Courtesans at Table

by Laura K. McClure

Witty nicknames, crude jokes, public nudity and lavish monuments, all of these things distinguished Greek courtesans from respectable citizen women in ancient Greece. Although prostitutes appear as early as archaic Greek lyric poetry, our fullest accounts come from the late second century CE. Drawing on Book 13 of the Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae--which contains almost all known references to hetaeras from all periods of Greek literature--Laura K. McClure has created a window onto the ways ancient Greeks perceived the courtesan and the role of the courtesan in Greek life.

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2003

About the author

Laura Kathleen McClure has been Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin since 2003.

Research: Athenian Drama, Ancient Gender Studies, Classical Tradition