HOME| BATTLES| WHO IS..?| WHERE IS..?| TIMELINE| WEB INDEX| REFERENCES

Gorgo

The Queen Gorgo of Sparta, holds an important position in history, as she can be used as a measuring stick of what womens roles were like in ancient Sparta, as recorded by Herodotus and Plutarch.
Her frank discussions with her father the king, even at one time pursuading his judgement really tells the difference on how women were seen, not just between Sparta and Athens, but Sparta and the rest of the known world.
Being an only child in the family, and after her father's death in prison, she married his brother, Leonidas, who became king and was the hero of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Like her namesake Gorgophone, Gorgo remarried another Spartan king, and spawned yet another. Gorgo herself was renowned in Spartan legend, and it is curious that she bore the name that was so closely identified with the legendary Perseus and his daughter, who, if they really lived, pre-dated Gorgo by over seven centuries. Chief sources for Gorgophone are Pausanias, books 2 and 4, and Apollodorus, Books 1 and 3. Plutarch's works contain a good deal on Gorgo, and she appears in a couple of Herodotus's anecdotes that emphasize her close ties with her father and his trust in her acuity of judgement.

 

Reference:

Herodotus: vi. 49-51
Herodotus: vii 239

H5.48-51
H7.239
Themopylae the battle that changed the world
The Spartans and epic history
Plutarch on Sparta

 

 

 

Name: Gorgo
(Gore-go)
Name in Greek:  
Name means:  
Father: Kleomenes I
Born: 507 B.C.
Native City: Sparta
Died:  
Reason of death:  
Age:
Highest Title: Queen of Sparta
   

Queen of Sparta Gorgo

There is no image of Queen Gorgo, I've used this image to have some idea of what the dress was at her time.

 

Married to: Leonidas
Children: Pleistarchus