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The most famous ancient Greek getters & nbsp. The art of seduction: what the getters actually did in ancient Greece Difference from prostitution

Getters stood on a higher rung of the social ladder and occupied a higher position than street and brothel prostitutes. privacy Greeks. They often enjoyed respect from society. Many of them were distinguished by excellent education and wit; they knew how to entertain the most prominent people of their time - commanders, statesmen, writers and artists, they knew how to keep them; they had the ability to combine intellect and give the joy of bodily pleasures, which was greatly revered by the Greeks of that time. In everyone's life prominent figure, which manifested itself in the history of Hellenism, geter played an important role. Many contemporaries did not find anything shameful in this. In the time of Polybius, on many of the most beautiful houses Alexandria flaunted the names of famous flutists and getters. Sculptural images of such women were exhibited in temples and other public places next to the images of generals and statesmen. Indeed, the degrading sense of honor in Greek free policies descended to the veneration of those hetaerae who were in intimate relations with influential people, their images were decorated with wreaths, and sometimes they were even revered by altars in temples.

Getters were also awarded other honors, which are even difficult to imagine. Naturally, the type of their activity was especially popular in big cities, and especially in the influential port and trading city of Corinth, on the isthmus between two seas. Because of the hustle and bustle free life in this metropolis of ancient trade, so rich and prosperous, it would hardly be an exaggeration what happened there and was on everyone's lips. An inscription found in a brothel in Pompeii ("HIC HABITAT FELICITAS" - "HERE LIVES HAPPINESS", the inscription was found in a real brothel, on a cake that prostitutes often kept for their customers) - this inscription could equally well be written in giant letters in the Corinthian harbour. Everything that human debauchery can imagine finds in Corinth a haven and an example to follow, and many men have not been able to get back out of the whirlwind of very expensive pleasures. big city, because they often lost their honorable name, health and fortunes, so this city entered the proverb "Corinth is not affordable for everyone." Priestesses of corrupt love gathered in crowds in the city. In the area of the two ports there were many brothels of various ranks, and prostitutes roamed the streets of the city in droves. To a certain extent, the focus of such love and its school was the temple of Venus, in which no less than a thousand hetaerae, or temple servants - hierodules - as they were euphemistically called, practiced their craft and were always ready to greet their friends.

At the base of the fortress of Acrocorinth, known to everyone from Schiller's poem "Ivikov Cranes", surrounded by a powerful stone wall, stood the temple of Aphrodite, visible from the sea from the west and from the east. Today, at this place, where the temple girls welcomed wanderers, there is a Turkish mosque.

In 464 BC. e. the Hellenes again gathered at Olympia to celebrate the great games, and the noble and wealthy Xenophon of Corinth, the son of Thessalus, won the stadium. To celebrate the victory, Pindar, the most famous of the Greek poets, wrote a magnificent song of victory, which has survived to this day, which was probably sung in the presence of the author himself or when the victor was solemnly welcomed in his native city or in procession to the temple of Zeus for laying wreaths.

Even before Xenophon was victorious, he swore an oath that he would bring a hundred girls to serve in the temple. In addition to his "Olympic Ode", Pindar wrote a hymn, which hetaeras performed to music and dances. They were accorded an honor such as had never before been accorded to them, and which could only be accorded to them in Greece. Unfortunately, only the beginning of this “Ode” has survived: “The maidens about many guests, / Servants of the goddess of the Call, / In abundant Corinth / Burning on the altar / Pale tears of yellow incense, / Carried away by thought / To the heavenly Aphrodite, mother of love, / And she grants you, young ones, / The tender fruit of your years / To plunder without reproach from a loving bed: / Where Inevitability does, everything is good there. / But what will those who rule over Isthm say to me, / The chant of this song, sweet as honey, / Hearing a common one with common wives? / We have known gold as a touchstone ... / O mistress of Cyprus, / Here, in your canopy / A hundred-membered host of young women to pasture / introduces Xenophon, / Rejoicing at the fulfillment of his vows.

Where else have ideas about prostitution been so free from prejudice? Therefore, it is easy to understand that literature also - not medicine and the court, as we have, but literature - diligently absorbed stories about the temple prostitutes of Aphrodite. The Greeks had a large number of works about getters, some of them - for example, Lucian's "Conversations of Getters" - have come down to us in full, others - in more or less complete fragments. Lucian very vividly draws a variety of relationships between getters.

Under the name "Chreya" (that is, what can be useful, be useful) Mahon of Sicyon (lived between 300-260 BC), who spent most of his life in Alexandria and whose years of life were established due to the fact that he was the tutor of the grammarian Aristophanes of Byzantium, collected all kinds of anecdotes from the scandalous chronicle of the court of the Diadochi, written in iambic trimeter. The fact that much attention is paid to hetaera in this book, for the most part lost, is confirmed by detailed excerpts from it given by Athenaeus. In addition to the book of Mahon, Athenaeus had at his disposal many other works about the life of hetaerae, from which (especially in the thirteenth book of his "Feasting Sophists") he gives many details; of which we will make a small selection.

Most famous getters, their life, anecdotes and witty sayings

We'll start with those who have appeared on stage as comedy characters. Of course, we are not talking about the fact that getters appeared on stage as performers, since at that time female roles played by men, we mean the prototype characters.

Clepsydra was the heroine of the comedy Eubulus, even fragments of which have not come down to us. Her real name was Metiha, Klepsydra was called her girlfriends; her name meant water clock, and so she was called because she rendered services exactly on the clock, that is, until the clepsydra was empty.

Ferekrat wrote a comedy called Corianno, that was the name of one hetaera. Nothing remains of this comedy, except for some fragments, from which it is clear that this priestess of Aphrodite was ridiculed for her addiction to wine. The old plots of comedy also did not go unnoticed: one and the other fall in love with the same girl and both seek her favor, and both try to explain why he should achieve her favor. Small fragments have come down to us.

