Hetaira

Summary

Traditionally, historians of ancient Greece have distinguished between grc and pornai, another class of prostitute. In contrast to grc, who provided sex for numerous clients in brothels or on the street, grc were thought to have had only a few men as clients at any one time, to have had long-term relationships with them, and to have provided companionship and intellectual stimulation as well as sex. For instance, Charles Seltman wrote in 1953 that "hetaeras were certainly in a very different class, often highly educated women".

More recently, historians have questioned the extent to which there was really a distinction between grc and grc. The second edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary, for instance, held that grc was a euphemism for any kind of prostitute. This position is supported by Konstantinos Kapparis, who holds that Apollodorus' famous tripartite division of the types of women in the speech Against Neaera ("We have courtesans for pleasure, concubines for the daily tending of the body, and wives in order to beget legitimate children and have a trustworthy guardian of what is at home.") classes all prostitutes together, under the term grc.

A third position, advanced by Rebecca Futo Kennedy, suggests that grc "were not prostitutes or even courtesans". Instead, she argues, grc were "elite women ... who participated in sympotic and luxury culture", just as grcthe masculine form of the wordwas used to refer to groups of elite men at symposia.

Even when the term grc was used to refer to a specific class of prostitute, though, scholars disagree on what precisely the line of demarcation was. Kurke emphasises that grc veiled the fact that they were selling sex through the language of gift-exchange, while grc explicitly commodified sex. Leslie Kurke claims that both grc and grc could be slaves or free, and might or might not work for a pimp. Miner disagrees with Kurke, claiming that grc were always free, not slaves.

Along with sexual services, women described as grc rather than grc seem to have often been educated, and have provided companionship. According to Kurke, the concept of hetairism was a product of the symposium, where grc were permitted as sexually available companions of the male party-goers. In Athenaeus' Deipnosophistai, grc are described as providing "flattering and skillful conversation": something which is, elsewhere in classical literature, seen as a significant part of the hetaira's role. Particularly, "witty" and "refined" were seen as attributes which distinguished grc from common grc. grc are likely to have been musically educated, too.

Free grc could become very wealthy, and control their own finances. However, their careers could be short, and if they did not earn enough to support themselves, they might have been forced to resort to working in brothels, or working as pimps, in order to ensure a continued income as they got older.

Iconography

Scholars also disagree about the identification of hetaeras in ancient Greek vase painting. Attributes which might identify hetaeras include nudity, involvement in erotic activity, and the presence of money bags. Working with textiles, depiction on kylixes, and being named in inscriptions have all also been used as evidence that women depicted on vases are hetaeras. However, the reliability of all of these indications has been questioned: for instance nudity in the context of athletics, wedding rituals, or supplication does not necessarily relate to sex work. Some scholars have argued that it is impossible to distinguish hetaeras from other kinds of women, or that some depictions of women are intentionally ambiguous. File:Reveller courtesan BM E44.jpg|A prostitute putting on her himation in front of her client. The lyre shows that she is a musician called for a banquet. Tondo of an Attic cup with red figures. Euphronius v.490 BC, British Museum. File:Drunken banqueter Louvre G13.jpg|Drunken banqueter with a drinking dish, flirting with a musician holding a lyre or barbiton File:Crátera con simposio del pintor de Nicias.jpg|Symposium, men on couches, the only woman present is a grc. File:Banquet scene Louvre G135.jpg|Party musicians are often associated with prostitution. Bottom painting of a bowl from Attica, with red clay figures on a black background. The author is the so-called Painter of Colmar, . The Louvre Museum. File:Kylix of the Symposium of the Hetairai by Oltos vase painter - MAN.JPG|Man and grc in symposium File:Jean-Léon Gérôme, Phryne revealed before the Areopagus (1861) - 01.jpg|19th century interpretation of the grc: Jean-Léon Gérôme's painting Phryne Before the Areopagus depicts the grc Phryne on trial. The sight of her nude body, according to legend, persuaded the jurors to acquit her.

References

References

1. Kurke, Leslie. (1997). "Inventing the "Hetaira": Sex, Politics, and Discursive Conflict in Archaic Greece". Classical Antiquity.
2. Seltman, Charles. (1953). "Women in Greek Society".
3. (1970). "The Oxford Classical Dictionary". Oxford University Press.
4. Kapparis, Konstantinos A.. (1999). "Apollodoros 'Against Neaira' [D.59]".
5. Kapparis, Konstantinos A.. (1999). "Apollodoros 'Against Neaira' [D.59]".
6. Kapparis, Konstantinos A.. (1999). "Apollodoros 'Against Neaira' [D.59]".
7. Futo Kennedy, Rebecca. (2014). "Immigrant Women in Athens: Gender, Ethnicity, and Citizenship in the Classical City". Routledge.
8. Futo Kennedy, Rebecca. (2014). "Immigrant Women in Athens: Gender, Ethnicity, and Citizenship in the Classical City". Routledge.
9. "Attic Red-Figure Kylix".
10. Kurke, Leslie. (1997). "Inventing the "Hetaira": Sex, Politics, and Discursive Conflict in Archaic Greece". Classical Antiquity.
11. Kapparis, Konstantinos A.. (1999). "Apollodoros 'Against Neaira' [D.59]".
12. Miner, Jess. (2003). "Courtesan, Concubine, Whore: Apollodorus' Deliberate Use of Terms for Prostitutes". The American Journal of Philology.
13. Kapparis, Konstantinos A.. (1999). "Apollodoros 'Against Neaira' [D.59]".
14. Kurke, Leslie. (1997). "Inventing the "Hetaira": Sex, Politics, and Discursive Conflict in Archaic Greece". Classical Antiquity.
15. McClure, Laura. (2003). "Subversive Laughter: The Sayings of Courtesans in Book 13 of Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae". The American Journal of Philology.
16. McClure, Laura. (2003). "Subversive Laughter: The Sayings of Courtesans in Book 13 of Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae". The American Journal of Philology.
17. Hamel, Debra. (2003). "Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece". Yale University Press.
18. Kapparis, Konstantinos A.. (1999). "Apollodoros 'Against Neaira' [D.59]".
19. McClure, Laura. (2024). "Phryne of Thespiae: Courtesan, Muse, and Myth". Oxford University Press.