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Women in the Ancient World > Improper women > Flashcards

Improper women Flashcards

1
Q

How did adultery affect prostitution in Athens?

A
  • There were strict laws to prevent adultery
  • Sex with registered prostitutes was not considered to be adulterous
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2
Q

How did prostitution work in Athens?

A
  • It was legal
  • Prostitutes and brothel owners were taxed by the Government as a business
  • Normal and accepted part of Athenian life
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3
Q

How were laws different for prostitutes in Athens?

A
  • Allowed to run a business
  • Could buy and sell land
  • They could have had a lot more freedom than a Kyria
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4
Q

Who is an example of a successful Athenian prostitute?

A
  • Rhodonis was such a successful and wealthy prostitute that she was able to pay for a monument to herself at the religious site of Delphi
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5
Q

What were the two Greek types of prostitute?

A

Porne- A low class prostitute, almost always a slave, would have worked in a brothel

Hetaira- a high class Greek prostitute or Courtesan, who may have lived in her own house, chosen her clients, and charged a high price for her company

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6
Q

How would life be for a porne?

A
  • Would have had to live and work in unpleasant and unhygienic conditions
  • She’d advertise her services on the streets
  • They may have even exposed themselves on the streets, or call and even try to pull men into their brothel
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7
Q

What would a Hetaira offer to her clients?

A
  • Singing
  • Dancing
  • Intellectual conversation
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8
Q

How may a hetaira have trained?

A
  • May have been trained in performing arts by an older, more experienced Hetaira
  • Attend lectures by philosophers to practice speaking and keep up with current affairs
  • Practice discussion alongside the men of Athens
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9
Q

How can a hetaira be identified in art?

A
  • Normally depicted indoors, surrounded by male clients
  • Male clients are relining on couches with drinking cups
  • If a woman is shown playing an instrument or dancing, she is probably a Hetaira
  • Form fitting, suggestive clothing
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10
Q

What was Neaira’s early life like?

A
  • Born in Corinth
  • Sold as a child to a female brothel keeper called Nicarete
  • She entertained men at symposia, and was a slave hetaira
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11
Q

What happened to Neaira after she became a slave Hetaira?

A
  • She became very famous and Nicarete could charge high prices for Neaira’s company
  • Two of her regular clients bought Neaira- should would have still entertained at parties but she was now the exclusive prostitute of her two owners, like a prone
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12
Q

What happened to Neaira when her owners wanted to marry?

A
  • She was sold to an Athenian named Phrynion
  • She escaped and went into hiding, where she met an Athenian named Stephanus, who invited her back to Athens with him, to pretend to be his wife
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13
Q

What happened to Neaira after she pretended to be Stephanus’ wife?

A
  • Stephanus rented her out as a prostitute, but would blackmail Neaira’s clients by ‘catching’ them sleeping with her, so he could threaten them and get more money
  • She was eventually found out, and a court case brought against her- for her false identity as an Athenian citizen and as Stephanus’ wife, but also for illegally marrying her daughter Phano, to an Athenian man
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14
Q

Who was Aspasia?

A
  • A brothel keeper and Hetaira, but also one of the most famous women in Athens
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15
Q

What was Aspasia’s life like before, and when did she become famous?

A
  • She was originally from the Greek city of Miletus, but lived most of her life in Athens as a Metic
  • She became famous when she moved in with Pericles, the most prominent politician at the time
  • Pericles had divorced his wife, and would live with Aspasia for 15 years
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16
Q

What did Athenian society think of Aspasia?

A
  • She was greatly admired for her artistic skills and her wisdom in political and philosophical matters
  • However, many looked down on her because she was a foreigner and a sex worker
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17
Q

What did Plutarch write about Aspasia?

A
  • He suggested that Pericles valued her political wisdom and many contacts throughout the city
  • He compliments her ability to please important men and stir up discussions among philosophers
  • He compares Aspasia to a Hetaira named Thargelia, who had influenced her Greek clients to sympathise with the King of Persia, to her own benefit
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18
Q

Why might Plutarch might not be a good source of info about Aspasia and Pericles?

A
  • He was writing hundreds of years after Aspasia’s lifetime
  • He was less concerned with writing accurate historical facts and more with writing lives that could illustrate moral lessons
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19
Q

How did prostitution work in Rome?

A
  • Prostitution was legal and overseen by the Government, which licensed and taxed prostitutes and brothels
  • In order to get a license, a prostitute had to visit the Aediles (Government officials) and get a ‘License for debauchery’
  • Roman prostitutes could be freeborn or slaves
20
Q

What did someone become in Rome after registering themselves as a prostitute?

A
  • They became known as an infamis
  • Infamia was a legal status that meant someone lost their rights as a free person
  • They could be beaten like a slave, banned from marrying a senator or the child of one and they could never hold a government job
  • Actors and gladiators were also considered to have infamia
21
Q

What happened in AD 19 in Rome?

A
  • It was made illegal for women whose family belonged to the class of Equites (wealthy but not necessarily noble) to register as a prostitute
  • A woman named Vistilia was punished under this law and exiled
22
Q

What were female prostitutes called in Rome?

A
  • A meretrix
  • This was used to describe any type of prostitute
23
Q

What conditions would slave and low level sex workers work in?

A
  • Often work from a brothel, known as a Lupanar
  • These lupanars were said to be dirty, cramped and located in worse areas of town
  • Other sources suggested that prostitutes worked in taverns or on busy roads
24
Q

How would more well off Roman prostitutes work, and who is an example of one?