From Evnik's comedy "Anteia" one verse has been preserved - "Take my ears and give me a kiss with your hands" (see p. 250), so we do not even know what the name of the comedy meant, perhaps this is the name of a hetaera.

Also, nothing, except for the names that meant the names of hetaerae, has come down to us from the comedies of Diocles Talatta, Alexis Support and Menander Fanio.

The same Menander introduced another hetaera into comedy, it was none other than Taida, a shining star in the sky of Greek prostitution is associated with her name. Taida of Athens could boast that she was the mistress of Alexander the Great and one of those hetairas who, with their beauty, influenced state affairs. Not far from the ruins of Nineveh, Alexander defeated overwhelming Persian forces at the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC). As King Darius fled from the battlefield, Alexander marched to Babylon, captured the city of Susa, and then entered the old Persian capital of Persepolis. Here he arranged a grand feast of the winners, in which crowds of hetaerae took part, and among them “... Taida, originally from Attica, the girlfriend of the future king Ptolemy, stood out especially. Now cleverly glorifying Alexander, now making fun of him, she, in the power of intoxication, decided to utter words that fully corresponded to the mores and customs of her homeland, but were too sublime for herself. Taida said that on this day, mocking the arrogant palaces of the Persian kings, she feels rewarded for all the hardships she experienced in wandering around Asia. But it would have been even more pleasant for her now, with a merry crowd of feasters, to go with her own hand in front of the king, set fire to the palace of Xerxes, who had betrayed Athens to a destructive fire. These words were met with a roar of approval and loud applause. Prompted by the persistent persuasion of his friends, Alexander jumped up and with a wreath on his head and with a torch in his hand went ahead of everyone ... " (Plutarch. Alexander).

After the death of Alexander, his mistress Taida reached the position of queen, becoming the wife of one of the commanders of Alexander, and then the king of Egypt, Ptolemy I. We have already mentioned that she became the heroine of Menander's comedy; however, fragments of this work are so scarce that we can hardly reconstruct its content. A famous line from this comedy has been preserved, which was quoted by many ancient authors and the apostle Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: "Bad fellowship spoils the character." Others believe that this is a line from Euripides, and it is quite possible that in Menander's comedy, Taida simply quoted it. Once she showed a close acquaintance with the work of Euripides, when she boldly and witty answered some rude question with a verse from Medea. When, going to her lover, who usually smelled of sweat, she was asked where she was going, she replied: "To live with Aegeus, the son of Pandion." The meaning of the joke lies in the subtext and the play on words and is wonderful in itself. In Euripides, Medea says that he is going to Athens to live with King Aegeus, that is, to be under his protection and patronage. However, Taida also used the expression in another sense, the essence of which is that the name Aegeus has the root aig, which in Greek means "goat", and the goat smells unpleasant.

This witticism of Taida brings us to other statements of heterosexuals, which allows the reader to be present at the conversations of Greek golden youth, who often used a play on words in conversations. The fact that the getters were well-read and knew classic literature, is also confirmed by Ovid, the teacher of love, who therefore gives them preference, comparing them with the matrons of his time.

During the time of Demetrius Poliorketos, one of the most famous Athenian getters was Lamia. As a flutist, she managed, thanks to her skill and popularity, to amass such a rich fortune that she restored the ruined art gallery for the Sicyonians (inhabitants of Sicyon in the Peloponnese, ten miles from Corinth). Such donations were not uncommon among Greek hetaerae: for example, as Polemon notes, Cottina delivered bronze statue bull in Sparta, and ancient authors give many such examples.

One day Demetrius was to send ambassadors to Lysimachus. During a conversation with Lysimachus, after political issues were settled, the ambassadors noticed deep scratches on his hands and feet. Lysimachus replied that these were traces of his struggle with the tiger, with whom he was forced to fight. The ambassadors laughed and noticed that their king Demetrius also had bite marks from a dangerous beast, the lamia, on his neck.

An admirer of Gnatea sent her a small vessel of wine, noting that the wine was sixteen years old. “For his age, he is too small,” the hetaera retorted.

Many witty sayings of Gnatea circulated in Athens, many of which are more poignant and witty in the original language, and often lose their meaning in translation. Gnatei's occupation was inherited by her granddaughter Gnatenia. Once it happened that a famous stranger, almost ninety years old, who came to Athens for a holiday in honor of Kronos, saw Gnatea with her granddaughter on the street and asked how much her night was worth. Gnatea, who instantly assessed the state of the stranger by rich clothes, asked for a thousand drachmas. The old man thought it was too much and offered half. “All right, old man,” answered Gnateya, “give me what you want; after all, it doesn’t matter to my granddaughter, I’m sure you will give twice as much. ”

Queens of love Laida and Phryne. There were two getters named Laida, and both became famous in various anecdotes and epigrams, while not being insulted. The eldest Laida was from Corinth and lived in the times Peloponnesian War She was famous for her beauty and greed. Among her admirers was the philosopher Aristippus, and, according to Propertius, all Greece at one time crowded at her doors. The youngest was born in Sicily and was the daughter of Timander, a friend of Alcibiades. Among her lovers was the painter Apelles, and the orator Hyperides is also mentioned. Subsequently, she went after a certain Hippolochus or Hippostratus to Thessaly, where, they say, she was killed out of jealousy by women who were annoyed by her beauty.

In the future, we will give stories from the life of Laid, without distinguishing which of Laid they refer to.

