p/word-nerds

Hetairai (ἑταίραι - hetairai, singular ἑταίρα - hetaira)

Gratis

Psionics

Komos

Thiasoi - (plural) Thiasos (singular)

I didn’t want to put this on the main post, but Aspasia was one of the few recorded hetairai that managed to marry a citizen (Pericles) and went on to have a son with him by that same name who served as a general (one of the most influential positions at that time). She is also rumored to have been a tutor of Socrates, however I couldn’t pin down how much of this is feminist revisionist history but I think from what I can tell, they definitely interacted with one another. Socrates has his own interesting anecdote with a hetaira named Theodore where he seemingly [gets her to agree to let him be her pimp…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdXFuXtt6Y0)

**The Trial of Phryne and the “She’s too hot to be guilty” defense** Phryne was a 4th century BC hetaira, thought by many to be as beautiful as the goddess Aphrodite. She found herself in a pickle where she was brought up on charges of sacrilege against the Elusinian Mysteries(this carried the death penalty). The details are fuzzy and this is all according to legend but it is said that during the trial it looked as though she was going to be found guilty. Hearing this news, her lawyer Hypereides, (one of her suitors & a famous orator) pulled a proverbial “hail Mary” and disrobed her before the jurors essentially arguing that “**she’s to hot to be guilty**”. The jurors were so moved by her beauty that she was acquitted.  [image] The scene is depicted in Jean-Léon Gérôme's painting “Phryne Revealed Before the Areopagus” 1861 #YouCantMakeThisShitUp

**%%The Rise of an Athenian Sugar baby who was more beautiful than god%%** Phryne was born Mnesarete, around 370 BC in the city of Thespiae. She’s thought to have come to Athens to participate in the sex trade. Little is known about her life until she caught the eye of Praxiteles, however  by this time (roughly 345 BC) she had become a very skilled  and sought after Hetaira. *The Muse of Praxiteles & model of Aphrodite of Knidos:* Praxiteles was a renowned Athenian sculptor from an exceedingly wealthy Athenian family. This is perhaps the most famous story connecting Phryne to art history. Phryne was Praxiteles’ lover, his muse and model for the first-ever nude statue of Aphrodite – the famous Aphrodite of (pictured below) This statue was so revolutionary and beautiful that it became one of the most celebrated works of art in antiquity, drawing people from all over the Mediterranean to Knidos to behold it. For Phryne to be the model for such a groundbreaking and revered depiction of a goddess speaks volumes about her unparalleled beauty. [image] This is not the original, but a Roman copy. The original has been lost to time.  The people of Knidos also used this image on their coinage. [image] Being the embodiment of the goddess Aphrodite whose likeness was worshiped in temples and being the model for the very coinage that was used every day must have went to her head. She also began to become pretty wealthy with this notoriety as we  will see later.

***How Phryne Mimicked the Divine*** Beyond posing for a statue, Phryne was known for public displays of her beauty that bordered on religious ritual. It's recounted that she would occasionally disrobe completely, either at the Eleusinian Mysteries or during the Festival of Poseidon at Eleusis, entering the sea without clothing. These acts were incredibly audacious and scandalous for the time, blurring the lines between mortal beauty, divine worship, and provocative performance. It contributed to the belief that her beauty was not merely human but truly god-like. [image] *Henryk Siemiradzki: Phryne at the Festival of Poseidon in Eleusis, 1889* For a woman, public nudity (outside of specific ritual contexts where it was highly controlled, or within a private symposium) was deeply transgressive in ancient Athens. It was considered immodest, scandalous, and offensive to public morals…but she was famous & young & exceedingly beautiful during this time so…she kept on. She kept up her profession and a few years later Phryne amassed a liquid fortune that would be equivalent to somewhere in the ball park of 100’s of millions dollars today. For scale, even the wealthiest families in Athens’ fortunes were only multi deca millionaires. (Roughly 30m-50m) Much of this being tied up in real estate and other investments. Engagements with her would set you back a cool 500 drachmas. A day’s wage for a skilled laborer was 1 drachma so we’ll round it out at $50k-$75k in today’s terms for a night with her. She was so wealthy that after Alexander (yes, THAT Alexander) destroyed the city of Thebes in 335 BC, she offered to pay for the rebuilding of them…if her conditions were met. She wanted the walls to be inscribed with this message “Destroyed by Alexander, restored by Phryne the hetaira”. This generous, yet arrogant offer was rejected.

Great post! Very interesting! Joined!