Hetaera

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Hetaera

In ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
, hetaerae (in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, hetairai) were courtesan

Courtesan

A courtesan is mainly what one may call a high-class prostitute. A courtesan would offer her charms and sexual pleasures, generally and more usually to people of substantial wealth, in return for a good and respectable living, especially during hard times of poverty....
s, that is to say, sophisticated companions and prostitutes.

ncient Greek society, hetaerae were independent and sometimes influential women who were required to wear distinctive dresses and had to pay taxes. Composed mostly of ex-slaves and foreigners, these courtesans were renowned for their achievements in dance and music, as well as for their physical talents.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Hetaera'

Start a new discussion about 'Hetaera'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

In ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, hetairai) were courtesan

Courtesan

Overview

In ancient Greek society, hetaerae were independent and sometimes influential women who were required to wear distinctive dresses and had to pay taxes. Composed mostly of ex-slaves and foreigners, these courtesans were renowned for their achievements in dance and music, as well as for their physical talents. There is evidence that, unlike most other women in Greek society at the time, hetaerae were educated. It is remarkable that hetaerae not only were the only women who would actively take part in the symposia

Symposium

Symposium originally referred to a drinking party but has since come to refer to any academic conference, or a style of university class characterized by an openly discursive rather than lecture and question–answer format....
, but also that their opinions and beliefs were respected by men.

Some similarities have been found between the ancient Greek hetaera, the earlier Babylonian Naditu

Naditu

Naditu or Naditu is the designation of a legal position for women in Babylonian society and for Sumerian temple slaves. The latter were primarily involved in business activities and were allowed to own property....
, the Japanese Oiran

Oiran

were courtesans in Japan. The oiran were considered a type of "woman of pleasure", or prostitute. However, they are distinguished from the yujo in that they were entertainers rather than simply sex workers, and many became celebrities of their times outside the pleasure districts....
, and the Korean kisaeng

Kisaeng

Kisaeng , sometimes called ginyeo , were female Korean entertainers. Kisaeng are artists who work to entertain others, such as the Yangbans and kings....
, complex figures that are perhaps in an intermediate position between prostitutes and entertainers.

Among the most famous were Thargelia

Thargelia (person)

Thargelia was a renowned hetaera in ancient Greece.According to Plutarch, she was born in Ionia and "made her onslaughts upon the most influential men" of her times....
, a renowned Ionian

Ionians

The Ionians were one of the three populations into which the ancient Greeks considered the population of Hellenes to have been divided."Ionian" with reference to populations had two senses in Classical Greece....
hetaera of ancient times, Aspasia

Aspasia

Aspasia was a Miletus woman who was Celebrity for her involvement with the Athens statesman Pericles. Very little is known about the details of her life....
, long-time companion of the Athenian politician Pericles

Pericles

Pericles was a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of History of Athens during the city's Age of Pericles?specifically, the time between the Greco-Persian Wars and Peloponnesian War wars....
, Archeanassa

Archeanassa

Archeanassa of Colophon was a hetaera, or courtesan, whom Plato frequented in his youth.Sources* Anthologia Palatina, Book vii, 217....
companion of Plato

Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greece Greeks philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Platonic Academy in Ancient Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world....
, the famous Neaira

Neaira (hetaera)

Neaira, or Neaera, was a hetaera who lived in the 4th century BC in ancient Greece; there is no reliable data about the exact dates of her birth and death....
, and Thaïs

Thaïs

Tha?s was a famous Greek hetaera who lived during the time of Alexander the Great and accompanied him on his campaigns.Tha?s first came to the attention of history when, in 330 BC, Alexander the Great burned down the palace of Persepolis after a drinking party....
, a concubine of Ptolemy

Ptolemy I Soter

Ptolemy I Soter was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty....
, general on the expedition of Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
and later king of Egypt.

Hetaerae appear to have been regarded as distinct from pornê or simple prostitutes, and also distinguished from mistresses or wives. In the oration Against Neaera, Demosthenes

Demosthenes

Demosthenes was a prominent Greeks statesman and orator of History of Athens. His oratorys constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC....
said:

“We have hetaerae for pleasure, pallakae
Pallakae

Pallakai, singular, pallake, was the general name given to a prostitute in ancient Greece...
to care for our daily body’s needs and gynaekes
Wife

A wife is a female spouse, or participant in a marriage....
to bear us legitimate children and to be faithful guardians of our households.”

In this same oration, Demosthenes mentions that Neaira

Neaira (hetaera)

Neaira, or Neaera, was a hetaera who lived in the 4th century BC in ancient Greece; there is no reliable data about the exact dates of her birth and death....
's purchase price (both at her original purchase by Timanoridas of Corinth and Eucrates of Leucas and her own subsequent purchase of her freedom) was 30 mina

Mina

Mina can refer to:...
s. Since the mina was equal to 100 drachmae and the drachma can be thought of as equivalent to the daily wage of a skilled worker, this would make her purchase price over 8 years salary—obviously beyond the means of the average person.

The male form of the word, hetaeros (pl. hetaeroi), signified male companions in the sense of a business or political associate. Most famously, it referred to Alexander the Great's bodyguard cavalry unit (see Companion cavalry

Companion cavalry

The Companions were the elite cavalry of the Ancient Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world....
).

In Jungian psychology, the hetaere is one of Toni Wolff

Toni Wolff

Toni Wolff , was a patient and later a student and lover of Carl Jung. Wolff later became a Jungian analyst. Her extramarital relationship with Jung was openly enacted through a course of ten years....
's four feminine archetype

Archetype

An archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all....
s.

Hetaera

Overview

See also

External links