When Laida was still not a hetero, but a simple girl, she once went to the Pyrenees to the famous spring near Corinth to draw water. When she was carrying home a jug of water on her head or on her shoulder, she was accidentally noticed by Apelles, who could not take his eyes off the figure and heavenly beauty of this girl. Soon he introduced her to the circle of his cheerful friends, but they screamed and sarcastically asked him what a girl should do among a company of drinking companions, it would be better if he brought a hetaera, and Apelles replied: “Calm down, friends, I will soon make a hetaera out of her.”

The wonderful shape of Laida's breasts was especially impressive, and the artists crowded around her, trying to get permission to capture her beautiful breasts on the canvas. The philosopher Aristippus was often asked about his connection with Laida, and once he answered this way: “Laida is mine, but I am not hers.”

It is reported that Aristippus spent two months every year with Laida on the island of Aegina during the festival of Poseidon. When his companion asked why he spends so much money on Laida, when the cynic Diogenes receives the same from her for free, he replied: “I am generous to Laida in order to be able to please her, and not so that others do not have the opportunity please yourself with her."

Diogenes himself did not think so loftily. One day he said to Aristippus in his usual insulting manner: “How can you be intimate with a whore? Either become a cynic or stop using it." Aristippus replied: “Do you think it is unreasonable to settle in a house in which someone lived before?” “No, no,” answered Diogenes. “Or,” continued Aristippus, “to sail on a ship on which others sailed before?” “No, of course it isn’t.” “Then you won’t object to someone living with a woman whose services others have already used.”

Phryne, whose real name was Mnesareta, was born in the small Boeotian town of Thespia; she was the most beautiful, most famous, and most dangerous hetero of Athens, and the comic poet Anaxilades compares her to Charybdis, who swallows the sailors along with the ships.

She was known not only for her beauty and immoral behavior. Let us cite one scandalous story, the veracity of which we will not discuss here. Phryne appeared before the court. The famous orator Hyperides, who undertook to defend her, saw that the case was hopelessly losing. Then it dawned on him, he tore off her clothes and exposed her unearthly beauty breast. The judges were amazed at such beauty and did not dare to sentence this prophetess and priestess of Aphrodite to death.

Athenaeus continues: “But Phryne actually possessed even more perfect form parts of the body that were not used to being flaunted, it was difficult to see her naked, since she usually wore a tunic close to her body and did not use public baths. But when the Greeks gathered in Eleusis for the feast in honor of Poseidon, she threw off her clothes, loosened her hair and entered the sea naked, and it is said that it was then that the image of Aphrodite rising from the sea was born in Apelles. Among her admirers was Praxiteles, the famous sculptor, who fashioned her in the image of Aphrodite of Cnidus.

One day, Phryne asked Praxiteles which of his sculptures he considered the most beautiful. When he refused to answer, she came up with such a trick. One day, when she was in his studio, a servant ran up, shouting that the studio was on fire, but not everything was burned down yet. "All perished if the fire destroyed my Satyr and my Eros." Phryne, laughing, reassured him and admitted that she invented the whole story with the fire on purpose, in order to find out which of the works he cherishes most. This story speaks of Phryne's cunning and insight, and we are ready to believe that Praxiteles, in joy, allowed her to choose one of his works as a gift. Phryne chose Eros, but did not keep him; she gave it as an initiatory gift to the temple of Eros of her hometown Thespia, as a result, it became a place of pilgrimage for the Greeks. How amazing it seems to us that time when divinely inspired artists gave their works - which even today fill the soul with the delight of admiration - to hetaerae, and they dedicated these treasures to a deity! The greatness of this act remains even then, if you allow their personal ambitions. This, in particular, affected the next act of Phryne: she offered to restore the destroyed walls of the city of Thebes, if the Thebes agreed to place an inscription there: “Destroyed by Alexander, restored by hetero Phryne.” This story confirms that the handiwork of Phryne "had a golden basis," according to the apt expression of ancient authors.

The inhabitants of Thespiae, in gratitude for the magnificent gift in the form of a statue of Eros, ordered Praxiteles to make a statue of Phryne, decorated with gold. It was installed on a column of Pentelic marble in Delphi between the statues of the kings Archidamus and Philip, and no one considered it shameful, except for the Cynic Crates, who said that the image of Phryne was a monument to Greek debauchery.

On another occasion, according to Valery Maximus (iv, 3, 3), some impudent young men in Athens argued that the philosopher Xenocrates, who was famous for impeccable morality, would not resist Phryne's charms. At a luxurious dinner, she was specially placed next to the famous philosopher; Xenocrates had already drunk heartily, and the beautiful hetaera began to provoke him, using all her charms and calling for a conversation. However, everything was in vain, because the art of seducing the prostitute was powerless in the face of the unshakable firmness of the philosopher: she was forced to admit that, despite her attractiveness and refinement, she had been defeated by an old man, and even a half-drunk one. However, Phryne did not give up so easily, and when those present at the drinking party demanded that she pay her loss, she refused, saying that the bet involved a man in flesh and blood, and not an insensitive statue.

From all that has been said, it is clear that the Greek, especially Attic, getters did not suffer from a lack of liveliness and wit, and that many famous people, including statesmen, were in connection with the getters, and no one condemned them for this; in fact, the love of Pericles, a statesman, father and husband, for Aspasia became world famous, and Aspasia was just a hetero, although, perhaps, she stood on a higher social ladder than all other hetaeras known to us in antiquity.

