.
In the 20th century, an asteroid orbiting the sun was discovered, which they called Gorgo. Several areas of Italy have this name, as does a butterfly and a character from The crazy Addams.
Thanks to 300 films many phrases are attributed to Gorgo. The most repeated appointment associated with the queen was when she addressed a messenger to emphasize the strength and importance of the women of Sparta.
At that time he defended the rights enjoyed by women of the time by reminding the Persian that "only women in Sparta give birth to real men.".
The above is a quote that varies depending on the source consulted. Plutarco also made reference to that phrase, although in his case he assured that it happened during a conversation with another woman.
"Father, your visit is going to corrupt you if you don't stop and leave the room," was the advice that, according to Herodotus, Gorgo gave his father to prevent him from helping Aristagoras. It is said that he was less than 10 years old when he said those words, although the truth is that he could have been much older than Herodotus recognized.
Yet No Comments