The following is a list of prostitutes and courtesans of antiquity mentioned by ancient sources.
Name | Dates | Biography |
---|---|---|
Abrotonum (Ἀβρότονον), of Thrace | early 5th century BC | Plutarch calls her the mother of Themistocles and quotes her epitaph in full. [1] A very similar epitaph is in the Anthologia Graeca. [2] Plutarch also refers to an Abrotonum in his Dialogue on Love. [3] Her name means 'soft tune'. [4] |
Abrotonum (Ἀβρότονον) | Fictional | Character in Menander's Epitrepontes. In Lucian's Dialogues of the Courtesans an hetaera of the same name is also mentioned. [5] Also called Habrotonon. [6] |
Acca Larentia | 8th century BC; mythical | Foster mother of Romulus and Remus. [7] Dionysius of Halicarnassus says she was formerly a prostitute (lupa, 'she-wolf'). [8] [9] |
Acroteleutium | Fictional | Character in Plautus's Miles Gloriosus. Acroteleutium ('sloppy seconds') [10] is a courtesan (meretrix) in Ephesus and owns a maid named Milphidippa. |
Adelphasium | Fictional | Character in Plautus's Poenulus . Adelphasium ('little sister') [10] and Anterastilis ('rival lover'), [11] taken from Carthage as children and enslaved in Rome, are bought and pimped by Lycus ('wolf'). Hanno the Carthaginian eventually arrives and recognises his long-lost daughters. |
Anterastylis | Fictional | Character in Plautus's Poenulus . See Adelphasium. |
Archeanassa (Ἀρχεάνασσα, Ἀρχαιάνασσα), of Colophon | early 4th century BC | Native of Colophon, living in Athens as an hetaera during the lifetime of Plato. According to one, probably later account, [12] the philosopher as a young man was enamoured of Archeanassa and addressed a four-line epigram to her. This epigram is quoted in full by Diogenes Laërtius in his biography of Plato and by Athenaeus in a survey of famous courtesans. [13] A slightly different version is attributed to Asclepiades in the Anthologia Graeca . [14] |
Archidice (Ἀρχιδίκη) | 6th century BC | Hetaera of Naucratis mentioned by Herodotus alongside the earlier and more famous Rhodopis. [15] [16] |
Aristagora (Ἀρισταγόρα), of Corinth | 4th century BC | Hetaera, and mistress of the orator Hyperides, who apparently kept her in a house on the Piraeus. He later delivered the two orations Against Aristagora, charging her with breaking immigration law by failing to obtain a citizen sponsor, as was required of foreign-born residents ( metics ) by law in Attica. [17] [18] |
Aristagora (Ἀρισταγόρα), of Corinth | 3rd/2nd century BC | Mistress of Demetrius (grandson of the more famous Demetrius of Phalerum). The events of her life are recorded by Hegesander (quoted by Athenaeus) as evidence of the voluptuous lifestyle of Demetrius. At the Panathenaea Demetrius reared for Aristagora a platform or scaffold (ἰκρίον) which was taller than the Hermae; [lower-alpha 1] and at Eleusis, at the time of the Mysteries, he placed a throne for her beside the temple, after threatening that any who should try to prevent him would regret it. [19] [16] |
Aspasia (Ἀσπασία), of Miletus | mid 5th century BC | Born at Miletus, but settled in Athens as a metic . According to the conventional understanding of her life in Athens, she worked as a courtesan and then ran a brothel. [20] Some scholars have challenged this view. [21] [22] Glenn contends that she ran an academy for women that became a salon for the great men of the day, including Socrates, Plato, and Pericles, [23] and Kennedy suggests that the accusations in comedy that she was a brothel-keeper derived from this. [24] However, many scholars continue to believe the ancient sources. [25] Kapparis argues that the comic attacks made on Aspasia would not have been accepted by the audience had she been a respectable woman, and that it is therefore likely that she did have a history in prostitution before she became the concubine of Pericles. [26] Whether or not Aspasia worked as a courtesan, her later life, in which she apparently achieved some degree of power, reputation, and independence, has similarities to the lives of hetaerae such as Phryne . [27] |
Bacchis (Βακχίς), the Flute-Player | 4th century BC | Theopompus says that Bacchis the flautist had been the slave of Sinope the Thracian who brought her establishment of hetaerae from Aegina to Athens, and that she later owned Pythionice, who became the mistress of Harpalus. [28] The historian Menetor (quoted by Athenaeus) praises her beauty and freedom from jealousy; see Plangon of Miletus. [29] Bacchis may be the subject of a lost play by Epigenes. [30] Athenaeus mentions by three different titles a drama of Sopater the parodist: Bacchis (Βακχίς), [31] Suitors of Bacchis (Βακχίδος Μνηστῆρσιν), [32] and Wedding of Bacchis (Βακχίδος Γάμῳ). [33] Bacchis was a popular name for courtesans. A girl, so named, is one of Alciphron's epistolary correspondents, supposed to be writing about the result of the Phryne trial. [34] [35] |