Born in Miletus, she moved early to Athens, where, thanks to her beauty, intelligence and talent, she soon gathered in her house the most influential people of her time. Even Socrates did not shy away from communicating with her, and it is interesting that Plato in Menexenus ascribes a funeral speech to Aspasia, putting it into the mouth of Socrates. Pericles left his wife to marry her, and from that time her political influence grew so much that Pericles trusted her to declare war between Athens and Samos over her home city of Miletus. In any case, this choice of Pericles provided a good opportunity for his opponents to attack him; it is unheard of for a woman to say something about political affairs, especially if she is not an Athenian, but brought from abroad, and even from Ionia, famous for dissolute women. The marriage of Pericles with Aspasia was regarded by the Greeks as a misalliance: the beautiful Milesian woman was not considered by them to be a legal wife, but only a concubine, a substitute for a wife. Therefore, the authors of comedies very often ridiculed her, and when Pericles was called the "great Olympian", Aspasia was immediately pasted the nickname Hera; but the comedians ridiculed her power over great men, portraying her now in the form of the imperious Omphala, now the captious Dianira, thereby hinting that just as Hercules became weak under their influence, so Pericles becomes weak before the firmness of a foreign adventurer. In our time, rumors of every kind accompany her name without any evidence; it was said that she pandered for her husband; and according to Athenaeus, there was a rumor that she kept a brothel. Even Aristophanes tries to connect the cause of the great war with the supposed brothel Aspasia, when Dikepolis says in Acharnians: “But once in Megara, drunken thugs and kottab players / Simfera, a street girl, were stolen. / Megarians, inflamed with resentment, / Here they stole two girls from Aspasia. / And this is the reason for the inter-Hellenic strife: / Three street girls. Terrible, furious / Pericles, the great Olympian, with lightning / And shook the heavens with thunder, / Issued an order, rather a drunken song: / Expel scoundrels from the market and from the harbor, / Drive the Megarians both on land and at sea! When she was accused of abeseia (wickedness) and pandering, Pericles defended her and obtained her acquittal. After the death of Pericles, she married Lysicles, a man of low birth, who, however, had great influence.

Cyrus the Younger called his mistress Milto, who was from Focai, Aspasia in honor of her prototype. She accompanied him on a campaign against his brother Artaxerxes, and when Cyrus was killed at the Battle of Cunaxes (401 BC), she fell as booty to the Persian king Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom she seduced with her kind appeal. Later, she became the cause of contention between him and his son Darius. Her father relented on the condition that she become a priestess of Anaitis. Then the son rebelled against his father and paid for this rebellion with his life.

To complete our story about the Greek hetaerae, I will give different small stories found everywhere among Greek authors, and the first from the Palatine Anthology. Macy visits his hetaera Philenis, who refuses to believe in the infidelity of her lover, although tears flow down her face, betraying her true feelings. More common was the situation when the hetaera turned out to be unfaithful to her lover or left him. Asklepiad complains that his hetaera Nico, who solemnly vowed to come to him at night, did not keep her word. "Oathbreaker! The night is coming to an end. Light the lights, boys! She won't come!" (Ant. Pal., v, 150, 164). If we combine this epigram of Asklepiades with another of his epigrams, then we learn that this hetaera Niko has a daughter named Pythia, who followed in the footsteps of her mother; the profession thus became a family one, as in the case of Gnateya and Gnatenia. The poet, however, has bad memories associated with her. Once she invited him to her place, and when he came, the door was closed; he calls on the goddess of love to avenge the insult, so that she would make the Pythia herself suffer in the same way and endure the same humiliation, finding her lover's door locked.

Together with the infidelity and inconstancy of the getters, their lovers especially complained about their greed, examples of which we constantly find in Greek poetry. In the epigram of Gedila (or Asclepiades), three hetaeras Euphro, Taida and Boydia drove three sailors out the door, having robbed them to the skin, so that now they are poorer than those who were shipwrecked. “Therefore,” the author instructs, “avoid these pirates of Aphrodite and their ships, because they are more dangerous than the sirens.”

This lament is the oldest and most recurring motif in erotic literature ever since love was bought with gold. Let us cite at least one quote from Aristophanes' “The Rich Man”, where Khremil says: “This is how the Corinthian girls / On the beggar, let him be passionate, affectionate, gentle, / They won’t even throw their eyes, but the rich man will come - / Now they will turn their fronts ".

An example of the extreme predilection of hetaeras for gold in a very sharp manner in its expressiveness is given by Alkifron in a letter from the hetaera Philumena to her friend Criton (Alkifron, i, 40): “Why do you take the trouble to write long letters? I want fifty gold, not letters. If you love me - pay; but if you love your money more, leave me alone. Goodbye!"

Anthology provides even more important information regarding the prices demanded by hetaerae. The Athenian hetaera Europa was usually satisfied with one drachma, as can be inferred from the epigram of Antipater. On the other hand, she is always ready to yield in every respect and make the date as pleasant as possible; there are always a lot of soft bedspreads on her bed, but if the night promises to be cold, she will not stint on expensive coal for the hearth. Bass goes further, specifying prices, and with gloomy humor decides that he is not Zeus to pour golden rain on the open knees of his beloved, he has no intention of accepting the image of a bull that took Europe away for her sake, or turning into a swan - he is simply ready to pay a hetaera Corinne - "as always" two obols, period. This is, of course, a very cheap price, and we should be very careful when drawing a posteriori conclusion. You should not immediately agree with the eternal complaints about the greed of hetaera and the fact that they are often described in a caricatured form. For example, Meleager once called a hetaera "an evil animal that lives in his bed," and the Macedonian Gipat called the hetaera "Aphrodite's mercenaries who bring happiness to the bed."

If their visits were not relatively expensive, they would not be able to dedicate to the temples such expensive gifts as we have spoken of, at least occasionally, as again we read about in the Palatine Anthology. Simonides, if this epigram really belongs to him, speaks of two getters who dedicated belts and decorations to the temple of Aphrodite; the poet is talking to a craftsman and wittily remarks that his wallet knows where these expensive trinkets came from.

