Related Research Articles
Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution, and religious prostitution are purported rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage. Scholars prefer the terms "sacred sex" or "sacred sexual rites" in cases where payment for services is not involved.
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.
The hooker with a heart of gold is a stock character involving a courtesan or prostitute who possesses virtues such as integrity, generosity and kindness.
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. Though she apparently grew up poor, she became one of the wealthiest women in Greece.
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.
Apollodorus of Acharnae in Attica was an Athenian politician known from several ancient forensic speeches which were preserved as part of the Demosthenic corpus. He was the son of Pasion, a wealthy banker who had been granted Athenian citizenship in thanks for the gifts he had made to the city of Athens.
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.
Metaneira was a hetaira active in Classical Corinth and Athens. As a child, she was purchased by Nikarete of Corinth. She was raised as a daughter, along with Neaera, and molded into a hetaera. Athenaeus claims that she was the mistress of both Isocrates and Lysias, who according to Apollodorus arranged for her to be initiated into the Mysteries of Eleusis.
Xenokleides was an Athenian poet of the 4th century BC. None of his works have survived. He was one of the hetaera Neaira's lovers. According to Apollodorus of Acharnae, 369 BC, he spoke out against Callistratus's request to support Sparta over Thebes. He was prosecuted for avoiding military service, though as a tax-collector for the year he was exempt from military duties, convicted, and disenfranchised. This prosecution, brought by one Stephanos on behalf of Callistratus, was probably intended to remove Xenokleides as a political opponent. In 343, Xenokleides was living in Macedonia, and was banished by Philip II; he appears to have been once again living in Athens by the time the speech Against Neaira was delivered.
Rhodopis or Rodopis, real name possibly Doricha (Δωρίχα), was a celebrated 6th-century BCE hetaera, of Thracian origin. She is one of only two hetaerae mentioned by name in Herodotus' discussion of the profession.
Phila of Thebes was a hetaira in Athens. She may have been enslaved at the Siege of Thebes in 335 BC. Originally, she was enslaved to a woman called Nicarete who purchased and trained several women to become courtesans. Phila was eventually ransomed for a large sum by the famous orator Hyperides, who installed her at his house in Eleusis.
Lamia of Athens was a celebrated courtesan, and mistress of Demetrius Poliorcetes.
"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.
The speeches "Against Stephanos" were two orations surviving in the Demosthenic corpus, and delivered by Apollodoros of Acharnae. The second speech against Stephanos, preserved as Demosthenes' 46th, was certainly not composed by Demosthenes, but the authorship of the first speech is disputed. The speeches are part of a dispute between Apollodoros and his stepfather Phormion.
Epitrepontes is an Ancient Greek comedy, written c. 300 BCE by Menander. Only fragments of the play have been found, primarily on papyrus, yet it is one of Menander's best-preserved plays.
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".
Aristagora can refer to one of two women in classical antiquity:
Charixene, or Charixena, was an Ancient Greek musician, poet and composer. She was a professional fluteplayer. She was active as a poet and achieved some fame, and Eustathios lists her among Sappho and Korinna as a woman poet worthy of praise. She also wrote erotic songs, and composed tunes for wind instruments. She was respected as an artist, but as a person, many comic poets of the time referred to her as stupid and naive, and her name became an expression of stupidity.
Sacred prostitution, also known as temple or cult prostitution, involved various activities in ancient times, many of which that occurred in Greece were in some way related to the Greek Goddess Aphrodite and the Greek city of Corinth. The reason for the fascination with prostitution in general was because in ancient times, women’s bodies were viewed as more sexually desirable than men’s because of their potential fertility, and sexuality and fertility were celebrated for these aspects of them. In terms of their bodily functions and their purpose, women’s bodies were more valued than men’s because of their potential fertility, and therefore were viewed as more sexually desirable than men’s. This led to an interest in prostitution, and sacred prostitution was a form of prostitution in which people dedicated either themselves or their children to their deity as a form of religious worship.
References
- ↑ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). Apollodoros "Against Neaira" [D 59]: Ed. with Introduction, Translation and Commentary by Konstantinos A. Kapparis. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 95. ISBN 311016390X.
- ↑ Hunt, Peter (2018). Ancient Greek and Roman Slavery. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 104. ISBN 9781405188050.
- ↑ Kapparis, Konstantinos (2018). Prostitution in the Ancient Greek World. Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 300. ISBN 9783110557954.
- ↑ Kapparis, Konstantinos (2018). Prostitution in the Ancient Greek World. Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 433. ISBN 9783110557954.
- ↑ Berkowitz, Eric (2012). Sex and Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press. p. 80. ISBN 9781582437965.
 | This sexuality-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |