Ahetaira (/hɪˈtaɪrə/;Ancient Greek:ἑταίρα,lit. 'companion';pl..ἑταῖραιhetairai,/hɪˈtaɪraɪ/),Latinized ashetaera (/hɪˈtɪrə/pl.hetaerae/hɪˈtɪriː/), was a type ofcourtesan orprostitute in ancient Greece, who served as an artist, entertainer, and conversationalist in addition to providing sexual service. Custom excluded the wives and daughters of Athenian citizens from thesymposium, but this prohibition did not extend tohetairai, who were often foreign born and could be highly educated. Other female entertainers made appearances in the otherwise male domain, buthetairai joined the male guests in their sexual joking, sometimes evidencing a wide knowledge of literature in their contributions.
Traditionally, historians of ancient Greece have distinguished betweenhetairai andpornai, another class of prostitute. In contrast to pornai, who provided sex for numerous clients in brothels or on the street,hetairai 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.[1] For instance,Charles Seltman wrote in 1953 that "hetaeras were certainly in a very different class, often highly educated women".[2]
More recently, historians have questioned the extent to which there was really a distinction betweenhetairai and pornai. The second edition of theOxford Classical Dictionary, for instance, held thathetaira was a euphemism for any kind of prostitute.[3] This position is supported by Konstantinos Kapparis, who holds thatApollodorus' famous tripartite division of the types of women in the speechAgainst 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."[4]) classes all prostitutes together, under the termhetairai.[5][6]
A third position, advanced by Rebecca Futo Kennedy, suggests thathetairai "were not prostitutes or even courtesans".[7] Instead, she argues,hetairai were "elite women ... who participated insympotic and luxury culture",[8] just ashetairoi—the masculine form of the word—was used to refer to groups of elite men at symposia.[7]
Even when the termhetaira was used to refer to a specific class of prostitute, though, scholars disagree on what precisely the line of demarcation was. Kurke emphasises thathetairai veiled the fact that they were selling sex through the language of gift-exchange, while pornai explicitly commodified sex.[10] Leslie Kurke claims that bothhetairai and pornai could be slaves or free, and might or might not work for apimp.[10] Kapparis says thathetairai were high-class prostitutes, and citesDover as pointing to the long-term nature of hetairai's relationships with individual men.[11] Miner disagrees with Kurke, claiming thathetairai were always free, not slaves.[12]
Along with sexual services, women described ashetairai rather thanpornai seem to have often been educated, and have provided companionship.[13] According to Kurke, the concept of hetairism was a product of thesymposium, wherehetairai were permitted as sexually available companions of the male party-goers.[14] InAthenaeus'Deipnosophistai,hetairai 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.[15] Particularly, "witty" and "refined" were seen as attributes which distinguishedhetairai from common pornai.[16] Hetairai are likely to have been musically educated, too.[17]
Freehetairai 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 inbrothels, or working as pimps, in order to ensure a continued income as they got older.[18]
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.[19]
_-_01.jpg)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link), quoted inDavidson 1998, p. 75
Authority control databases: National |
|---|