It is known about the initiatory gift of hetaera to Priapus, which is understandable, since he was the deity of sensual love. According to the epigram unknown author, the beautiful Alxo, in memory of the sacred night festival, dedicated to Priapus wreaths of crocuses, myrrh and ivy, entwined with woolen ribbons with the inscription "dear Priapus who caresses like a woman." Another unknown poet tells how the hetaera Leontida, after a long night spent with the "precious" Sthenius, dedicated the lyre on which she played to Aphrodite and the Muses. Or perhaps Sthenius was a poet whose poetry she delighted in? Perhaps both interpretations are correct, the usage leaves the question open.

Another, unfortunately, unknown poet left a charming epigram about the hetaera Niko, who brought a spinner as a gift to Aphrodite (see p. 167), capable of “attracting a man from beyond the distant sea, and luring a young man out of a modest bedroom, it is artistically decorated with gold and expensive amethyst and entwined with soft lamb's wool.

Cosmetics in the broadest sense of the word, of course, played a big role in the life of hetaerae, and from the huge number of ancient authors who wrote about this, I selected only a few examples. For example, the epigram of Paul Silentiarius (Ant. Pal., v, 228) tells that young people, going on a date with a hetero, chose their clothes very carefully. Hair was beautifully curled, nails were neatly trimmed and manicured, and purple outfits were preferred from clothes. Lucian ridicules the old hetaira: “Look carefully, look at least at her temples, where there is only her own hair; the rest is a thick overlay, and you will see that the temples, when the paint fades, already have a lot of gray hair. A caustic epigram remained from Lucillius: "Many people say, Nikilla, that you dye your hair - but you bought these blue-black ones at the market." A fragment from Aristophanes lists the many means that women use to attract:

Knives, lapping, razors, soap, knives.

Hairy wig, ribbons, headbands,

White, pumice, oil, nets, embroidery,

Apron, belt, border busting,

Veil, tint, "death to men", patches,

Sandals, xistides, calarasia,

Headband, hellebore, necklaces,

Shirt, whisk, combs. luxury -

But this is not all.

- And what is the main thing?

– Ear rings, earrings, clustered earrings,

Hairpins, buckles, awls, hairpins, shoes,

Chains, rings, bandages, hats,

Olisbos, spendons, ankle boots -

You can't list everything.

The comedian Alexis in a humorous passage describes how hetaerae, skillful in their craft, use cosmetics, favorably shading natural data and filling in non-existent ones.

The profession of a hetaera required not only the skillful use of cosmetics, but also intelligent behavior, knowledge of male weaknesses and no less caution in using these weaknesses so that a man was ready to pay as much as possible. We can say that over time, regular rules for the behavior of hetaeras came into use, which were first distributed orally, and then were written down. Not a single one has survived study guide for hetaerae, however, the ancient authors left us a clear idea of such supporting literature. A well-known poem by Propertius (iv, 5), where the procuress lists the ways by which you can extract the most money from your lover: “Reject loyalty, drive away the gods, let deceit reign, / Let ruinous shame fly away from you! / It is advantageous to suddenly invent an opponent: use it; / If the night delayed, love will return hotter. / If he ruffles your hair in anger - for the benefit: / Then press him down, let him pay for the world. / If he has already bought the delight of corrupt embraces, / Lie to him, as if the feast of the holy Isis has come. / ... Keep your neck bruised from recent bites: / He will consider them as traces of a passionate love struggle. / Don’t think of running after him, like the shameful Medea / (You know, how they began to despise her for this), / ... Indulge the taste of men: if your darling drags on a song, / Echo to him, as if you, too, like him, got drunk, / ... Let the soldier, not born for love, / Or the sailor, who has money in a clumsy hand ... / You need to look at the money, not at the hand that gives money! .. / Use it! “tomorrow will dry your cheeks.”

We also find a similar set of rules in Ovid’s “Science of Love” (1, 8), where the old bawd instructs the girl: “... Look, a rich lover / Thirsts for you and wants to know all your needs ... / You blushed. Shame goes to your whiteness, but for the benefit / Shame is only feigned, believe me: but the real one is to the detriment. / If you look down, innocent eyes downcast, / At the same time, you should think how much they will offer you. / Boldly, beauties! Only that which is not sought is pure; / Whoever is quicker in mind, is looking for prey herself. / ... It’s full to be stingy, believe me, beauty is fading without a friend ... / Only one is not for the future ... Yes, two are not enough ... / If there are a lot of them, the income is more correct ... Yes, and envy is less / ... Ask for a small fee while you set up the network, - / To not run away. And having caught, boldly subordinate yourself. / You can play passion: deceive him - and fine. / But beware of one thing, don’t give love for nothing! / In the night, refuse them more often, for a headache / Or for something else, even for Isis, they agreed. / Once in a while, still allow it - patience would not become a habit: / Frequent rejection of love can weaken it. / Be your door to those who ask deaf, but open to those who give. / Let an admitted friend hear the word of the unfortunate. / And having offended, you yourself become angry with the one who is offended, / So that he will instantly dissolve in yours. / But you yourself should never be angry with him for a long time: / Too long anger can give rise to enmity. / Learn to cry as you need it, but how to cry, / So that your cheeks become wet with tears. / ... By the way, adapt the slave, get a better maid, / Let them tell him what to buy for you. / Perepadet here and them. To ask many for a little bit - / So little by little to collect stacks by ear. / ... And if there is no reason to demand a direct gift, / So at least hint at your birth with a pie, / Yes, so that you don’t know peace, so that there are rivals, remember! / If there is no struggle, love will also go bad, / ... Having pulled out a lot, tell him not to completely go bankrupt. / Ask for a loan, but only in order to never give it back. / Hide your thoughts with a false speech, ruin it with caress: / The most harmful poison can be hidden in honey ... ”Involuntarily overhearing these instructions of the procuress, the author ends the poem:“ At this moment I could hardly hold my hands, / In order not to tear out the gray hair, and those eternally watery eyes from drunkenness, not to scratch her cheeks!