Bacchis (Βακχίς), of Samos | Fictional | Character in Plautus's Bacchides . [36] Two elderly lovers are delighted with the attentions of the Bacchis sisters, but one of these has previously informed the spectators that what she has to do will be like "kissing a corpse". [37] |
Bacchis (Βακχίς), of Athens | Fictional | Character in Plautus's Bacchides. [36] |
Bilistiche (Βιλιστίχη), of Argos | 3rd century BC | Hellenistic courtesan of uncertain origin. According to Pausanias, she was a Macedonian; [38] according to Athenaeus, an Argive (said to descend from the line of Atreus); [39] according to Plutarch, a foreign slave bought from the marketplace. [40] She was one of Ptolemy Philadelphus's "great many mistresses", [41] [42] and was posthumously venerated in Egypt as Aphrodite-Bilistiche. [43] |
Demo (Δημώ) | 3rd century BC | Famous hetaera, named for one of the mythological daughters of Celeus. [44] Her name means 'of the people'. [45] Athenaeus (quoting Ptolemy, son of Agesarchus) says Demo was the mistress of Antigonus Monophthalmus, and Mania was the mistress of his son and heir, Demetrius Poliorcetes. [46] Plutarch conflates the two women when describing the cowardly "hospitality" of the Athenians to Demetrius, who once housed his many mistresses on the Acropolis at great expense and shame to the Athenians. [47] [48] See Lamia, of Athens. |
Demo (Δημώ) | Fictional | Several characters in the Anthologia Graeca . [49] [50] |
Doricha | See Rhodopis. | |
Flora | Mythical | The early Christian writers, whose object it was to bring the Roman religion into contempt, relate that Flora had been, like Acca Laurentia, a courtesan, who accumulated a large property, and bequeathed it to the Roman people, in return for which she was honoured with the annual festival of the Floralia. [51] But her worship was established at Rome in the very earliest times, for a temple is said to have been vowed to her by king Tatius, [52] and Numa appointed a flamen to her. The resemblance between the names Flora and Chloris led the later Romans to identify the two divinities. Her temple at Rome was situated near the Circus Maximus, [53] and her festival was celebrated from 28 April till 1 May, with extravagant merriment and lasciviousness. [54] |
Glaphyra (Γλαφύρα) | 1st century BC | Hetaera. Her marriage to Archelaus II of Cappadocia gave her political power. Her later affair with Mark Antony allegedly occasioned a vulgar poem by Octavian. |
Glycera (Γλυκέρα), of Sicyon | early 4th century BC | Pausias of Sicyon painted a celebrated picture of Glycera, a flower girl of his native city, whom he loved when a young man. The combined force of his affection for his mistress and for his art led him to strive to imitate the flowers, of which she made the garlands that she sold. The effort turned him into a very able flower painter. [55] His picture of Glycera with a garland was known in Pliny's time as the Stephaneplocos ('garland-weaver') [56] or Stephanepolis ('garland-seller'). A copy of this picture (apographon) was bought by Lucullus at the Dionysia at Athens for the great sum of two talents. [57] |
Glycera (Γλυκέρα), of Thespiae / Attica | later 4th century BC | Daughter of the hetaeraThalassis. Mistress of Harpalus (after the death of Pythionice), [58] and perhaps also of Menander. [59] Her name means 'the sweet one'. Also called by the pet name Glycerium. [60] [61] See also Terence's Andria. |
Glycera (Γλυκέρα) | Fictional | Character in Menander's Periceiromene . |
Gnathaena (Γνάθαινα) | 4th century BC | Athenian hetaera. [62] Her most famous lover was the comic playwright Diphilus. [63] |
Laïs (Λαΐς, Λαΐδα), of Corinth | late 5th – early 4th century BC | Often confused with the younger Lais. Also called Axine ('axe-head') for the sharpness of her cruelty. [64] |
Laïs (Λαΐς, Λαΐδα) the Younger, of Hyccara / Athens | first half of the 4th century BC | She was the daughter of Timandra (or Damasandra, according to Athenaeus). [65] [66] An anecdote from an otherwise lost work of Sotion (Κέρας Ἀμαλθείας, 'The Horn of Plenty') about the courtesan Lais and the orator Demosthenes is preserved by Aulus Gellius in his Attic Nights. [67] According to Diogenes Laërtius, Laïs and Phryne both failed to tempt Xenocrates. [68] |
