Gorgo

Gorgo was a female Spartan. She was born to Kleomenes (also known as Cleomenes) around the year 507/508 BC/E.

When she was about 8 or 9 years old in the year 499 BC/E a man named Aristagoras came to Sparta and tried to convince her father to join his army and fight against Darius, king of Persia. Kleomenes very nearly accepted - until he learned that once they got across the sea it was then a full three months journey until they reached the Persian capital of Susa. There was no way Spartans were going to travel three whole months away from the sea across a giant stretch of land. Kleomenes demanded that Aristagoras leave.

He did. But not forever.

Aristagoras tried one more time to convince the king. He came, bearing an olive branch as a sign of peace. He came before the king...

... And then stopped. For there, in the company of the king, was a very young girl.

"Who is this?" Aristagoras sneered.

"This is my daughter, Gorgo," Kleomenes replied. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of her."

Aristagoras ignored the girl and began to try and convince Kleomenes to help him, telling him of all the gold, and glory, and honour that he could win for himself and his country.

Gorgo shouted out: "Do not listen to him, father! For he is trying to corrupt you."

Now, something to know about Kleomenes, is that he did NOT often listen to other people's advice. It was a common problem in the 400's BC/E. BUT this time he did. He slapped his hands over his ears and told Aristagoras to leave his country.

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Eight years later in 491 BC/E Gorgo's father died. He was quite crazy-pants at the time and killed himself in a rather violent and brutal way. Gorgo would have known about this. She would have only been about sixteen at the time.

By this time she would have been married. Although the exact date is not certain, sometimes between 499-491 BC/E Gorgo's father gave her to her uncle, Leonidas, in marriage.

We do not know how she felt about any of this: her father's death, her marriage to her uncle... But we do have one more story about her.

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In the year 480 BC/E there was the well-known Battle of Thermopylae. Well, before that, in about 485 BC/E, when Gorgo would have been 22/23 years old, she was married to Leonidas and living peacefully in Sparta.

One day a mysterious gift was sent to Sparta. It was a wax tablet without any markings on it. Many men looked at it, passing it back and forth, wondering what it all could mean. It was Gorgo, son of a king, who was able to figure it out. She told the men to melt the wax off of the wooden tablet to see what was underneath. They did so and found a message from an exiled-king, Demaratos, telling them that the king of Persia, Xerxes, was going to attack their land. If it were not for Gorgo, they probably would never have figure out the message.

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Questions:

-Where did Gorgo live?

- Who was Gorgo the daughter of?

- Who did she marry and how was he related to her?

- What actions show us that Gorgo was an intelligent and brave woman?