The last lines make me perceive the Latin source as rehashings of the Greek source. What we are given here by two Roman poets (Propertius and Ovid) usually referred to scenes from Greek life, were its reflection, they were characteristic of comedy, then became the subjects of love elegies of Alexandrian poetry, and finally they were adopted by the Roman poets. I have already had the opportunity to consider the code of conduct of the Greek hetaera on the example of Gerond (pp. 54-56); we have also already mentioned Lucian's "Conversations of the Hetaerae", which provide huge material for our theme. For example, in the sixth dialogue, we meet the mother's instructions to her daughter:

"Crobilla. Well, now you know, Corinne, that it's not as scary as you thought, to turn a girl into a woman, spending the night with a blooming young man and getting a whole mine as the first earnings. I'll buy you a necklace out of this money right now.

Corinna. All right, mother, and let there be fiery-colored stones in it, like Philenida.

Crobill. You will have this. Just listen to what you need to do and how to behave with men. After all, there is no other way for us, daughter, and you yourself know how we lived these two years after your father died. While he was alive, we had enough of everything. After all, he was a blacksmith and enjoyed great fame in Piraeus; it was necessary to listen to how everyone swore that after Felin there would no longer be such another blacksmith. And after his death, at first I sold tongs, and an anvil, and a hammer for two mines, and for this we existed for six months, and then by weaving, then by spinning, then by weaving, I barely got bread, but still I raised you, daughter, in the only hope.

Corinna. Do you mean this mine?

Crobill. No, I expected that when you reached maturity, you would also feed me, and you yourself would easily dress up and get rich, you would wear purple dresses and keep maids.

Corinna. How is it, mom? What do you want to say?

Crobill. That you must mix with young men and drink with them and sleep with them for a fee.

Corinna. How is Lyra, Daphne's daughter?

Crobill. Yes.

Corinna. But she's a hetaera!

Crobill. There is nothing terrible in this. But you will be rich, like her, having many lovers. Why are you crying, Corinna? Can't you see how many hetaerae we have, and how they run after them, and what kind of money they get? I already know Daphnis, I swear by Adrasteia, I remember how she walked around in rags until her daughter came of age. And now you see how she keeps herself: gold, colored dresses and four maids.

Corinna. How did Lyra acquire all this?

Crobill. First of all, by dressing up as well as possible and being friendly and cheerful with everyone, not laughing at every occasion, as you usually do, but smiling pleasantly and attractively. Then, she knew how to behave with men and did not push them away if someone wanted to meet her or see her off, but she herself did not pester them. And if she came to a feast, taking a fee for it, then she did not get drunk, because it causes ridicule and disgust in men, and she did not pounce on food, forgetting decency, but pinched off pieces with her fingertips, ate silently, not gobbling up both cheeks; she drank slowly, not in one gulp, but in small sips.

Corinna. Even if she was thirsty, mother?

Crobill. Then especially, Corinna. And she did not talk more than she should, and did not make fun of any of those present, but looked only at the one who paid her. And for that, men loved her. And when she had to spend the night with a man, she did not allow herself any swagger or carelessness, but she achieved only one thing: to captivate him and make him her lover. And everyone praises her for it. So if you learn this, then we will be happy; because otherwise you are much superior to her ... Forgive me, Adrastea, I do not say anything more! .. If only she were alive. Daughter!

Corinna. Tell me, mother, is everyone who pays us money like Eucritus, with whom I slept yesterday?

Crobill. Not all. Some are better, others are already mature men, and others are not very beautiful in appearance.

Corinna. And will it be necessary to sleep with such?

Crobill. Yes daughter. These are the ones who pay more. The beautiful consider it enough that they are beautiful. And you always have to think only about the greater benefit if you want all the girls to soon say to each other, pointing fingers at you: “Do you see how Corinna, the daughter of Crobilla, got rich and made her mother happy, very happy?” Will you do it? I know that you will do and surpass them all easily. And now go and wash yourself, in case young Eucritus comes today: after all, he promised.

In the first dialogue, hetaeras Glikera and Taida discuss the famous warrior who first loved the beautiful Abrotonon, and then Glikera, and now suddenly fell in love with an ugly woman. With great pleasure they list the opponent's shortcomings: her “liquid hair, there is already a bald spot above her forehead, and her lips are pale and bloodless, and her neck is thin. So the veins are visible on it, and the nose is large. The only thing that good growth and slim. Yes, very contagious laugh ". From the book Prostitution in antiquity author Dupuy Edmond

The famous hetaeras Aspasia was born in Miletus, this realm of fun and courtesans. She arrived in Athens to spread her philosophy, her free-thinking there. Nature endowed her with charm, from birth she had innumerable talents. She appeared everywhere

From the book Prostitution in antiquity author Dupuy Edmond

Great people and getters Most of the getters owe their fame to their famous contemporaries, who patronized them. Among these hetaeras, we will name the following: Herpilis was the mistress of Aristotle, from whom she had a son. Ancestor of philosophy

From book sex life V Ancient Greece author Licht Hans

3. Hetaerae Hetaerae stood on a higher rung of the social ladder and occupied a higher position than street and brothel prostitutes in the private life of the Greeks. They often enjoyed respect from society. Many of them were excellent

From the book Another History of Literature. From the very beginning to the present day author Kalyuzhny Dmitry Vitalievich

From the book Requests of the Flesh. Food and sex in people's lives author Reznikov Kirill Yurievich

Hetaerae, devadasis and prostitutes ancient india"sexual pleasure was considered the highest of all legitimate pleasures." Sex was perceived as a mutual marital obligation, in which husband and wife delight each other. According to Hinduism, women are sexier

There are as many legends about getters as about ancient gods and heroes. They are sometimes called kept women and prostitutes, sometimes the most educated and progressive women of their time. The orator Demosthenes, speaking in court in defense of Neera's hetaera, argued: "Everyone needs hetaeras for joy!" What joys did men bring getters And what were they really doing?