Lamia (Λάμια) | late 6th – early 5th century BC | According to a later anecdote, one of four hetaerae whom Themistocles yoked to a chariot and paraded through the Ceramicus of Athens. [69] Probably fictional. [66] |
Lamia (Λάμια), of Athens / Attica | late 4th – early 3rd century BC | Daughter of one Cleanor. She was originally held in esteem for her artistic skill (she was a flautist), but afterwards became famous as an hetaera also. [70] When Demetrius Poliorcetes defeated the fleet of Ptolemy Soter at Salamis in 306 BC, Lamia was among the booty. [70] Though then already past her prime, she captivated the young Demetrius, and became his mistress. [70] She was one of several courtesans in Demetrius's harem whom he brought with him to Athens and entertained with lavish banqueting, to the shame of the Athenians, on their Acropolis (sacred to the virgin goddess Athena). [71] Lamia owed her influence, it was said, to her wit and skill, and these were celebrated by comic writers (Machon and Lynceus of Samos) as well as the historians of the period, and many anecdotes concerning her have been preserved by Plutarch and Athenaeus. [72] [73] |
Leaena (Λέαινα) | Pseudo-historical | |
Leontium (Λεόντιον), of Attica | late 4th – early 3rd century BC | Athenian hetaira who was a student of Epicurus and the lover of Metrodorus of Lampsacus. [74] |
Metaneaera (Μετάνειρα) | 4th century BC | |
Myrrhina (Μυρρίνη) | 4th century BC | Samian courtesan associated with Demetrius Poliorcetes. [75] See also Lysistrata , Timocles, and La Sainte Courtisane |
Nannarium (Νανναριον) | 4th century BC | Perhaps a pet name for Nannium the Younger, or else a distinct hetaera with a similar name. [76] [77] |
Nannium (Νάννιον) | early 5th century BC | According to a later, doubtful story, one of four hetaerae whom Themistocles yoked to a chariot and paraded through the Ceramicus of Athens. [78] [77] |
Nannium (Νάννιον) the Elder | late 5th or early 4th century BC | Founder of a family dynasty of famous hetaerae which included her daughter Corone and granddaughter Nannium the Younger. [79] [77] |
Nannium (Νάννιον) the Younger | mid 4th century BC | Daughter of Corone and granddaughter of Nannium the Elder. Also known as Aix ('the goat'). [80] [77] |
Neaera (Νέαιρα) | 4th century BC | See Against Neaera and Nicarete of Corinth. |
Nicarete (Νικαρέτη), of Megara | fl. c. 300 BC | |
Nicidium (Νικίδιον) | fl. c. 300 BC | |
Nicopolis (Νικόπολις) | b. c. 150 BC | |
Phila (Φίλα), of Thebes | 4th century BC | Enslaved at the Siege of Thebes in 335 BC and ransomed by the rhetor Hyperides, who installed her at his house in Eleusis. [81] |
Philaenis (Φιλαινίς), of Samos | Pseudo-historical | Supposed author of a famous sex manual which survives only in fragments. Whether or not she was also a courtesan is disputed, and she may be merely a literary persona representing a "prototypical harlot" in the works of others. [82] According to Plant, the name Philaenis – a diminutive of philaina, the feminine form of the Greek word philos, meaning 'love' [83] – seems to have been commonly used by Greek prostitutes. [84] |
Phryne (Φρύνη) | c. 371 – after 316 BC | See also Aphrodite of Cnidus. |
Plangon (Πλαγγὼ), of Miletus | 4th century BC | Athenaeus, citing Menetor's treatise On Votive Offerings (περὶ Ἀναθημάτων), [85] writes of this woman: "Plangon the Milesian was a celebrated courtesan; and she, as she was most wonderfully beautiful, was desired by a young man of Colophon, who had a mistress already in Bacchis the Samian. Accordingly, when this young man began to address his solicitations to Plangon, she, having heard of the beauty of Bacchis, and wishing to make the young man abandon his love for herself, when she was unable to effect that, she required as the price of her favours the celebrated necklace of Bacchis. And he, as he was exceedingly in love, entreated Bacchis not to see him totally overwhelmed with despair; and Bacchis, seeing the excited state of the young man, gave him the necklace. And Plangon, when she saw the freedom from jealousy which was exhibited by Bacchis, sent her back the necklace, but kept the young man: and ever after Plangon and Bacchis were friends, loving the young man in common: and the Ionians being amazed at this, … gave Plangon the name of Pasiphila ('Dear-to-All')." [29] Two lines of Archilochus follow in Athenaeus: "Pasiphila like a lone fig-tree