Improper women

• Why was it common for hetairai to be educated?

  to entertain and have conversations with the guests at symposia, e.g. could play music and discuss politics (unlike citizen women)
• What is a porne?


  A low class Greek prostitute (almost always a slave) who worked in a brothel
• Who was Pericles?


  high-ranking Athenian politician who loved Aspasia very much
• Give the two terms for prostitutes in Greece


  porne (lower class); hetaira (higher class)
• What was a metic?


  A non Athenian resident of Athens They had no political rights
• Give some details about the life of Aspasia

  hetaira, owned a brothel, metic who lived in Athens, highly educated and charming very beautiful, famous, Athenian men like Socrates visited her to hear her speak about rhetoric, she had a 15 year relationship with Pericles, people believed she influenced his politics
• What was a lena?


  A female brothel keeper in Rome, would be infamis, always depicted as ugly and greedy in Roman literature
• Name some professions that made people infamis in Rome.

  prostitute, brothel-keeper, gladiator, chariot-racer, actor
• Could meretrices attend festivals in Rome?

  Yes! (but not all) - especially the festival of Venus and Fortuna Virilis
• Who would some meretrices become rich?

  richer clients; might be left money in their clients' will; charge higher prices if she is more beautiful/educated
• Why didn't meretrices provide entertainment at dinner parties in Rome?


  wives would attend dinner parties
• What sorts of women became prostitutes?


  slaves, desperately poor women; foreigners
• Could low class prostitutes work anywhere other than a brothel?


  bars, on busy streets
• Why didn't meretrices wear standard female clothing?


  toga was a badge of shame for women; makes them recognisable (could not be confused for a respectable woman); showed they were in the public sphere like men.
• What did Roman prostitutes wear?


  toga (male clothing)
• Where might a brothel be located?


  lower end of city, cramped dirty alleyways
• What was a lupanar?


  Roman brothel
• What was a symposium?


  Greek drinking party, hetairai were paid to attend
• Give some details about the life of Neiaira


  born in Corinth, slave, sold to a brothel at a young age; sold to various people, one owner (Phrynion) was brutally violent so she escaped; began a fake marriage with an Athenian man called Stephanus; was taken to court for impersonating an Athenian citizen - we do not know the outcome of the case
• What is a hetaira?

  a higher class prostitute in Athens
• What is the Roman word for prostitute?


  meretrix (could be low-class or high-class)
• What does infamis mean in Rome?


  The very low legal status given to a number of groups in Rome; prostitutes had to register as infamis
• Was prostitution legal in Athens and Rome?


  Yes, and it was taxed
• Give some details of the life of Cytheris

  famous meretrix and actress in Rome; very beautiful; born a slave but freed by her owner so he could charge higher prices; became rich and famous; became the mistress of Marc Antony (but he broke it off when Julius Caesar said it wasn't appropriate); had an affair with the poet Gallus, who called her LYCORIS in his poems
• What does the nickname Cytheris mean?


  'lady of Cythera' (i.e. a goddess of love)
• What was Cytheris' real name?

  Volumnia was her name at birth
• Who was Clodia Metelli?


  rich, noble Roman woman, married, but had multiple affairs - showed no pudicitia
• Who was Cicero?


  a lawyer who made a speech in court criticising Clodia's behaviour
• Who was Catullus?


  A Roman poet - had an affair with Clodia and wrote poems about her - called her Lesbia to protect her
• How does Catullus portray Clodia in his poetry?

  passionate (wants infinite kisses), says she broke up with him, assumes she has moved on to someone else; says she talks to her husband about him
• Why does Catullus call Clodia Lesbia?

  to protect her identity, and as a tribute to the famous female poet from Lesbos (Sappho)
• How does Cicero portray Clodia in his law-court speech?

  calls her a 'tart', says she kissed men on beaches and wears revealing clothing; says a man could not be criticised for having an affair with a woman who behaves like a prostitute