Translated from ancient Greek, hetaera is a “girlfriend”. These women led a free lifestyle, in contrast to the wives, who became recluses immediately after marriage and were exclusively engaged in children and housework. Getters were well versed in music, literature, philosophy and art. They could maintain a dialogue on any topic, their intellectual development was not inferior to that of men.

Can heterosexuals be called prostitutes? The fact is that hetaerae stood on a higher rung of the social ladder than prostitutes from brothels, and were respected in society. Prominent statesmen, philosophers and writers consulted with them. In addition, they had the right to choose their companions, refused those they did not like, and for a long time remained close to those they loved.

They became real muses for men. Epicurus remained faithful to the hetaera Leontia all his life and said of her: "She lives with me and in me." The Athenian commander Pericles was married to the hetaera Aspasia, often consulted with her in solving state problems, she helped him prepare speeches for speeches. The Byzantine Empress Theodora was a heterosexual before her marriage. Hetera Thais of Athens - a friend of Alexander the Great - after his death became the wife of the Egyptian king Ptolemy I.

Phryne, who was called the most famous and beautiful hetero of Athens, became a model for Praxiteles, who sculpted a statue of Aphrodite, for which she was accused of blasphemy. She appeared before the court, but she was acquitted - she was naked before sentencing and subdued the judges. Phryne herself set the price for her services - the king of Lydia had to raise taxes in the country because of the “fee” paid in order to replenish the budget, and Diogenes did not cost money, because Phryne admired his mind.

Of course, it is hardly possible to judge all heterosexuals only by the most famous and worthy representatives of this kind of occupation. In the era of antiquity, the idea of selling love was treated without prejudice. At the temples of Aphrodite in Greece and Venus in Rome, hundreds of heterosexuals served, providing intimate services.

However, in the era of antiquity, the getters had opponents. kiniki ( philosophical school) often opposed them. Crates said that the statue of Phryne is a monument to Greek debauchery, ridiculed her love of gold and coldness. Diogenes, in a dialogue with another philosopher, was indignant: “How can you be close to sh..hoy? Either become a cynic or stop using it."

You can call them whatever you like, but the role played by getters in ancient history and culture cannot be denied. More or less than - you decide.

About who the getters are, most of us have a very relative idea. In ancient Greece, this was the name given to free, unmarried women who earned their living by making love to men. But they were very, very different from ordinary prostitutes.

Priestesses of free love

Getters, as a rule, were smart and quite educated, they knew how to behave in society. Their favors were sometimes sought by the most senior representatives of the stronger sex. They often became muses for poets, singers, artists ... At the same time, the hetaera herself chose her lovers and could refuse the applicant for her body if she did not like him.

In Athens, there was even a special board - Keramik, on which men wrote proposals for dates to getters. If the hetera agreed, she signed the hour of the meeting under these lines. But she might not agree.

Some Greek hetaerae were very famous, entered into the highest social circles, and it was considered an honor to have relations with them. History has preserved their names.

Phryne

It was this Athenian hetaera, who lived in the 4th century BC, that served as a model for the “Aphrodite of Cnidus” and “Aphrodite of Kos”, which came out from under the incisor ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles.

It is known about Phryne that she was born in the small town of Thespia. Her parents gave her the name Mnesareta - "Remembering the virtues." The nickname Phryne, the girl was probably awarded when she took up the love craft. By the way, in translation from ancient Greek, this word meant “toad”. According to one version, the hetaera was called so because of the yellowish skin tone, according to another, she herself appropriated this name, because she believed that it would protect her from evil spirits.

It is curious that, unlike her fellow craftsmen, Phryne led a rather modest lifestyle. She almost did not use cosmetics, avoided visiting public baths, places of entertainment and public gatherings.

As for intimate services, then Phryne's fee depended on her attitude towards the client. She didn't care if he was rich or poor. For example, from the king of Lydia, whom she did not like, she requested so much that he was subsequently forced to raise taxes in order to restore the treasury. But the famous philosopher Diogenes Laertes, whose mind she admired, was allowed to use her caresses for free.

The only one who remained indifferent to her charms was another philosopher - Xenocrates. Phryne made a bet with Diogenes that she would seduce him. But she never succeeded. “I said that I would awaken feelings in a person, and not in a statue,” the hetaera said, realizing that the bet was lost.

Like many craftswomen, Phryne worked part-time as a model. The fact is that "decent women" would hardly agree to pose naked. Therefore, artists often turned to the services of hetaerae. For the painter Apelles, who wrote “Aphrodite Anadyomene” from her for the temple of Asclete, Phryne became not only a model, but also a lover. But Praxiteles' masterpieces glorified her even more.

Once, one of the admirers rejected by Phryne, the orator Euthius, tried to accuse the getter of godlessness. He declared that it was unacceptable for a corrupt woman to portray a goddess. Phryne had to stand trial. It was defended by the famous orator Hipperides, but although his speech was brilliant, it did not make much of an impression on the judges. Then Gipperides, right in front of the public, tore off the clothes of the accused. Everyone saw how beautiful and perfect her body was, and Phryne was justified ...

