The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 3 (of 3)Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Philosophy
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 3 (of 3)
Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Civilization, Greco-Roman; Dinners and dining -- Greece; Greece -- Social life and customs; Homosexuality -- Greece
69. Naucratis also has produced some very celebrated courtesans of
exceeding beauty; for instance, Doricha, whom the beautiful Sappho,
as she became the mistress of her brother Charaxus, who had gone to
Naucratis on some mercantile business, accuses in her poetry of having
stripped Charaxus of a great deal of his property. But Herodotus calls
her Rhodopis, being evidently ignorant that Rhodopis and Doricha
were two different people; and it was Rhodopis who dedicated those
celebrated spits at Delphi, which Cratinus mentions in the following
lines—
* * * *
Posidippus also made this epigram on Doricha, although he had often
mentioned her in his Æthiopia, and this is the epigram—
Here, Doricha, your bones have long been laid,
Here is your hair, and your well-scented robe:
You who once loved the elegant Charaxus,
And quaff'd with him the morning bowl of wine.
But Sappho's pages live, and still shall live,
In which is many a mention of your name,
Which still your native Naucratis shall cherish,
As long as any ship sails down the Nile.
Archedice also was a native of Naucratis; and she was a courtesan of
great beauty. "For some how or other," as Herodotus says, "Naucratis is
in the habit of producing beautiful courtesans."
70. There was also a certain courtesan named Sappho, a native of
Eresus, who was in love with the beautiful Phaon, and she was very
celebrated, as Nymphis relates in his Voyage round Asia. But Nicarete
of Megara, who was a courtesan, was not a woman of ignoble birth, but
she was born of free parents, and was very well calculated to excite
affection by reason of her accomplishments, and she was a pupil of
Stilpon the philosopher.
There was also Bilisticha the Argive, who was a very celebrated
courtesan, and who traced her descent back to the Atridæ, as those
historians relate who have written the history of the affairs of
Argolis. There was also a courtesan named Leæna, whose name is very
celebrated, and she was the mistress of Harmodius, who slew the tyrant.
And she, being tortured by command of Hippias the tyrant, died under
the torture without having said a word. Stratocles the orator also
had for his mistress a courtesan whose name was Leme,[49] and who was
nicknamed Parorama, because she used to let whoever chose come to her
for two drachmas, as Gorgias says in his treatise on Courtesans.
[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account