Courtesan Of Ancient Greece (bc 6 To The First Four Centuries)

Hetairai in ancient Greece were generally slaves or foreigners. However, they won favor with male citizens, and played an important role in social and cultural life of entertainment, for they were possessed of elegant manners, witty conversation or even rich knowledge, to say nothing of their good looks. Hetairai provided a variety of entertainment services for the male citizens , also meet their aesthetic and creative needs, some of whom were instrumental in diffusing culture. The ancient Greeks had different attitudes towards these Hetairai, including views of respect, or even on the contrary, discrimination, which actually reflected the social status of Hetairai. Hetairai in ancient Greece had a two-tier nature, liberal side and subservient side. Starting with the analysis of social and cultural background of ancient Greece , the text deals with three roles played by Hetairai in the society and different evaluations held by the Greeks. Through contrasting different situations between Hetairai and freedwomen, a deep discussion will is given on their social status and influences.The paper can be divided into two parts: the introduction and the text. The introduction mainly expounds researches of Hetairai in and abroad. The main text has three chapters. The first chapter begins with ancient Greek social and cultural background, clarifying social, political, economic, religious and cultural situations of the Greek city-states, which are represented by Athens, and discusses the sacred prostitution in Corinth and the brothel and prostitutes in Athens polis briefly. The second chapter explains the recreational, aesthetic and cultural roles of Hetairai in ancient Greek society, and analyzes the views of ancient Greeks on the characters. The third chapter studies the social status and impact of Hetairai after a comparison between Hetairai and freedwomen.