grows; / She welcomes lovers as it shelters crows." [86] Athenaeus earlier quotes a passage from Anaxilas's Neottis in which Plangon is referred to: "The man whoever has loved a courtesan, / Will say that no more lawless worthless race / Can anywhere be found ... / First there is Plangon; she, like a Chimaera, / Scorches the wretched barbarians with fire; / One knight (ἱππεύς) alone was found to rid the world of her, / Who, like a brave man, stole her furniture / And fled, and she despairing, disappeared." [87] A passage from Timocles's Orestautocleides (also in Athenaeus) lists Plangon among several ageing hetaerae: "And round the wretched man old women sleep, / Nannion and Plangon, Lyca, Phryne too, / Gnathaena, Pythionice, Myrrhine, / Chrysis, Conalis, Hierocleia, and / Lopadion also." [88] |
Pythionice (Πυθιονίκη) | 4th century BC | Courtesan at Athens and at Corinth. [89] Pausanias says she was married by Harpalus, [90] but Kapparis thinks she was probably only his mistress. [91] |
Rhodopis (Ῥοδῶπις) | 6th century BC | Celebrated Greek courtesan, of Thracian origin. Also called Doricha. |
Thaïs (Θαΐς) | 4th century BC | Greek courtesan, who lived during the time of Alexander the Great. She accompanied him on his Asiatic campaign, and is chiefly known from the story which represents her as having persuaded the conqueror to set fire to the city of Persepolis. This anecdote forms the subject of Dryden's Odeto Saint Cecilia's Day. But its authenticity is doubtful, since it is based upon the authority of Cleitarchus, one of the least trustworthy of the historians of Alexander. Thaïs subsequently became the wife of Ptolemy Lagus, king of Egypt. Numerous anecdotes and witticisms are attributed to her by Athenaeus. [92] [93] |
Thargelia (Θαργηλία) | According to Plutarch, she was born in Ionia and "made her onslaughts upon the most influential men" of her times. [94] Thargelia was noted for her physical beauty and was endowed with grace of manners as well as clever wits. Plutarch asserts that Thargelia "attached all her consorts to the King of Persia" and sought for the spreading of Persian sympathy in the cities of Greece by means of her clients, "who were men of the greatest power and influence". [94] |
Name | Dates | Biography |
---|---|---|
Shamhat (𒊩𒌑𒉺, Šamḫat) | Fictional (18th century BC) | In the old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh epic, a sacred temple prostitute (harimtu) who inducts Enkidu into Babylonian sexual rites and is therefore partly responsible for civilising the wild man. Also called Shamkat. |
Rahab | Biblical | In the Book of Joshua, the prostitute Rahab hides two men sent by Joshua to spy on Jericho. [95] |
In Greek mythology, Nereus was the eldest son of Pontus and Gaia, with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus and Doris became the parents of 50 daughters and a son (Nerites), with whom Nereus lived in the Aegean Sea.
Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first syllable of his Roman equivalent Jupiter.
Helen, also known as Helen of Troy, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda or Nemesis, and the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta "who became by her the father of Hermione, and, according to others, of Nicostratus also." Her abduction by Paris of Troy was the most immediate cause of the Trojan War.
In Greek mythology, Deimos is the personification of fear. He is the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the brother of Phobos. Deimos served to represent the feelings of dread and terror that befell those before a battle, while Phobos personified feelings of fear and panic in the midst of battle.
In Greek mythology, Hellen is the eponymous progenitor of the Hellenes. He is the child of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and the father of three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus, by whom he is the ancestor of the Greek peoples.
In Greek mythology, Peitho is the personification of persuasion. She is typically presented as an important companion of Aphrodite. Her opposite is Bia, the personification of force. As a personification, she was sometimes imagined as a goddess and sometimes an abstract power with her name used both as a common and proper noun. There is evidence that Peitho was referred to as a goddess before she was referred to as an abstract concept, which is rare for a personification. Peitho represents both sexual and political persuasion. She is associated with the art of rhetoric.