Phryne was rather vain. In 336, the walls of the city of Thebes were destroyed by the army of Alexander the Great. Then Phryne, who by that time had amassed a considerable fortune at the expense of her rich and influential lovers, offered to give money for restoration. But not just like that, but with a condition. Like, let the townspeople install a memorial plaque on the gate with the following inscription: "Thebes was destroyed by Alexander and restored by Phryne." Alas, the authorities of Thebes refused. But Praxiteles sculpted a statue of a hetaera from gold, which was later installed in the Delphic temple. The inscription on the pedestal read: "Phryna, daughter of Epicles of Thespiae."

Clepsydra

The real name of this hetaera was Metikha. According to legend, her friends gave her the nickname Clepsydra. It meant "water clock". Hetaera earned it with her habit of counting the time she spent with clients using a water clock.

Clepsydra became famous for being the heroine of one of Eubulus' comedies. However, the text of the play has not survived to this day.

Thais of Athens

Tais Afinskaya is known to the Russian reader mainly from the novel of the same name by Ivan Efremov. She had a rare beauty and often posed nude for artists, including the already mentioned Apelles. Thais was considered Phryne's main rival.

The name Thais (Taids) is mentioned in many ancient sources. It is known that at one time she was the lover of Alexander the Great himself, accompanied him on military campaigns and even had some influence on state affairs. In 331 BC, after the battle of Gaugamela, the king arranged a feast in the captured Persepolis with the participation of hetaerae. As Plutarch writes, among them "... Taida, originally from Attica, a friend of the future king Ptolemy, stood out in particular."

The ancient historians Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus believe that it was Thais who, at that very feast, proposed burning the palace of Xerxes in Persepolis, wanting to take revenge on the Persians for burning their native Athens in the summer of 480 BC.

Ptolemy, one of Alexander's friends and generals, made Thais his lover and later his wife. After her husband became king of Egypt under the name of Ptolemy I Soter, she received the title of queen. True, Ptolemy had other wives. Thais bore him a son, Leontisk, and a daughter, Iranu, who later married Evnost, the ruler of the Cypriot city of Sola.

By the way, asteroid 1236, discovered on November 6, 1931 by the Soviet astronomer Grigory Neuimin, was named in honor of Thais of Athens.

Priestesses of free love

Some Greek hetaerae were very famous, included in the highest social circles, and it was an honor to have a relationship with them. History has preserved their names.

It was this Athenian hetaera, who lived in the 4th century BC, that served as a model for the “Aphrodite of Cnidus” and “Aphrodite of Kos”, which came out from under the chisel of the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles.

It is known about Phryne that she was born in the small town of Thespia. Her parents gave her the name Mnesareta - "Remembering the virtues." The nickname Phryne, the girl was probably awarded when she took up the love craft. By the way, in translation from ancient Greek, this word meant “toad”. According to one version, the hetaera was nicknamed so because of the yellowish skin tone, according to another, she herself appropriated this name, because she believed that it would protect her from evil spirits.

It is curious that, unlike her fellow craftsmen, Phryne led a rather modest lifestyle. She almost did not use cosmetics, avoided visiting public baths, places of entertainment and public gatherings. [S-BLOCK]

Clepsydra

Clepsydra became famous for being the heroine of one of Eubulus' comedies. However, the text of the play has not survived to this day.

Thais of Athens

By the way, asteroid 1236, discovered on November 6, 1931 by the Soviet astronomer Grigory Neuimin, was named in honor of Thais of Athens.

The word "HETERA" - hetaira - in ancient Greece meant "girlfriend, companion."
Such were these women for Greek men - for those, of course, who could afford this luxury.

The "erotic component" in the case of heterosexuals played, of course, essential role, but was still secondary. Intellectual and aesthetic communication with them was valued much higher than just a bed.

In the case when it was only about carnal satisfaction, the Athenians had much cheaper flutists and dancers at their service. But despite the fact that the getters could also dance and play on musical instruments(they specially studied this), most of all they were valued for their ability to conduct a conversation - moreover, often in serious, philosophical themes, for the breadth of interests and views that give rise to precisely that of their inner freedom, which strikingly distinguished the getters from the limited Athenian wives and vulgar prostitutes; for their lively and penetrating mind. That's what attracted and attracted men to them in the first place, like a magnet!

And therefore, men did not spare either huge money or expensive gifts to win their hearts. The purpose of hetaeras to be friends and worthy interlocutors of outstanding minds and figures of that time placed them in the social hierarchy much higher than ordinary women.

Thanks precisely to their high social status, getters could rotate in the highest, aristocratic circles of that time. Therefore, many of them played a significant role in public life and could influence prominent people.

All getters were educated, unmarried women leading an independent and free lifestyle. Thanks to noble and wealthy patrons, they lived comfortably, and even luxuriously. Having their own houses with servants and everything they needed, they could afford to “open”, as was the custom in Russia and France in the 18th and 19th centuries, their own “fashion salons”, where celebrities also gathered.

The favors of the getters were sought by poets, sculptors, and prominent ancient Greek politicians. Since the fate of the poorly educated legal wives of the Greeks was mainly only in housekeeping and raising children, then of course, they could not compete with talented and artistic beauties - "girlfriends" and "companions" who knew literature and arts, and primarily satisfied aesthetic and then only the carnal needs of men.

famous ancient greek political figure and the orator Demosthenes said that “a self-respecting Greek has three women: a wife - for procreation, a slave - for sensual pleasures, and a hetaera - for spiritual comfort.

The attention of these charming and smart "super - mega - sexy", famous men sometimes sought for a long time, far from immediately receiving consent. The enchantress could even refuse to communicate, and even more so from intimacy with a man if she did not like him.

Fans could express their dating proposals both verbally and writing. They could even write them on a special board (and, according to some sources, on a wall) exhibited for such purposes in the center of Athens.
In case of consent, the charmer signed the day, hour and place of the meeting under the proposal.

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