Search Results: Hetaira

A hetaira (pl. hetairai) was an educated female prostitute in ancient Greece and a common participant in symposia or drinking parties in private homes. Sometimes referred to in English as a courtesan, the Greek term hetaira was a euphemism...

Prostitution in ancient Athens was legal and regulated by the state. During the Greek Archaic Period (c. 800-479 BCE) brothels were instituted and taxed by the lawgiver Solon (l. c. 630 - c. 560 BCE), and this policy continued into the Classical...

Aspasia of Miletus (l. c. 470-410/400 BCE) is best known as the consort of the great Athenian statesman Pericles. Her life story has always been given in the shadow of Pericles' fame, but she was a woman of great eloquence and intelligence...

The symposium (or symposion) was an important part of ancient Greek culture from the 7th century BCE and was a party held in a private home where Greek males gathered to drink, eat and sing together. Various topics were also discussed such...

Women in the ancient Greek world had few rights in comparison to male citizens. Unable to vote, own land, or inherit, a woman's place was in the home and her purpose in life was the rearing of children. That is a general description and when...

Although ancient Greek Society was dominated by the male citizen, with his full legal status, right to vote, hold public office, and own property, the social groups which made up the population of a typical Greek city-state or polis were...

Love, sex, and marriage in ancient Greece are portrayed in Greek literature as distinct, yet closely intertwined, elements of life. For many upper-class men, marriages did not take place for love, and other relationships, be it with men or...

A scene from a Greek red-figure kylix showing a hetaira and symposiast. c. 490 BCE. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

A scene from the interior bowl of a red-figure kylix or stemmed drinking cup (490-480 BCE) depicting a symposiast and hetaira - high-class prostitute. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Red-figure chous. This symposium scene depicts a youthful symposiast reclining on a coach whilst a hetaira plays the harp. In was found in the Theatre of Dionysus, and is painted by the Eretria Painter, 425- 420 BCE. National Archaeological...