A
  • Well respected and educated meretrix’s could charge a lot for their company and become very rich
  • They’d agree on long-term contracts with their clients
  • They might have been invited to dinner parties as guests
  • In one case, a prostitute grew so close to one of her clients, a politician named Sulla, that she left him her wealth in her will, and it was this money that allowed Sulla to build a successful career
25
Q

What would Meretrix’s wear, and why?

A
  • Female prostitutes would wear a toga
  • The toga was normally seen as a badge of honour that only citizen men could wear, but for prostitutes, it would have been a badge of shame that separated them from respectable matronae who would wear stolas
  • Roman prostitutes may have worn the toga to symbolise that they were ‘public property’ and not tied to a husband or paterfamilias
26
Q

What festival would Roman prostitutes join in on?

A
  • The festival of Fortuna Virilis (the luck of men)
  • Involved prostitutes joining together with respectable Roman matronae to clean and dress a cult statue of Fortuna Virilis
27
Q

What is a Lena?

A
  • A female pimp, who would have been a free woman (because she owned a business)
  • Considered to be one of the lowest and most shameful professions in Rome
  • Considered Infamis
28
Q

How would Lena’s sometimes refer to the prostitutes they employed and why?

A
  • Several sources show a Lena referring to the prostitutes as her ‘daughters’
  • Either some Lena forced members of their own families into becoming prostitutes
  • Or, the term daughter could have been a trick intended to fool clients into believing they were paying for the services of a freewoman
29
Q

Who was Cytheris / Lycoris ?

A
  • Volumbia Cytheris was born a slave around 70 BC
  • She became famous for her work as an actress and a mime
  • Despite her Infamia, she was a celebrity in Rome and was admired for her talent and beauty
  • The Roman politician, Cicero, hated her
30
Q

As well as an actress, what was Cytheris?

A
  • She was also a prostitute
31
Q

Who owned Cytheris?

A

Publius Volumnius Eutrapelus

32
Q

What happened when Cytheris was at the height of her fame?

A
  • Eutrapelus freed her
  • This was a calculated move to make Cytheris more attractive to upper class Roman clients, who would not have paid as much for a slave prostitute
33
Q

What did Cytheris do after being freed?

A
  • She had a series of professional relationships with leading politicians, including Mark Antony
  • Antony kept Cytheris as an official mistress, which would have been expensive
  • He was eventually forced to break off the relationship by Julius Caesar, because he had been treating her like a wife, not a prostitute
  • He took her with him when he went to inspect his armies and had been calling her by her real name
34
Q

What happened after Cytheris’s relationship with Mark Antony ended?

A
  • She was hired by the politician, soldier and poet, Cornelius Gallus
  • He wrote 4 books of love poetry about her, referring to her by the pseudonym Lycoris
35
Q

Who was Clodia?

A
  • Clodia Metelli was a noblewoman
  • She was from an old, established and wealthy family
  • She was married to her first cousin, a senator who had held the highest political office in Rome
36
Q

How did Clodia behave?

A
  • As she didn’t have to work or manage domestic duties, she had a lot of free time
  • She spent her time in the company of rich, educated, cultured friends enjoying parties
  • A new kind of ‘high society’ emerged- young upper class Romans rejecting traditional, conservative morals in favour of drinking, gambling and partying
37
Q

What was Clodia’s love life like?

A
  • Her marriage to her cousin was not a happy one, and she reportedly had affairs with married men and even with slaves
  • One of her most famous lovers was the poet Catullus
38
Q

How is Clodia described in Catullus’s love poetry?

A
  • Some compare her to the Goddesses, and claim all other women pale in comparison to her
  • Others show Catullus as ruined by Clodia’s rejections of him, or when she took other lovers
39
Q

What is said in Catullus’ love poem 7?

A
  • Catullus is completely in love
  • No amount of kisses from Lesbia will be enough to satisfy him
  • He calls himself ‘Mad Catullus’ which makes the experience of being with Lesbia seem like the experience of being drunk
40
Q

What is said in Catullus’ love poem 8?

A
  • Takes a more restrained tone, and Catullus reminds himself to not chase a girl (presumably Lesbia)
  • Catullus says ‘she no longer wants you’ , which shows Lesbia had the power in the relationship- this power she wielded over him would likely have been shocking to a Roman audience
  • Catullus ends the poem with a series of rhetorical questions, which, even though they are asking about the future, still refer back to their relationship
41
Q

What is said in Catullus’ poem 83?

A
  • Short, and shows us Catullus’ frustration
  • Lesbia has been insulting Catullus to her husband
  • In the second half of the poem, Catullus shows some hope- he suggests that because she complains, that means she loves him- if she truly did not care, then she would be silent
42
Q

Who else wrote about Clodia?

A
  • Cicero in the Pro Caelio
43
Q

What was the Pro Caelio?

A
  • Pro Caelio means ‘In favour of Caelius’
  • It was a speech to defend Marcus Caelius Rufus from charges that Clodia had brought against him
  • Clodia had accused Caelius of trying to poison her
  • As part of the defense, Cicero criticised Clodia’s character and how scandalous she was
44
Q

What did Cicero say about Clodia in the Pro Caelio?

A
  • He describes her as dangerous and hyper-sexed
  • He references affairs and relationships she had with many men at parties and banquets, and accuses her of using her money to buy young men
  • He refers to her as a new Medea in one section
45
Q

Who won in Clodia and Caelio’s court case?

A
  • Caelius was found not guilty of all charges
  • Clodia vanished from public view
46
Q
A

Women in the Ancient World (8 decks)

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