Aspasia was a metic woman in Classical Athens. Born in Miletus, she moved to Athens and began a relationship with the statesman Pericles, with whom she had a son named Pericles the Younger. According to the traditional historical narrative, she worked as a courtesan and was tried for asebeia (impiety), though modern scholars have questioned the factual basis for either of these claims, which both derive from ancient comedy. Though Aspasia is one of the best-attested women from the Greco-Roman world, and the most important woman in the history of fifth-century Athens, almost nothing is certain about her life.
A hetaira, Latinized as hetaera, was a type of courtesan or prostitute in ancient Greece, who served as an artist, entertainer, and conversationalist in addition to providing sexual service. Custom excluded the wives and daughters of Athenian citizens from the symposium, but this prohibition did not extend to hetairai, who were often foreign born and could be highly educated. Other female entertainers made appearances in the otherwise male domain, but hetairai joined the male guests in their sexual joking, sometimes evidencing a wide knowledge of literature in their contributions.
Lycurgus was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, credited with the formation of its eunomia, involving political, economic, and social reforms to produce a military-oriented Spartan society in accordance with the Delphic oracle. The Spartans in the historical period honoured him as god.
Phryne was an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan). Born Mnesarete, she was from Thespiae in Boeotia, but seems to have lived most of her life in Athens, where she became one of the wealthiest women in Greece.
The Menexenus is a Socratic dialogue of Plato, traditionally included in the seventh tetralogy along with the Greater and Lesser Hippias and the Ion. The speakers are Socrates and Menexenus, who is not to be confused with Socrates' son Menexenus. The Menexenus of Plato's dialogue appears also in the Lysis, where he is identified as the "son of Demophon", as well as the Phaedo.
Prostitution was a common aspect of ancient Greece. In the more important cities, and particularly the many ports, it employed a significant number of people and represented a notable part of economic activity. It was far from being clandestine; cities did not condemn brothels, but rather only instituted regulations on them.
Philaenis of Samos was supposedly the author of a famous ancient sex manual. According to a surviving fragment of a treatise which claims to have been written by her, she was from Samos, and her father was called Ocymenes. However, many modern scholars consider "Philaenis" a fictional character whose persona may have been adopted by a variety of erotic writers. Two satirical Greek epigrams from the Palatine Anthology by the poets Aeschrion of Samos and Dioscorides purport to defend Philaenis's reputation by insisting that she did not write the treatise attributed to her. Aeschrion instead insists that the treatise was written by the Athenian sophist Polycrates. The reputed writings of Philaenis were well known throughout classical antiquity and scholars believe that they may have influenced Ovid's Ars Amatoria.
Neaira, also Neaera, was a hetaera who lived in the 4th century BC in ancient Greece. She was brought to trial between 343 and 340 BC, accused of marrying an Athenian citizen illegally and misrepresenting her daughter as an Athenian citizen.
In Greek mythology, Phoenix or Phoinix was the eponym of Phoenicia who together with his brothers were tasked to find their abducted sister Europa.
Bilistiche or Belistiche was a Hellenistic courtesan of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and winner of the 264 BC Olympic Games in tethrippon and synoris.
The study of the lives of women in classical Athens has been a significant part of classical scholarship since the 1970s. The knowledge of Athenian women's lives comes from a variety of ancient sources. Much of it is literary evidence, primarily from tragedy, comedy, and oratory; supplemented with archaeological sources such as epigraphy and pottery. All of these sources were created by—and mostly for—men: there is no surviving ancient testimony by classical Athenian women on their own lives.
"Against Neaera" was a prosecution speech delivered by Apollodoros of Acharnae against the freedwoman Neaera. It was preserved as part of the Demosthenic corpus, though it is widely considered to be pseudo-Demosthenic, possibly written by Apollodoros himself. The speech was part of the prosecution of Neaera, a hetaera who was accused of unlawfully marrying an Athenian citizen. Though the speech claims that the case was brought for personal reasons, the date of the prosecution has led scholars to believe that it was in fact politically motivated. In common with most legal cases from ancient Athens, the outcome is unknown.
Gnathaena was an Athenian hetaira, a class of ancient Greek prostitutes who were companions to wealthy men. Though there is no source for either her date of birth or date of death, Gnathaena is known to have lived during the 4th century BCE due to her affiliations with various men of the era. Her most notable lover was Diphilus, an Athenian New Comedy playwright. According to Athenaeus, Gnathaena was famous for her lavish parties and witty repartee, and even wrote a treatise on proper conduct at her symposiums entitled, "Rules for Dining in Company".
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