Hetaera
Courtesans ( Greek ἑταῖραι hetairai "companions", singular ἑταῖρα) were female prostitutes in ancient times . In contrast to whores (Greek πόρναι pornai , Sing .: πόρνη porne ) they were socially recognized. The ancient hetaerae were educated and practiced music commercially. They mastered the art of dance and song, they played aulos and kithara . The hetaera Lamia of Athens and Aphrodite Belestiche became particularly famous as aulos blowers .
According to the legal regulation of prostitution in Athens by the legislation of Solon (* around 640 BC; † around 560 BC), the state also received income from it, the Pornikon telos tax (Greek Πορνικὸν τέλος). In ancient Greece it was not frowned upon to have contact with hetaerae, since Greek women mainly worked in the household ( oikos ) and, in contrast to their companions , were mostly ignorant of art, culture, literature and philosophy. The wages of the hetaera could range from a small amount to very large sums. The distinction between simple prostitution and hetarianism is usually difficult, if at all, to be possible.
Well-known hetaires were Lais of Corinth , Lais of Hykkara , Lamia , a hetaera of Demetrios I. Poliorketes , Leæna , Neaira , Phryne , allegedly the model of the famous female statue of Aphrodite of Knidos by the sculptor Praxiteles , Rhodopis , Thaïs , hetaera of Alexander the Great and by Ptolemaios I. Soter as well as Pythionike and Glykera , Hetaera des Harpalos .
The hetaera is also a very common type in ancient comedy , for example in Plautus and Terence . In imperial Rome , the most distinguished Roman women were at times hetaera, until a senate resolution forbade this if the father or husband held the knighthood .
The respected female way of life of the ancient hetaerae is often compared with that of other countries and epochs: mistress (France), courtesan (France / Italy), Gisaeng (Korea), Kalavanti (India) and geisha (Japan).
The original and underlying male form of the word - hetairos , "companion, friend, comrade" - cannot be compared with the female term and denotes a fundamentally different relationship concept.
swell
- Lukian : Talks with hetaerae . Edition Ebersbach, Dortmund 2000, ISBN 3-934703-01-1
literature
- Wolfgang Schuller : The world of the hetaerae. Famous women between legend and reality. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-608-96001-3
- Elke Hartmann : marriage, hetarianism and concubinage in classical Athens. Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-593-37007-7 .
- Carola Reinsberg : marriage, hetarianism and boy love in ancient Greece. 3rd edition, Beck, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-406-37374-7 .
- Florian M. Müller, Veronika Sossau (ed.): Companions. Dealing with prostitution in ancient Greece and today , University Press, Innsbruck 2012, ISBN 978-3-902811-45-5 . (= Spectana - Writings of the Archaeological Museum Innsbruck , Volume 1).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Eva Weissweiler: Musically creative women from antiquity to the Middle Ages in: Composers from the Middle Ages to the Present dtv Bärenreiter, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-423-30726-9 , pp. 23–54, here: 28/29.
- ↑ compare Hans Volkmann : Hetairai . In: The Little Pauly . dtv, Munich 1979, Vol. 2, Col. 1122 f., and Heinz Bellen : Hetairoi . In: ibid., Col. 1124.